Afghan Mountain Faith: Stories of Justice, Beauty, and Relationships
Ebook
Is There Hope for Afghans?
Everyone has heard of the Taliban, but how well do we know the Afghan people? The winds of change are blowing through Afghanistan, one of the hardest countries in the world in which to be a Christian. How can Afghans build trusting, vibrant communities of believers? What are the best practices in discipleship?
Afghan Mountain Faith explores relationships, justice, and beauty in God's unfolding kingdom. These never-before-recorded accounts show Jesus’s followers in their unique Afghan context. Their stories extend worldwide as Afghan fellowships arise globally, even though there is not a single church building inside their country.
Miriam Adeney and Rashid Aalish delve into challenging issues of our time, including refugees, women’s rights, US military missions of mercy, church planting, ethnic identity, suffering, lament, orality, and ethnodoxology. If you want stories, there are stories. If you want strategies, there are strategies. If you want to wrestle with systemic issues, that is here too. These reflections will provoke you to think and propel you to hope.
Chapter 1 The Toughest Country in the World
Chapter 2 The God Who Comes Close
Chapter 3 Begin with the Land
Chapter 4 Women and Men
Chapter 5 Government Macro and Micro
Chapter 6 What the Taliban Want
Chapter 7 How To Help Refugees
Chapter 8 When Church Is Dangerous
Chapter 9 Beauty and Worship
Chapter 10 Mountain Faith
Bibliography
Of the top three Christian books I recommend on Afghanistan, this is now in first place. The authors embed their cultural analysis within a global theology that reflects awareness of the major secular and Christian writing on the subjects of culture, Islam, and Afghanistan. They treat a variety of issues including the role of women and women's rights, depraved aspects of Afghan culture, and the six types of Islam with sensitivity and clarity, naming the good and the evil. They demonstrate the complexity that is Afghanistan by the questions they ask but their treatment is also accessible by anyone who is not aware of the issues. They explain and analyze Afghan culture within a coherent theology of culture demonstrating a redeeming way to analyze all cultures without resorting to patronizing, syncretism, nationalism, or exceptionalism. In every chapter of this book, the authors tell a third story, a story that reveals our common humanness and shared experiences as humans and as Christ followers. I highly recommend this book.
Anna Hampton, DRS
Global Risk Consultant, Barnabas Internation
Author, Facing Fear and Facing Danger
Growing up in India, I was introduced to the Afghani people through Tagore's Kabuliwallah. In recent years, as my work has taken me across Europe, North America, and Asia, I have met several of them and have heard stories of how these beautiful people are becoming followers of Jesus. Here in these pages, you will encounter some incredible accounts of the surprising ways in which God is working among Afghans. May this inspire you to get involved with refugees, immigrants, and other diaspora peoples around you.
Sam George, PhD
Diaspora Commission Catalyst, Lausanne Movement
Co-Editor, Refugee Diaspora
This book is an absolute treasure! The authors give us more than beautiful glimpses of Afghans and Afghanistan, they awaken us to the beauty of the mystery of Christ and the often-paradoxical ways that Jesus is transforming lives in some of the most difficult and broken places of our world. I pray that many churches in the US and Europe would read this book and catch a vision of how to reach the thousands of Afghan refugees that God has brought into our neighborhoods with the Good News of Jesus.
Rev. Sasan Tavassoli, PhD
Senior Lecturer, PARS Theological Center
Prolific writer and missiological anthropologist Miriam Adeney has teamed up with economist and political scientist Rashid Aalish to write a spell-binding, timely story of Afghanistan, including its history, culture, politics, and religion. Built on a strong theology of culture and hope in resurrection, renewal, and restoration, the authors provide riveting stories of Afghans finding new life amidst devastation and danger as followers of Jesus. Practical suggestions for supporting refugees and immigrants abound, and the kingdom vision of Revelation 7:9, of people from every language and culture worshiping together around the throne of God, animates this essential book.
