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Afghanistan
“With much tribulation, we shall enter the Kingdom of God”
The loss of a loved one is never easy, and when it is your husband in his forties, and the father of your four children, it is even more difficult. Such has been the experience of our Sis K, whose husband, our dear Bro R, was killed in a bomb blast in Kabul, along with Bro A, his brother, both naturally and spiritually. A month after the death of Bro R, Sis K and the children were struggling for food supplies and so she sent her 14-year-old son out in the evening to buy basic rations. He did not return. On showing his ID card at a Taliban check-post, and thereby being identified as belonging to the Hazara ethnic group, he was shot dead on the spot.
After several months of grieving, Sis K and her remaining three children, joined others trying to cross the border into Pakistan. Her first attempt, along the Khyber Pass route, failed as the Pakistan security guards demanded exorbitant funds which she did not have. A second attempt was thwarted by Taliban guards, and a third attempt further south, failed in the same manner. Several months passed and Sis K and children travelled to Kandahar and joined a group of others planning to cross via the Chaman Checkpoint. While waiting to cross, the group was attacked by Taliban fighters, killing several menfolk, while the women and children fled back to Kandahar.
The events of the past months, and the constant travel, took a toll on Sis K’s health, and she was admitted to a Kandahar hospital for a week or so while neighbours looked after the children. Strengthened by the rest, Sis K and the children headed south over 600 kms through desolate regions, to an isolated check-post along the border with Balochistan Province in south-western Pakistan. By God’s grace, Sis K and the children crossed into Pakistan at the end of May, and is, at the time of writing, taking the 350 km journey north to reach The Haven, and other safe homes we have set up for the large numbers of Afghan Christadelphian families we are caring for. By God’s grace, Sis K will have a moving re-union this week with her dear brothers and sisters after months of struggle.
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