Z*, an Afghan man who resettled in the United States, slowly earned a surprising title: the King of Fort McCoy, an Army base in Wisconsin.

The Twin Cities resident joined the U.S. Army in 2019. He served at an Army base in Louisiana until more than 15,000 Afghan refugees were temporarily staged at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin.

Then, Bruce A* explained, the military transferred Z to the Wisconsin facility so he could meet needs among the Afghan people. Bruce said that Z’s energy, enthusiasm, and effectiveness motivated people to start calling him The King of Fort McCoy.

However, Z’s strongest motivation is helping Afghans meet the eternal king, Jesus. Bruce and his wife Julie and Z work together in the Afghan Movement Partnership so Muslims from the least-reached nation trust Christ. The three met five years ago.

“We’re working with them, asking God to give them a vision for how to engage and disciple their growing community here,” Bruce said.

The Afghan Movement Partnership exists as part of the From Scattered to Gathered initiative. This ministry strives to disciple least-reached peoples in the Twin Cities so they can make disciples hear, near and far.

A history of trouble reveals a ministry’s tremendous potential

 

Bruce explained that Afghans like Z have tremendous potential to help more people follow Christ. The partnership hopes to equip believers like Z and connect these disciples to churches of Americans who can learn to make disciples among the Afghans near the Twin Cities.

Afghans have been relocating to the United States since the 1980s, when anti-communist Muslim Afghans started a war against the Soviet-backed soldiers of the nation’s government.

The men, women and children who fled Afghanistan in 2021 face trauma after their mass exodus. Thankfully, training in trauma care is available for them to heal and offer healing to one another. 

Bruce said they hope to see Afghan believers learn those skills to serve refugees. He explained that Afghans would be the ones who are ideally suited to reach out and meet the emotional needs of their country’s people.

Related: The International Ministries team at Converge asks God for one thing. See it here.

Bruce estimates the number of Afghan believers in the Twin Cities as less than a dozen. But there are thousands of people who relocated from the country who could come into the kingdom.

A gospel movement like that will be a challenge because the high level of devotion to Islam among Afghans means that persecution is a real threat. In response, almost all Afghan believers follow Christ in underground churches.

However, believers like Z have much more potential among Afghans now that they’re in America. They have openness to a new story — the story of God fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Z’s first ministry among Afghan women and children came in the country as he served their practical needs. He came to faith as the 1980s war pushed his family into Pakistan, where they met a Christian missionary.

Related: Learn more about another global worker among Persian peoples.

The king is on the base

 

The compassion he received as a refugee still motivates him now in America. So, when he and other Afghan-American soldiers in his unit heard of the people coming in September 2021, they rented several storage units. Next, they asked friends in Minnesota and Wisconsin to donate baby and toddler supplies, toiletries for women and warm clothes for all ages.

Bruce heard of this effort and Converge churches joined in. He said believers donated four truckloads of essentials. Then, as families arrived with refugee challenges, Z and other Afghan Americans would help those families. 

Donations are less needed now, but there is a great need for practical help. Bruce said believers who know Afghans can offer tutoring, address health care needs and job search challenges and help them earn a driver’s license. 

Millions have moved in next door, so why not have them over?

 

A key to evangelism, he said, often begins with hospitality, spending time in homes and having least-reached people over; in short, starting true friendships. That interaction can reveal and bridge ethnic, cultural and class divisions among Afghans. They more often express tribal identities like Pashtun, Hazara or Tajik, each with its gospel barriers or opportunities.

“The opportunities here in our urban centers are amazing and can work in parallel with efforts back in the homelands,” Bruce added. “We hope that will lead them to the freedom to one day discover for themselves the freedom that is in Jesus.”

Related: Converge disciples recently spent 24 hours asking God for a gospel movement.

This discipleship in America that can make disciples worldwide is the main idea within the From Scattered to Gathered Initiative. That initiative includes the Afghan Movement Partnership. 

Converge wants Americans to be trained and join God’s strategy for discipleship within the global migration of 700 million people, or one in 10 of every person on the planet. 

U.S. disciples can walk beside people from least-reached nations, taking them through a process to be disciples who make disciples. 

You don’t have to be the king of Fort McCoy to make a difference.

“We want to model what it means to live a lifestyle as a disciple-maker,” Bruce said. “Our focus is mobilizing the church to see the nations next door and do something about it.”

*Name has been changed for security purposes.

Converge is asking God for a gospel movement among every least-reached people group – in our generation. Learn how we are playing a role in accomplishing the Great Commission and how you can be involved.