The Christian Homekeeper Reviews

Sep. 21, 2009

Review Of Kabul 24

The months preceding the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Towers and Pentagon were dark days in Afghanistan. Stadium massacres, Sharia Law, extremist Taliban forces becoming more powerful and the kidnapping of 24 workers from Shelter Now International all seemed to be steps that culminated in the 9/11 attacks.

Kabul 24 is an account of those 24 SNI workers that allows us to see God at work, people of faith being tested as they are surrounded by inhumanity and the chaos of a powerful and terrible regime. But I wasn't prepared for the story, I didn't expect it to be a story of faith.

The story opens with a riveting account of a Afghan woman being beaten and dragged to her death. Dressed in her burka, she is all but invisible to those who inflict the pain and humiliation. Her crime? She isn't sure. She believes she may have violated some part of the sharia law.

Kabul 24 was a very informative book for me as well as being a griping story of faith and God's protection. I wasn't prepared for the book to be such an inspiration and to invoke such strong feelings of sadness and joy. But that is precisely what it does.

The author manages to tell the story of the SNI workers and educate at the same time. I found it very interesting to finally understand the link between al-Queda and the Taliban, to learn what "Taliban" means and how it began, to understand where sharia law began and why it has such a hold on the Afghan people today.

As a Christian, I found the SNI worker's tales to be of the greatest interest. To see how they endured, cried out to God, to witness God work miracle after miracle, was encouraging and drew me into worshipping God as I read. The fabricated charges, the physical violence, threats, numerous prisons, deprivations and all of the atrocities that the Kabul 24 witnessed are difficult to read about but I couldn't not read. I had to keep reading to see what God would do, how He would move.
And God did move. In ways that are amazing.

Finally, the biggest surprise and delight of the book was to see how the Afghan people, that the SNI workers came into contact with, loved and wanted to protect the Christian workers. How, when their country is in the midst of war, fear and violence, can a people reach out in love and compassion? Ordinary Afghan people did.

Only 8 of the SNI workers were non-Afghans. How happy I was to realize that the other 16 workers who were Afghans, were lumped together with the Kabul 24! Those men love their country and knew that the SNI workers were there to help Afghanistan. They stood firm and were punished along with the 8.

I think the book gave a perfect portrait of a beautiful, loving people who live in the midst of fear and violence. I thank God that He sent the SNI workers to them and that the workers continue to build, teach, encourage and brings peace to the Afghan people. I had never heard the names of the Kabul 24, but I won't soon forget them.

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