Islam

Their Parents Died

And So Did His Camel

Rescue units restore hope in the form of vegetables

According to the Encyclopedia of Nations, Zambia’s population totaled 10.8 million in 2003. Of those, 600,000 are AIDS orphans.

[…]

Bob Bland with Teen Missions said, “[The orphans] are not taught the things they would normally learn in a village situation, such as how to grow a garden, because there’s no one to train them. At our rescue units, one of things we do is try to help them grow gardens.”

Often times, they lack the tools needed to plant, but Teen Missions provides what they need. “To do that, we provide a hoe,” Bland said.

So far, these orphan gardens have proven very successful, and in one village, a child’s garden is the only source of vegetables for a whole village.

Teen Mission has 33 rescue units throughout Zambia working to provide safety, food, medical needs and education to these orphans.

Read it all

Charged With Insulting Muslim Guest

No, not in Pakistan or Turkey or Egypt.

In Britain.

I know, I know — the story below is dated September 19. Old news.

But it’s current news because these folks’ trial is yet to come.

Christian hoteliers charged with insulting Muslim guest

Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang are charged with breaching Section 5 of the Public Order Act – causing harassment, alarm or distress. If convicted, they face fines of £2,500 each and a criminal record.

The Muslim woman was staying at the Bounty House Hotel in Liverpool, which is run by the Vogelenzangs, when a conversation arose between the hoteliers and their guest about her faith.

It is understood that among the topics debated was whether Jesus was a minor prophet, as Islam teaches, or whether he was the Son of God, as Christianity teaches.

Among the things Mr Vogelenzang, 53, is alleged to have said is that Mohammad was a warlord. His wife, 54, is said to have stated that Muslim dress is a form of bondage for women.

The conversation, on March 20, was reported by the woman to Merseyside Police. Officers told the couple that they wanted to interview them over the incident.

After being questioned on April 20, they were interrogated again three months later before being charged on July 29 with a religiously-aggravated public order offence. They appeared in court on August 14 and are now awaiting trial.

Amazing. In a sobering sort of way.

Here’s another article: Critics slam case against pair who ‘upset’ Muslim

On the Run in Egypt

Meet Maher El Gohary

It is a clear day along the coast, but in a bungalow off the beach, Maher El Gohary sits behind a locked door with an open Bible and a crystal cross, suspicious of every voice and sandal scraping past outside.

He and his daughter, Dina, live like refugees, switching apartments every few months, not wanting to get close to neighbors. Gohary’s life has been threatened, his dogs have been killed, and it’s been suggested that he’s insane or possessed by spirits.

He is a man this Muslim nation cannot fathom: a convert to Christianity.

[…]

A tall man in blue shorts and rimless glasses, Gohary, 56, looks as if he is ready to walk the beach. But he and Dina have just moved to the three-room bungalow. Their suitcases are still packed; the only thing hanging on the walls is a clothesline. Listening for noises outside, Gohary speaks of how years earlier the teachings of Jesus, especially parables on forgiveness and loving your enemy, changed his life.

“In Islam, if you steal your hands are cut off, but in Christianity you can be forgiven,” he says. “This compassion is what attracted me.”

Back then he was a young cadet at the police academy, inspired by a Christian bunkmate who ignored the taunts of Muslim recruits. Gohary, the son of a police general, began reading the Bible.

[…]

Gohary listens at the door. He doesn’t want an unexpected knock, and says he and his daughter will stay here a month or so and then move on.

Source: Los Angeles Times — A Christian on the run in Egypt

HT: Persecution.org

Favored: Fathima Rifqa Bary

The judge has ruled:

Rifqa Bary, a Christian convert whose parents are Muslim immigrants from Sri Lanka, will remain in foster care in Florida until another hearing is held Sept. 3.

[…]

Florida’s Gov. Charlie Crist weighed in on the mater Friday with the following statement: “I am grateful to Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson for his decision to grant Fathima Rifqa Bary the right to remain in Florida. … We will continue to fight to protect Rifqa’s safety and wellbeing as we move forward.”

Source: Runaway Christian Convert to Stay in Florida for Now, Judge Rules

Over at Atlas Shrugs, Pamela Geller begins her post thus:

Rifqa has been given a reprieve. SHE WILL NOT BE SENT TO OHIO! Praise G-d. She will not be sent back to her terrorized home in Ohio, at least not for now.

