The evangelist, Franklin Graham, is calling for a day of prayer for the people of Afghanistan on Sunday 22nd August.

He was speaking as thousands of people are desperately trying to escape from the country following its fall to the Taliban :

"There is no hope for these people to get out safely-apart from a miracle from the hand of God-and that's what we need to pray for."
 
Franklin Graham, the son of the evangelist Billy Graham, is President and CEO of the Christian charity, Samaritan's Purse which is partnering with other groups to try to get people out of the country.

The charity says that with the Taliban blocking access to the airport and all exit routes, this is a life or death situation for Christians and other religious minorities, and all those who worked with or for America over the past two decades : "Time is short and the need is urgent." 
 
"To watch this hurts," said Edward Graham, Franklin Graham's youngest son who works with Samaritan's Purse and served in six combat deployments within special operations forces in Afghanistan.

"I spent years there and lost many friends. There are many Afghan people that I love. This is a man-made disaster and there isn't a person or an organization that can fix this. Only God can deliver us from this crisis."