Bridge of Grace

The UNRWA has received billions in funding from the International Community, with nothing to show for it.  The U.S., weary of an organization that has done little to facilitate peace or assist in resolving the ongoing Palestinian Refugee problem, has decided to cut back on its funding of the organization.  While many express concern that this could further destabilize the Middle East, one must ask the following question: "If the Islamic nations of the Middle East cared so much for the Palestinians, why don't they fund the UNRWA?" The answer is simple.  The Arab & Muslim nations of the region are not as naive as the Europeans, who continue to pay millions of dollars to UNRWA. European Union leaders and governments are playing their own people for fools by not telling them that even the Arabs and Muslims do not waste their money on a UN agency that has created new generations of fake refugees by allowing second and third generations to inherit UNRWA's status of ...

Daniel Shayesteh was born to a nominal Muslim family in northern Iran.  Though his family was considered nominal, disdain of Christians and Jews was widely taught in every aspect of Iranian society.  During is college years in the late 1970's he ceased being nominal and became a devout follower of his faith as well as a staunch supporter of Ayatollah Khomeini.  He, along with many Leftists and Islamists, angered by what they felt was a corrupt and repressive society, united to to oust the Shah of Iran.   The Iranian Revolution was soon taken over by Ayatollah Khomeini, and both sides  blindly followed Khomeini, believing he would usher Iran into a new Golden Age.  Unfortunately, Shaytesteh and many opponents of the Shah were deceived by Khomeini.  Most of the revolutionaries did not  understand how Khomeini would change their country.   Daniel Shayesteh testified that Ayatollah Khomeini promised Democr...

In recent years, NFL player Colin Kaepernick created a stir throughout the nation when he chose to kneel during the playing of the National Anthem in protest of Police Brutality against Minority Communities, particular African-Americans, here in the United States.  During this time of controversy, I personally chose to keep my views on this matter to myself.  I had mixed feelings, about the issue at hand, as well as how it was being protested, but regardless, I believed that Kaepernick had the right to stand, or in this case, kneel for his beliefs, because I am a firm believer in the First Amendment of the Constitution.  However, over time I began to realize that the NFL, like many in America, only support the First Amendment when it comes to expression views that they agree with, but when it comes to views that they disagree with, they want the First Amendment to be suppressed, rather than be upheld. Let me cite a few examples.  After the shooting of Five Dallas...

Naha is a 17-year-old Christian who works in a private hospital in Sahiwal.  At 7:30 in the morning of 15 Aug 2018 she left home as usual for her shift at work but she never arrived. Some local Muslims kidnapped her and held her captive. First they forced her to convert to Islam and then they forced her to marry a Muslim man. The image shows Naha’s father, mother and aunt Her family reported the crime to the police but no arrests were made.   Now the kidnappers are claiming that Naha accepted Islam voluntarily; but they do not allow her to appear in court in person. Instead they have produced forged documents to “prove” that her conversion was voluntary.    Naha’s family is distraught. They are crying for justice for their only daughter. “If she has truly accepted Islam,” they say, “then we want to meet with her in person and hear about it from her. But it’s all a lie. She has been kidnapped.”

Christian women are not safe in their own homes in Pakistan.  Rubina  is a Christian who lives with her husband and three daughters and works at a brick kiln factory.   Her boss, the factory owner, wants her to leave Christianity and accept Islam. He tried to persuade her by arguing that she would go to Heaven and that all her financial problems would be solved if she became a Muslim.   When she did not accept this reasoning, he locked her up in a room and told her: “Your punishment for rejecting Islam will be to live here as a sex-slave forever.” Rubina replied: “Jesus Christ will help me.” Somehow she managed to escape and return home to her family.   Now she is appealing for justice from the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of Pakistan; but nobody is listening to her plight because she is a Christian.   As you can see from my previous posts, Rubina’s story is not an isolated incident. It happens to many Christian women in Pakis...

In August of 2018, Hicham Nostik,  a Moroccan Migrant to Germany gave an interview.  He confessed to being a very devout follower of Islam when he migrated from Morocco to the Germany in the 1990's.  When he first arrived, he lived at the local mosque.  At the time he arrived, the Bosnian War was raging & Mujahideen (Islamic Fighters) were constantly coming in and out of the Mosque on their way to and from the war in Bosnia.  Hicham continually interacted with the Mujahideen and soon began to understand what he dubs as "the Dark Side of Islam."  He learned that the Mujhadideen were not simply fighting for the independence of nations or to drive out foreign incursions, but to implement Sharia Law throughout the World. Hicham soon learned that the Mujadideen had no intention of stopping when the conflict in Bosnia finally ended.  They planned to forcefully implement Sharia Law in Germany as well.  Hicham's mosque soon began to play a twisted...

