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Curry said members of their team talked with Afghans who asked them about Christianity. Curry said, at one family's request, she had photocopied pages from a book about Jesus and showed the Jesus film. Shelter Now intends to continue its relief work in Afghanistan.

Another group, the International Assistance Mission (IAM), has worked in Afghanistan for 35 years. One member of IAM (who asked not to be named) says the mission won credibility for obeying Taliban rules against bringing in evangelistic literature or films.

"In terms of overt evangelism," the team member says, "our presence was the contrast between the majority religion [Islam] and what Christianity is." But the Taliban closed all IAM programs last August.

International religious broadcasters have moved to provide new Christian programming. There are an estimated 73 radios per 1,000 people in Afghanistan. In October, HCJB World Radio and the Far East Broadcasting Association began beaming Christian broadcasts in Dari—a widely spoken language—into Afghanistan.

HCJB Executive Director Tom Narwold says he hopes the broadcasts will encourage secret Christian believers, who lack any functioning church structures. One aid worker says he knows of a "very dynamic and alive congregation" of 100 Afghan Christians who meet regularly.

Aid workers say that anyone hoping for a new government favoring religious diversity is likely to be disappointed. In 1973, former King Mohammed Zahir Shah ordered the government to bulldoze the country's only church. The building, in Kabul, was for expatriates only.

"There will be no religious freedom under the new regime," says Isaacs of Samaritan's Purse.

Christian aid workers say their immediate goal is to meet urgent physical needs. "We believe that in our work with displaced people, we need to show the love of Jesus in action," says Harry van Burik, international program director for SNI in Wisconsin. "God reveals himself to people. We only need to be there."

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

For more on the political and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, see Yahoo! full coverage and World Refugee.com.

Special Report: Afghanistan features ongoing PBS' Online NewsHour coverage of the situation in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Humanitarian Update includes a look at the refugee situation at a glance, statistics, maps, and analysis. From the UN High Commissioner on Refugees.

The Times, London, Web site has a chart on the ethnic divisions in Afghanistan.

After the controversy over Franklin Graham's comments on Islam, he clarified himself in "My view of Islam" for The Wall Street Journal.

Media coverage of the aid situation in Afghanistan includes:

Groups fear U.S. aid for poorest countries may go to Afghanistan — OneWorld US (Dec. 20, 2001)

World Donors to Meet Thursday on Afghan Aid — Reuters (Dec. 19, 2001)

Recipe for Rebuilding: Afghan Muscle, Marine Planning, Lots of Dollars — The New York Times (Dec. 18, 2001)

Disaster looms at refugee camps — BBC (Nov. 7, 2001)

Religious relief group plans hospital for Afghan refugees — The News & Observer (Oct. 27, 2001)

Relief groups fear time is running out — The Seattle Times (Oct. 25, 2001)

Afghanistan situation 'fragile' says Short — BBC (Oct. 24, 2001)

Threats and confusion at Pakistan border — The San Francisco Chronicle (Oct. 24, 2001)

Aid agencies fear it is too late for food relief — The Financial Times (Oct. 17, 2001)

Recent mainstream articles on the future plans for Afghanistan includes:

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January 7 2002, Vol. 46, No. 1