Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck recently asked his audience to “give until it hurts” and donate money to help rescue thousands of Christians from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Now, his audience has stepped up in a massive way.

On Wednesday, Beck introduced his audience to The Nazarene Fund, a Mormon operated charity that he founded and now sits on the board of.

The organization works “to liberate the captive, to free the enslaved, and to rescue, rebuild and restore the lives of Christians and other persecuted religious and ethnic minorities wherever and whenever they are in need.”

According to The Blaze, the organization is preparing “to extract approximately 5,000 people, mostly women and children, out of Afghanistan before it is too late.” Beck said that these people are “Christians that are marked for death … there was a notice from the Taliban that any of these [Christian] people will be burned alive.”

To acquire the aircraft and support the teams needed for the rescue, Beck set the almost “impossible” goal of raising $20 million in two days.

“Every single penny that you can come up with will go to flying those planes and getting those people out. We need, obviously, an enormous amount of money,” Beck told his audience.

“I ask that you would give until it hurts today, because these people are entirely alone. And they will be crucified, if you are marked as a Christian, with the Taliban. You know what will happen to them. We can get them out.”

On Thursday, Beck came back on the air and announced that his audience had already given an astonishing amount of money.

“I asked you yesterday, if you would give until it hurts. And this is the most remarkable audience I think ever assembled. In a 24-hour period … this audience gave $9,334,652.24. We are halfway there in one day. It is truly a miracle that you, this one audience, gave nearly $10 million yesterday,” Beck said.

This operation “is our Dunkirk,” he added.

By Friday morning, his audience had donated the $20 million dollars Beck had asked for. That total has now hit $22 million.

In an Instagram post on Sunday, Beck wrote a dire post relaying an update he had received regarding those on “The Nazarene’s list” – those people the organization is attempting to rescue.

“Thousands are inside the airport grounds but no planes are flying. Thousands more are outside the gates. Many have been beaten, whipped and some have been shot by Taliban thugs,” he wrote. Beck added that the teams working to rescue those stuck in Afghanistan “are in grave danger.”

He asked his readers to “fast and pray” for the ongoing operation.

You can learn more about the organization at thenazarenefund.org.

Photo from Reuters