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Charles Vincent, deputy director of the United Nations World Food Program, would not comment on whether the Taliban entrapped Shelter Now workers. "[It's] not for me to say one way or another," he told CT.

The UN agency has provided grants to Shelter Now. The United Nations instructed its international workers to leave September 15. The next day, the Taliban announced it could no longer guarantee safety for aid workers.

Taubmann, 45, has worked among Afghans in Pakistan and Afghanistan for 17 years, 16 of them in Peshawar, Pakistan. He moved to Kabul a year ago.

He says that Shelter Now had experienced no previous problems with the Taliban's government officials, but that police several times spat in the faces of Shelter Now's women workers. Police beat Curry once. Mercer and Curry wore knee-length scarves over their clothing to avoid giving offense. Curry, a social worker, helped street children. Mercer was studying a local language to prepare to work with street children.

The aid agency, which Taubmann says is the largest in Afghanistan, had five factories and employed more than 1,000 people in seven locations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It had built more than 3,500 concrete houses, as well as clinics and schools.

Shelter Now, using money from the American, German, and Dutch governments and from private groups such as Tear Fund, distributed $200,000 in food rations every month for the World Food Program. Workers raised their own support.

Shelter Now workers had always been honest with the Taliban about their Christian identity, Taubmann says. They held worship services six days a week for staffers—worship that passersby could hear. Taubmann had a personal library of Christian books that the Taliban never complained about.

Taubmann says Shelter Now did not break any agreement with the Taliban. The agency's contract allowed it to build houses, distribute food, and employ Afghans in small factories. The agreement was simply a renewal of the contract Shelter Now had signed with the previous regime, Taubmann says. The agreement specified that Shelter Now would respect local culture, stay out of politics, obtain permission to start projects, and submit progress reports. Taubmann says there was no mention of religion.

Taubmann says that the Shelter Now office itself contained no Christian material, and workers stuck to their jobs during office hours. After hours, however, they could use their discretion and accept invitations to attend weddings or visit homes. "We were as careful as we could be" in building friendships with Afghans, Taubmann says. "[With] any friend you have, sooner or later, you will talk about your faith, even if you don't want to talk about it."

The Western ministry leader who asked not to be named still holds Shelter Now's work in high regard. He attributes the Taliban's collapse to workers' worship in prison. "I don't think they were reckless or in any way irresponsible for the way they operated," he says. "I think God was guiding them."

Nor does the leader fear that the incident will hamper ministry in other Muslim nations—"I doubt very seriously there's going to be a problem." Taubmann, Mercer, and Curry all say they hope to return to Afghanistan.

Two other Christians experienced in ministry to Muslims say the Shelter Now episode is unlikely to prove fatal to future outreach in the Islamic world. Dudley Woodberry of Fuller Theological Seminary says he has great respect for Taubmann and Shelter Now and has raised money for the agency. He believes the accusations that the agency proselytized may both help and hinder outreach in other Muslim countries. When Islamic law is forced on people and friendly Christians are in the area, "It's going to lead to more interest" in Christianity, Woodberry says.

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February 4 2002, Vol. 46, No. 2