Taliban killed the foreigners because they were "spying for the Americans" and "preaching Christianity."
http://www.iam-afghanistan.org/
PRESS RELEASE
BY THE INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE MISSION
ON THE NURISTAN EYE CAMP TEAM
(7 August 2010, Kabul, Afghanistan)
We have been informed that 10 people, both foreign and Afghan, were murdered in Badakhshan. It is likely that they are members of the International Assistance Mission (IAM) eye camp team. The team had been in Nuristan at the invitation of communities there. After having completed their medical work the team was returning to Kabul.
At this stage we do not have many details but our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who are presumed killed. If these reports are confirmed we object to this senseless killing of people who have done nothing but serve the poor. Some of the foreigners have worked alongside the Afghan people for decades.
This tragedy negatively impacts our ability to continue serving the Afghan people as IAM has been doing since 1966. We hope it will not stop our work that benefits over a quarter of a million Afghans each year.
When we have more news on what has happened we will inform you via this webpage. Again, our thoughts and prayer are with those affected at this time.
Dr. Tom Little forsook the comforts of a home here in the Capital Region of New York State to serve the people of Afghanistan. This is an amazing way to spend a life. This is a rewarding way to spend a life. My prayers are with his wife, Libby, their three daughters, the rest of their relatives, and their church family at the First Presbyterian Church in Schenectady, NY.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/08/07/2010-08-07_tom_litt… Tom Little, 62, New York optometrist one of six American aid workers killed in Afghanistan
Better to die being accused of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ than to live without ever having had such an accusation made against you.
Solo Christo, Soli Deo Gloria, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Sola Scriptura http://healtheland.wordpress.com
In response to:
[JobK] Better to die being accused of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ than to live without ever having had such an accusation made against you.Not to minimize the loss of these workers or the good they were doing for the people of Afghanistan, but per the IAM website they were not preaching the gospel
The second question is whether the team was proselytizing and distributing Dari Bibles. IAM is a Christian organization – we have never hidden this. Indeed, we are registered as such with the Afghan government. Our faith motivates and inspires us - but [red] we do not proselytize. We abide by the laws of Afghanistan. We are signatures of the Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs Disaster Response Programmes, in other words, that, “[red] aid will not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint.” But more than that, [red] our record speaks for itself. IAM would not be invited back to villages if we were using aid as a cover for preaching. And in particular, this specific camp led by Tom Little, a man with four decades experience in Afghanistan, has led eye camps for many years to Nuristan – and was welcomed back every time.
A good read
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/world/asia/10aidworkers.html Slain Aid Workers Were Bound by Their Sacrifice
Brief excerpt
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/world/asia/10aidworkers.html Slain Aid Workers Were Bound by Their Sacrifice
Brief excerpt
Though many of the victims were Christians and worked for Christian organizations, friends and family of the victims denied the Taliban’s charges that they had been spies or proselytizers. “They try to be the hands and the feet of Jesus,” Mr. Beckett said, “not the mouth of Jesus.”http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/08/09/us/20100810_Aidworkers.html Photo slide show
Missionary friends of mine in Central Asia knew one of the women as a teammate, and mourned her loss as that of a martyr. She may have been a humanitarian as an occupation but also aspired to the slow-motion, relationship-building, winning one person-at-a-time evangelism strategy which is how missions is most often done in such areas of the world.
Striving for the unity of the faith, for the glory of God ~ Eph. 4:3, 13; Rom. 15:5-7 I blog at Fundamentally Reformed. Follow me on Twitter.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10228/1080396-454.stm] Slain missionary Lapp eulogized as an incredible example
According to a family-prepared biography given out at the memorial service, “Glen was full of life and an enormous spirit. Three great passions were very close to his heart: he sought to help meet the needs of those less fortunate, especially in developing countries; he had an unquenchable thirst for adventure; and he was constantly on a quest for wisdom and knowledge. The opportunity to volunteer in Afghanistan was a perfect fit for him.”
His sister in law, Mary Ellen Francescani, told a Lancaster television station that Mr. Lapp “had a quiet confidence in himself. He packed more into 40 years than most people do in a (much longer) lifetime.”
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