Death threats and fleeing: one Afghan woman’s story

Ariana* has faced death threats from her brother. As an Afghan Christian, she faces extreme danger from the Taliban and her own community – as a woman, she has almost no value in Afghan society. Here’s how she can see change.

Ariana’s* phone rang. She saw that it was her brother, Ahmad*, from back in Afghanistan. It had been a long time since she’d heard from him. Nervously, she answered. 

Without a pause, Ahmad launched into a vicious verbal attack: “I heard that you sold your religion and became a Christian,” he said. “If your husband’s family are pressuring you, I will come and save you. But if you really sold your religion, I am willing to sell the carpet under my feet to come and kill you.” 

That was his ultimatum. He was ready to ‘rescue’ her – but he was also ready to kill her. 

Powerless  

As an Afghan woman, Ariana has almost no rights. She is considered the property of her husband, father, brother or other male relatives. As a convert to Christianity, this powerlessness becomes something much more dangerous. She could be killed at any moment. Worse than that, her family and community would consider her murder just and right. In Ahmad’s words, it would be viewed as ‘clearing this stain of dishonour from our people’. 

The erasing of Christian women around the world takes many different forms. In Ariana’s case, it could mean being literally erased from the world. Her choice to follow Jesus is the most dangerous decision she ever made. 

The first death threat 

But even before Ariana became a Christian, her brother dominated and threatened her. “In my neighbourhood, the men were like dictators,” Ariana remembers. “Whatever the men said, the women had to obey. Girls had no freedom. I suffered a lot because of this. I always thought I was like an eagle and had to fly away from there – because I had a strong sense of freedom within me.” 

The oppression of women affects the most fundamental aspects of everyday life. “In Afghanistan, women did not have the right to choose their spouse,” Ariana says. “Where I lived, women didn’t have the right to choose their education.” 

Despite these strictures, Ariana fell in love with Bashir*, a young man in her village. Her aunt discovered a love letter that Bashir had written her – and their secret was out. It was an affront to the men in her family that she hadn’t waited for them to choose her future husband. 

“When my aunt took the letter, all my tribe found out that I was in love,” she says, “so my brother came to the door of the house with a big knife, wanting to kill me.” 

To quell the scandal, Ariana’s family quickly married her off to Bashir. Little did they know that this was her first step towards finding Jesus. 

Secret Christians 

When Ariana married Bashir, she didn’t know that he and his family were undercover Christians. She didn’t even know what a Christian was. “I had no idea there was another religion other than Islam, called Christianity,” she says. “Any non-Muslim was just called ‘infidel’ in our house.” 

Ariana’s new in-laws were converts from Islam and had to keep their faith secret, because it opened them up to extraordinary dangers. The Taliban will execute anybody discovered to be a Christian, and have gone door-to-door to root out believers. Others in the community may take matters into their own hands, killing converts to preserve so-called ‘honour’. 

Tragically, this is what happened to Ariana’s new family. Someone had discovered their secret. “A grenade was thrown into our house at 2am,” says Ariana. “My brother-in-law was killed. He was killed because he was a Christian.”  

At the time, Ariana thought it must be because of his government job. It wasn’t until the family had fled Afghanistan that she learned the truth. 

Refugees in Central Asia 

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, thousands fled. Among them were many of the country’s Christian population. Even before the takeover, being a Christian in Afghanistan was extremely dangerous – and now, as the murder of Ariana’s brother-in-law showed all too painfully, their lives were at serious risk every day. 

“We were no longer safe in our own country, so we became refugees in another country,” says Ariana. It was there, in Central Asia, that the family shared their secret faith with Ariana: “My father-in-law said very kindly, ‘We want you to become a Christian, as we go to church. Do you want to?’” 

Though it was the first time she had heard about Christianity, she agreed to go to church with them. She explains: “I loved my husband very much, and I wanted to follow my husband.” 

Following Jesus 

In church, Ariana began to learn about God. She was shocked by how different He is from the god she had been taught about in her strict Muslim upbringing.  

“God was shown to us as something terrifying,” she says. “There was only fear. When I understood how much oppression and pressure Afghan Muslim women lived under – how one man could have as many wives as he wanted and use them as slaves – it helped me see the truth that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life.”  

Today, Ariana and her family still live in Central Asia. They are safe from the immediate violence of Afghanistan and the Taliban – but as refugees, and as converts from Islam, they are still at significant risk.  

Thankfully, there hasn’t been any follow-up to the death threat Ariana received from her brother. But that is only one of many dangers. 

“The danger is constant” 

“As an Afghan Christian refugee in Central Asia, the danger is constant,” Ariana says. “We live under the stress of being deported at any moment because we don’t have a legal identity here. If we even speak about our faith or the Word of God, we could be deported. That’s our biggest fear – being sent back, especially since everyone knows that we have become Christians.” 

Deportation would be a death sentence. As the threat from Ahmad shows, the family – especially the women – would be instant targets for extreme violence. But even while living Central Asia, Ariana faces daily hazards.  

“The three main pressures focus on the vulnerabilities of being a refugee, being female and being a Christian,” explains Aydin*, an Open Doors local partner who supports Afghan refugees in Central Asia. “Refugees – both male and female – can be exploited by the local population, but women face additional vulnerability. This can result in exploitation: for instance, an Afghan woman may have to fulfil additional requirements or pay more money to find a place to live.” 

Aydin continues: “If it is known that an Afghan woman is Christian, she is vulnerable to blackmail and the threat of being exposed. If deported, and if it was known that she had fled Afghanistan as a Christian – especially if she converted from Islam – her conversion would likely result in execution. If she manages to escape execution, she will enter a world where women are virtually confined to their homes.”  

Living water 

Despite the danger, Ariana’s faith is her anchor. She has a heart to help other women like her, and boldly shares the truth of Jesus’ love with other refugees.  

“I was raised in a very restrictive society, so I want other Afghans to also taste this salt of life and to drink this living water,” she says. “I share the Word of God with many Afghan families. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus says, ‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.’ This motivates me because I consider it a duty that I must do.” 

Open Doors partners support Ariana in her vital ministry. Through local believers like Ariana, Open Doors also helps refugees with practical aid, discipleship materials and spiritual training – building up a new generation of Afghan believers who risk everything to follow Jesus. 

Her ministry is particularly transformative for the women she serves – women who have spent years being told they have no freedoms, no identity, no purpose. Women whom persecutors long to erase. “All the women I meet with say the same thing,” says Ariana. “They thank me and tell me: ‘When you come, we feel at peace.’ I truly believe God sends us to be with each other.” 

See change for women like Ariana 

Around the world, in every moment, Christian women like Ariana risk erasure. They are forced to disappear from schools and universities, from the workplace, from public life – and perhaps even from the world altogether. 

Today, you can help bring about the vision shared by Ariana and Open Doors: that every woman who is persecuted for her faith and gender is seen, valued and empowered to reach her God-given potential. You can help reverse erasure. You can help women see change. 

*Names changed for security reasons