When I first examined the Qur'an, I did not seek to see if it was theologically accurate, or if it contain good moral teachings, but to see if it was historically trustworthy.  As a historian, it is important to me that a  text be historically accurate.  If it is not, then the reliability of this text needs to be seriously scrutinized.  As I examined each Surah of the Qur'an, I began to find historical flaws throughout the entire Text.    Surah 4:157:  And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah ." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them.  The Qur’an says Jesus was not crucified here.  However, there are problems with this.  The entire  New Testament verifies crucifixion, and earliest writings less than 20 years after his death.  Not to mention that there are sources outside the Bible that confirm ...

In the time of Ancient Israel, the Temple Mount was the Holiest site in all of Judaism.  It is the place where King Solomon built the First Holy Temple as the resting place for the Ark of the Covenant.  The place of the Ark was known appropriately as the Holiest of Holies.  Nobody was permitted to enter this sacred place except for the High Priest, and he could only enter on Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement.  The Temple Mount to this day is sacred to the Jewish people, and yet, the Jewish nation of Israel gave the site over the the Muslim Arabs in exchange for the hope of peace! In the aftermath of the 6-Day War of 1967, the Temple Mount found itself under Jewish control for the first time since the Bar Kokhba Revolt of 132 A.D.  Yet the first thing that the nation of Israel did was return the site back to the Arabs and begin placing serious limitations on Jewish and Christian rights on the Temple Mount.  Ever since the 6-Day War of 1967, Mu...

Dr. Nemam Ghafouri was born in a cave in Iraq on Christmas Day in 1968 to a Kurdish-Muslim refugee family.  Forced to flee to Iran due to the ongoing persecution of Kurds in Iraq, the Ghafouri family continued to fall victim of persecution in Iran due to their Kurdish ethnicity and their friendly relationship with the Christian community.  Eventually, the family settled in Sweden where Dr. Ghafouri received her medical training.  Her own history of persecution led Dr. Ghafouri to develop deep sympathy for the Christian and Yazidi communities of the Middle East, which is why she decided to return to her homeland to help the Yazidi community after learning of their slaughter at the hands of ISIS.  At the International Christian Concern Conference of 2016 Dr. Ghafouri described the how so many have had to endure the Horrors of ISIS.   After her family fled Iraq, Dr. Ghafouri's mother prayed that nobody else would ever have to go through what their family w...

In the year 2016 I had the opportunity to attend a Persecuted Christian Conference and meet Juliana Taimoorazy, the founder of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council .  During the conference, Juliana shared her background with us.  Born in Iran, Juliana faced immense persecution in Iran for being an Assyrian Christian.  She was eventually smuggled out of the country.  She first stayed in Switzerland, then Germany, before being granted asylum in America in Dec. 1990.   Juliana explained to us that for centuries, the Assyrian Christian Community has been suffering ongoing attacks in the name of Jihad.  During the First World War, Assyrian Christians were also targeted by the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian Genocide.  Hundreds of thousands of Assyrians were slaughtered, yet to this day, the Jihadists are still seeking to annihilate this community once and for all.  Juliana testified that in the past 120 years, she has lost eight relatives to...

In April of 2018, a young Pakistani Christian woman by the name of Asma Yaqoob was approached by a Muslim man by the name of Rizwan Gujjar.  Rizwan asked Asma to convert to Islam and marry him, she refused to do so.  A few days later, Rizwan came o the gate of her workplace where Asma worked as a beautician.  At the gate, he claimed to be her brother.  When Asma came to greet the man that she thought she was her brother, Rizwan launched a viscous attack, dousing Asma with acid and setting her on fire.  Over 90% of her body was burned.  Sadly, Asma died of her wounds a few days later.  Attacks like this are frequently carried out on women throughout the Middle East, especially those of a minority faith.  For far too long, the international community has turned a blind eye to these horrible crimes.   Our organization at Express Missions International seeks to help shelter women like Asma who are being stalked and victimized throughout ...

