Relief Ministry Expands Afghanistan Operations
by Allie Martin
October 27, 2004
(AgapePress) - International Aid, a Christian relief and development organization, began work in Afghanistan nearly two years ago after U.S. and coalition forces toppled the Taliban-led government. Now the Michigan-based ministry is expanding its outreach in Afghanistan with the encouragement of the nation's interim government.Myles Fish, president of International Aid, says working through the local church in the Middle Eastern country has its challenges. "Afghanistan has had a history, going back 30 to 50 years, of having a strong indigenous church," he notes, "but by the time we got there, finding that remnant of the Church was rather difficult."
However, Fish feels the situation in the Islam-dominated country is gradually changing. "The opportunity is beginning to become more real there for doing evangelism with the Afghan people," he says, "but we have not been able to find a very strong Church in Afghanistan as yet."
The ministry spokesman, who made his comments on Mission Network News, says Afghanistan's interim government has asked the ministry to expand its services in their nation. For almost two years, he notes, International Aid has operated a health clinic in Taingi Saidan, a village of about 12,000 inhabitants, where the ministry has been providing primary health care for the region ever since the defeat of the Taliban.
"That work continues," Fish says, "and it has gotten a lot of attention by the interim government there in Afghanistan. And now we're being asked to take on a much larger territory and to provide similar kinds of services."
International Aid's president says the Christian relief and development ministry provides health care services and does other outreach as a means of demonstrating the love of God and articulating Christian faith. The ministry has sent volunteer medical teams to Taingi Saidan to help with treatment of patients and training of local physicians in family medicine, and International Aid continues to seek medical services personnel for future trips.