Darrell Whiteman, PhD
CEO, Global Development
Afghan Mountain Faith had me hooked on the first page. From the many heart-pounding God-sized stories to practical wisdom and insight, this refreshing read has something for everyone—laypeople and church planters alike. This book inspired me to expand my compassion for Afghanis everywhere.
Karen Bejjani
Co-Founder, iHOPE Ministries
Karen Bejjani
“Where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Rom 5:20). Since the Islamic revolution in Iran, hundreds of thousands of Iranians have come to Jesus Christ as their Lord. Now is the time for Afghans. God is taking away the veil from their eyes to come into His marvelous Light. Many are disillusioned and are open to the Good News. Afghan Mountain Faith is a very timely and comprehensive tool for any Christian who wants to share Christ’s love with Afghans whom God has brought near them.
Mohamad Reza Roshanzamir
Co-Founder, Elam Ministries
A new gold mine has just been revealed. That’s my read of this unique book with its ten different veins—chapters—and two writer-voices encouraging us to explore more and pray more and serve more. Afghan Mountain Faith captured my attention with the singular combination of historical fact, spiritual context, and unflinching truth. The authors describe an apparently failed nation, but also explain how the world powers moved into the vacuum in their nefarious abuse of geography and culture to organize and exploit Afghanistan for their own benefit. The entire book comes alive as it interweaves the narrative fabric of personal stories. And I love the way it lands, with practical recommendations for churches, ministries and families around the world who receive Afghan (and other) refugees. Readers will be enriched.
William Taylor, PhD
Executive Director Emeritus, World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission
President, TaylorGlobalConsult
In 1953 some twelfth-grade students in one of the most prestigious high schools in Kabul told me they were incensed at the Encyclopedia Britannica, which had indicated that Afghanistan was 99 percent Muslim. “No!” they insisted. “Afghanistan is 100 percent Muslim!” They could not conceive of an Afghan who was anything else. Today there is a growing, if tentative, body of believers in Jesus Christ, living carefully as good citizens under the radar of most news organizations. This book is an exciting report on what is going on now in the religious life of this country.
Robert L. Canfield, PhD
Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, Washington University at St. Louis
Afghanistan is a beautiful country with a rich culture and an incredibly difficult history. The recent resurgence of the Taliban has exacerbated the suffering of the Afghan people but has also resulted in the movement of many refugees from their homeland—among the most dangerous places in the world to follow Jesus—into countries blessed with religious freedom, where Afghans can consider the claims of Christianity for themselves, without governmental restrictions or interference. For Christians seeking to welcome, love and convey the hope of the gospel, Miriam Adeney and Rashid Aalish’s Afghan Mountain Faith is an indispensable resource.
Matthew Soerens
Vice President for Advocacy and Policy, World Relief
Gripping, informative, thoughtful, and beautifully written, Adeney and Aalish peel back the layers of Afghanistan, holding each one up to the light of Jesus. Replete with moving and memorable stories, Afghan Mountain Faith is a gift to the church and the people of Afghanistan, offering a pathway forward as their destinies intersect.
David Garrison
Author, A Wind in the House of Islam
- Title: Afghan Mountain Faith: Stories of Justice, Beauty, and Relationships
- Authors: Miriam Adeney, Rashid Aalish
- Publisher: William Carey Publishing
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781645085447, 9781645085423, 1645085422, 1645085449
- Resource ID: LLS:9781645085447
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-12-06T12:05:39Z
Miriam Adeney (PhD, Washington State University) is an anthropologist and author. From her base at Seattle Pacific University, she has taught on six continents, especially in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. A former President of the American Society of Missiology, Miriam has received two Lifetime Achievement awards. As well as authoring eight books, Miriam is blessed with three sons and nine grandchildren.
Rashid Aalish (PhD) is an Afghan believer who teaches and conducts research in a North American university. He has served as a consultant with several local and international organizations focusing on ways to help regions torn by conflict.