If you want to continue following this story, Atlas Shrugs is probably as good a place as any. I do not plan to continue coverage here.

Pray: Fathima Rifqa Bary

In a story headlined Christian girl begs state: Don’t let them kill me! WorldNetDaily is reporting:

A young Christian runaway in foster care awaits her hearing tomorrow when Florida authorities will decide whether she will be forced to return to her Muslim parents – whom she says will kill her for converting to Christianity.

Remember to pray for Fathima Rifqa Bary and the authorities deciding her fate (as it were).

Hey! You could even pray for her parents and siblings!

(And maybe I will as well.)

Update: Fathima Rifqa Bary

We start with the first paragraph of a post at Christianity Today’s blog:

Fathima Rifqa Bary’s story is quickly circulating on blogs and Christian media as proof of Islam’s violent roots and the cost of following Christ. While the latter is true no matter who’s doing the following, the former is disputable in the case of the Ohio teen who fled her home two weeks ago to meet up with Blake and Beverly Lorenz, Florida pastors she had met on Facebook.

If you want to read the full post, of course you’ll have to click the link above. (As I recall, the writer is not entirely sympathetic toward Rifqa.)

The above post is referenced over at Barth’s Notes:

A blog at Christianity Today sounds a note of caution over the case of Fathima Rifqa Bary, a Sir Lankan teenager living in Ohio who recently fled to Orlando claiming that her parents planned to kill her for converting to Christianity….

Frankly, I’ve been wondering about this whole deal, but not to the point of believing Rifqa is lying.

Whatever the case may be, this case raises (yet again) the issue of when the State may intervene in family affairs.

When??!! Did I just say that?

That accepts the premise that the State has such moral authority.

Better to substitute if for when.

If one of my children goes to CSD and says I’m being abusive, is that sufficient cause for the State to take all my children?

So, putting myself in Rifqa’s father’s shoes, well…never mind.

What do you have to say?

If the State comes for a conservative Anabaptist Mennonite’s children, that’s wrong?

But if the States takes a Muslim’s child, not only is that understandable, it’s also justifiable?

Oh, wait…here’s a piece from the Pakistan Daily:

A very disconcerting video is being shown by the Christan church. A minor Sri Lankan girl belonging to well to do parents has been kidnapped by a church in Ohio and being kept away from the legal guardians and parents of the girl. The family maintains that the girls was into drugs, promiscuous behaviour and raunchy messages on facebook. She was discussing sex with multiple older married men. When the parents tried to control her behaviour she refused to do so. On her return to the home she conjured up a story of conversion to Christianity. There are serious accusations against the church on holding a minor girl in custody against the will of her guardians and parents. How many more girls will the church kidnap?

Media reports indicate that the Muslim father denies his daughter’s charge that he plans to take her life in an “honor killing” because of her conversion to Christianity. And certainly he could have no intention of committing such a heinous act.

😯

Now what shall we believe?!

Fathima Rifqa Bary: Endangered?

First, from yesterday’s Miami Herald:

An Orlando judge on Monday ordered the 17-year-old woman into the custody of the Department of Children and Families until another hearing next week.

The teenager, who is not a U.S. citizen, says she fears her family would hurt her, kill her or send her back to her native Sri Lanka. Her parents live in Franklin County, Ohio.

The teenager took a bus from Ohio to Orlando. She has been staying with a family she met through a Christian prayer group on Facebook.

And now from this morning’s Examiner:

Rifqa claims her father repeatedly threatened to kill her for abandoning her Muslim upbringing, so the teen fled to Florida to stay with Pastors Blake and Beverly Lorenz of Global Revolution Church in Orlando, whom she had met on Facebook. The Lorenz’s sought the advice of attorneys and alerted authorities that the missing girl was in Florida.

The girl’s father, Mohamed Bary, has denied the allegations and traveled to Florida to bring his daughter home. However, the Florida DCF wants to be sure the girl is safe before sending her back to Ohio, who likely has jurisdiction in the case.

WFTV in Orlando, FL reports that DCF attorney Karelene Cole-Palmer has said, “There are too many conflicting things that are going on with this child and it needs to be investigated thoroughly.”

But for now, the girl will remain in the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families until her next hearing on August 21.

PS: I’m a slow dial-up connection. Is that an objectionable video?

Above all, love God!