Bridge of Grace

Link to Video The Social Media world was stunned as horrific videos surfaced of  Sri Lankan Christian Priyanthna Diyawadana being beaten to death and then lit on fire by a mob of Pakistanis in the city of Sialkot.  Priyanthna worked as a manager of Rajco Industries, a sportswear factor in Pakistan for the past seven years.  One day, he took down a poster that contained verses of the Qur'an and soon afterward, was accused of blasphemy.   Pakistan's blasphemy laws mandate lengthy prison terms, and in some cases, the death penalty, to any who insult Islam.  This can including "desecrating the Qur'an," "insulting Muhammad," or simply saying anything that is viewed as being "offensive to Islam."  In one highly publicized case, Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi spent 8 years on death row for Blasphemy, a sentence that was overturned only after International Outrage pressured Pakistan's Supreme Court to overturn the conviction and allow her to l...

Iran is a police state.  Everyday dissidents are arrested, imprisoned, or simply "disappear."  Speaking out against the regime could mean the end of you.  However, this does not stop courageous Iranians from standing up and speaking out.  Having endured over 40 years of dictatorship and repression, the people yearn for their freedom, but the Security Forces seek to deny the people this people.   For nearly two weeks, demonstrators in the Iranian city of Isfahan gathered in protest of the nations growing water shortage, a shortage blamed by many on government mismanagement.  Initially, the government tolerated this, but then the inevitable crackdown happened.  Security Forces stormed into the demonstrators, beating many with riot clubs, firing tear gas, and setting their tents on fire.  Sixty-seven demonstrators were arrested and many more injured.  As they were attacked, demonstrators screamed "Shame on you," "Death to the Dictator," "De...

Born in the Sinjar region of Iraq in 1993, Nadia Murad was abducted by ISIS militants in August of 2014 along with 6700 other Yazidi women.  For several months, Nadia was imprisoned, tortured, and repeatedly raped by ISIS terrorists.  By what can only be described as a miracle, Nadia escaped and managed to flee to a refugee camp in Germany.  Ever since her escape to freedom, Nadia has worked tirelessly against human trafficking and the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war.   Nadia formed the organization "Nadia's Initiative" and in 2018 received the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts.  Recently, Nadia was scheduled to speak at an event hosted by the Toronto School District where she would share her experience with students from over 600 schools.  However, the event was canceled by District Superintendent Helen Fisher, over fears of "Offending Muslims & Fostering Islamophobia."   The canceling of this even is not only absurd, but it is...

In December of 2017 I made my first visit to the nation of Pakistan.  It was during this visit that I witnessed slavery with my own eyes.  On several occasions, I accompanied my hosts to visit Pakistanis working in brick kilns.  I learned during my visit that families who live in these kilns are forced to work 14-16 hours a day, 7 days a week, to make bricks.  Each family is only paid $10 a day for their labor.  It is impossible for families to survive on such a low wage, which forces them to borrow money from the landlord who owns the kiln, placing the family in permanent debt that they can never pay off.  I was even more horrified to learn that children as young as 7 are also forced to work as slaves.   Visiting Slave Children During My Second Trip Prior to my trip, I had read Malala's Yousafzai's book and was deeply moved about how this courageous young Pakistani girl It was upon witnessing this that my Pakistani friends and I made th...

During my studies of the Bible, I became confirmed of something that I had already known for some time: Church Leaders don't always tell the truth.  Many of these lies, both past and present, are taught be various pastors and laymen for numerous denominations all over the world.  In most cases, these lies are told because they fail to understand what Jesus is actually telling us.  They only read portions of the scriptures and fail to read it in its entirety, or they read the Gospels and come to the wrong conclusion about what is being said to us.  Steve McVey's books serves to illustrate to us that even to this day, Church leaders and laymen alike can often misinterpret or distort the scriptures, but the scriptures themselves remain unchanged because God's eternal Truth never changes.  The message of God is straightforward it is a message of eternal love.   Let us take a look at a few of the lies that are we may have heard over the years:  Li...

Dilek is a Christian from Sudan who fled to Egypt to escape the ongoing persecution within his native country.  During his last incarceration in the Sudan, Dilek was imprisoned and beaten by Sudanese authorities for three days.  Though released, Dilek was kept under constant surveillance for months, which ultimately made him decide to leave his country.  Prior to this arrest, Dilek had been born to a Muslim household.  His father had three wives, who bore him 24 children.  All of his life, Dilek's parents taught their children to hate Christianity.  When he was a teenager, Dilek acquired a Bible.  His purpose was to disprove it so he could convince his Christian classmates that Islam was the truth.  Instead, the opposite happened.  Dilek became a believer.   Dilek's conversion was soon discovered by his family.  His father began to beat him regularly and even had his brother, a government official, to throw his own son in jail....

In the year 2013 Dominia's husband passed away.  Poverty and lack of care from her husband's parents forced Dominia & her three preteen children to move into a poor neighborhood and live with little income.  Making matters worse, Dominia fell into illness and none of the medical treatments seemed to be working.  Her physician, who happened to be a Christian, suggested an alternative treatment method: prayer.  Dominia took her physician's advice, and asked Jesus to heal her of her ailment.  Amazingly, Dominia began to feel better and her illness went away.   Stunned by this, Dominia began to reconsider her long-time Islamic faith and began praying for God to reveal Himself to her.  Soon afterward, Dominia witnessed a vision of Christ and felt immediate peace.  Noticing her change, Dominia's children also turned to Jesus, and the family soon began to attend church in Cairo.   Sadly, Dominia's struggles were not over.  Within ...