People Group Prayer Guides
Pray for the Aimaq of Afghanistan
The people at the end of the earth
Surely the Aimaq live “at the ends of the earth.” After living for centuries behind the curtains of geographic isolation, they have never encountered the true Light, of whom Isaiah prophesied. The Aimaq people are actually a group of smaller tribes—the Jamshidi, Taimani, Char Hazara and Firizkui and several smaller nomadic tribes—that have historically linked themselves together through marriage and alliances for protection against foreign invasion.
The Aimaq homeland is in Central Western Afghanistan near the city of Herat and northeast into the mountains. The total population of the Aimaq peoples is estimated at 800,000 to 900,000 with no known believers.
Internal and external conflicts in Afghanistan over the past two decades reduced the country to rubble. Today a cautious hope is surfacing. God surely has a plan for the Aimaq, “PLANS TO PROSPER ... NOT TO HARM ..., PLANS TO GIVE ... A HOPE AND A FUTURE.” (Jer. 29:11) Most Aimaq have never considered that God has this kind of a plan for their future. They have been told by their leaders and teachers that to be Afghan is to be Muslim.
In the last two years God has awakened His Church to the plight and lostness of the Aimaq and other Afghan peoples. The eyes of the Church, and indeed the world, have seen the misery, suffering, and lostness in Afghanistan.
Pray for political peace in Afghanistan. Two decades of internal and external strife has reduced the country to a ruin. Pray specifically that former warlords will be persuaded to lay down their weapons in deference to a national army that will guarantee peace and justice for all people regardless of ethnic origin or gender.
Pray for a growing team of workers who are beginning to engage Aimaq communities. Pray that they will discover conduits for the Gospel to make its way to the ears and hearts of the Aimaq.
Pray that God would use the unique time in which we are living to provide opportunity for the Gospel to reach into the remote mountain villages of the Aimaq in central and western Afghanistan.
Pray that God will use the deluge of information about Afghanistan to prick the hearts of many. Pray that He will call laborers from His Church into the harvest that He is preparing among Aimaq and other unreached Afghan peoples.
Pray for unity among the Christian organizations that are serving the Aimaq people. Pray that there would be a spirit of cooperation that will maximize the resources that God has given His Church and that it will be a testimony to the world of the unity that we share in Jesus Christ.
Pray for those Aimaq who are encountering followers of Jesus for the first time in their lives. Pray that God will give them receptive hearts. Pray that many will soon join the kingdom of the one who alone provides eternal security. Pray that many will put their trust in Him.
Pray that the Aimaq would have access to Christian radio programs in Dari, Farsi, and Hazaragi and that they would be able to understand the message of God that is the power unto salvation.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will penetrate the hearts of those Aimaq that He is calling to Himself. Pray that Aimaq individuals will experience a hunger to know God. Pray that God will give them dreams and visions which will deepen their hunger for the one true God.
Praise a God who works all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. Praise Him for His mighty works during these days. He has provided opportunity for the Aimaq to have access to the Gospel in word and deed for the first time.
Learn more about work in Afghanistan: Concerned Christians for Afghanistan
Those interested in assisting with projects to rebuild Afghanistan can contact the Memphis-Afghan Friendship Summit: Call 901-921-6118.