Throughout the world, we hear people calling for a "Free Palestine."  However, many fail to understand that giving a group of people a state does not necessarily mean that you're giving them freedom.  The journalists who work in territories run by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority can attest to this.  Throughout these territories, journalists, especially those critical to the policies of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, fines, and even imprisonment.   In a recent case, Hebron radio host Mohammed Abu Jhaisheh refused a command from the Palestinian Authority to report to security forces for interrogation.  He was ultimately detained for four days and fined $700 for tearing up his summons and posting it on social media.  In a survey of over 300 journalists conducted in January of this year, the overwhelming majority believed that the Palestinian Authority was not granting them freedom of the press...

The First Week of September has witnessed the continuous attacks on Christian individuals throughout the country of Pakistan.  One of the most recent attacks was on a young Christian man by the name of Faraz Baddar.  Faraz worked as a manager of in a local hospital in the city of Gurjanwala.  As he was returning home from work a two men on a motorcycle rode up and doused him in acid.  It is suspected that the attack was carried out by two of his Muslim coworkers who resented the fact that they had to work under the supervision of a Christian. Faraz's entire body was burned from this vicious attack.  He is now under care of the Mayo Hospital in Lahore.  He hopes to recover quickly and return to his normal life.  Unfortunately, his attackers remain at large.  Attacks like this against Christians are quite common in Pakistan, and all too often, the local authorities decide to simply look the other way.   Sources: Bakhsh, Madeeha....

Former Al Azhar Professor Dr. Mansour warned that for years Wahhabists from Saudi Arabia have been taking over Egypt's academic institutions & are infiltrating their will on the country.  Al Azhar professor Suad Saleh is proof of this.  In September, 2014, Dr. Saleh admitted on Egyptian TV that Islamic doctrine permits Muslim soldiers to take the women of their enemies as sex slaves.   Dr. Saleh confesses that this is a practice that numerous ancient societies followed, including pre-Islamic tribal societies that lived throughout the Arabian Peninsula.  Dr. Saleh states that Islamic doctrine never abolished this practice, but simply sought to make the practice more structured and manageable.  Unfortunately, Dr. Saleh is views are not dissuaded by Islamic scripture.  In fact, they are encouraged by it.  There are numerous verses in the Qur'an that permit Muslim warriors to take the captive women of their enemies as "Spoils of War."...

In the world today UNICEF estimates that in 30 nations throughout Africa, Asia, & the Middle East that over 200 million women have fallen victim to female Genital Mutilation.  I have read the testimonies of women such as Ayan Hirsi Ali (a native of Somalia) and Mende Nazer (a native of the South Sudan), who underwent female genital mutilation.  Their testimony of the pain & the psychological trauma that followed is enough make anybody cringe.  Today, many critics of the practice laid the blame on Islamic Law (Sharia), stating it is a practice mandated by Sharia.  However, Islamic apologists such as Reza Azlan & Linda Sarsour insist Female Genital Mutilation is a cultural practice and isn't mandated by Islamic Law.  So who is right? As I researched this issue I will say this in defense of the Islamic apologists, there is no text in the  Qur'an that specifically mandates the practice of female genital mutilation, nor are there any verses that...

Mina Nevisa was born to a devout and wealthy family in Iran.  Though devout followers of their faith, Mina had everything one could want.  A family who loved her, respect among the community, plenty of money, a good education, everything that many in the world can only dream of having.  Yet Mina soon realized that there was a problem.  She was never allowed to question her faith.  One day she asked her father a some simple questions:  Why does the Salat (Islamic Prayer) have to be said in Arabic and not my native language of Farsi?  Can’t Allah understand the other languages of the world?  Why must it be said at specific times?  Doesn't he always hear us no matter what time we pray? Her father flew into a rage and stated that the faith was never to be questioned, only obeyed with complete submission.  Nevertheless, as time went on, Mina continued to ask questions, and she did not find the answers in Islam.  It was only after ...

Anni Cyrus was born and raised in the nation of Iran.  She was raised by a Sheikh under strict Sharia Law.  By the age of nine, she was considered an "adult woman."  This was the Law under Sharia.  During her time in Iran, she received her first lashing for riding in the front seat of a taxi cab and the driver falsely stated that they had a relationship.  Though this was a lie, the judge took the cab drivers word over hers, as under Sharia, a woman's testimony counts for half of a man's.  She was forced to leave school because her father decreed it, and she had no right to challenge it.  This is due to the fact that Surah 4:34 dictated that women were inferior to men and as a result, men have full authority over them.  At age 15, Anni was forced to marry an older man against her will.  She was constantly raped and beaten by her husband, and neither her father nor the courts helped her, stating that Surah 4:34 states that a husband can beat ...