My Story

Marhaba!

I am surprised at how many views my blog has! To all my new readers, a big HELLO. To all my haters, a big GOD BLESS YOU! And to those who have stumbled upon my blog, WELCOME.

I began this blog to talk about my experience in the Middle East. But since I'm not there anymore, I am keeping this blog and adding to it, with news regarding the persecuted body of Christ. Because they still need their voices to be heard. 

BUT if you're still reading, then here is my story:

In Kuwait I was working as a civilian defense contractor on a military base. I lived in Kuwait City and commuted 2 hours from the Persian Gulf Coast city of Salmiyah, to the border of Kuwait & Iraq to get to work. It was one of the most valuable experiences in my life. Not necessarily working on a military base, but because I got to live among a unique culture. Really it was a mix of culture- Arabs, Indians, Philippinos, etc. I saw how badly most (not all) Arabs treat people from India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc. I saw a unique class system. I witnessed maids being stuffed in the trunk area of an SUV while the rest of the seats were empty. 

The rest of the seats were empty yet look where the maid is sitting. I was shocked!

I saw how much money they made from our purchase of oil and how they would lavishly spend it on expensive sports cars, the latest technology, high fashion, and lots of food.

But I was also able to travel to surrounding countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain, Israel, Dubai (went twice), Abu Dhabi, even England. I learned a LOT about Islam and the culture differences between East & West. 

Living in that region also exposed me to Christian persecution. It's not that there was a lot of persecution in Kuwait, but daily there were reports in the newspaper & on the news stations about churches being bombed in Egypt & Iraq. Christians being burned alive, butchered, hunted, beheaded, raped, imprisoned, enslaved- in North Africa. Christians being accused of blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed and being thrown in jail pending the death penalty. I was so overwhelmed with the horrible reality of what our brothers and sisters were facing that my faith was shaken. I knew that God warned us about persecution.....but somehow what I was witnessing and what I had been taught in church all the way in the U.S. just was not jiving....in the American churches, the pastor does mention trials & suffering but ultimately, it's such a positive, hopeful message that leads us to believe that everything will be ok, God will protect you especially when you're in His will, nothing can touch you. While some things may be true in its original context, part of God's will IS to suffer, some He wills to be martyred. But I was struggling with what I've been hearing and from what I was seeing. 

What separates me from the Nigerian Christians who weekly attend church services KNOWING their church is most likely going to be bombed b/c every Sunday a different church gets bombed? Nothing makes me different than they except geography. Why would God want to spare my life should something dreadful befall me, if he doesn't even spare poor, starving Africans who worship Him? They get hacked to death with machetes by Islamists. I really began to be very afraid. Even on flights travelling to other countries, I would pray that the Lord keeps the plane safe and then I would begin to freak out b/c I felt like praying was useless- God WILL allow evil to befall me if it is his will. I struggled to pick up my Bible & struggled to pray. On top of that, I started to fear death. I never was really afraid to die b/c I just never thought about it. But living amongst the people in Kuwait- the Middle East, did give me anxiety at night. I was assigned an apartment with a roommate. Every night as I lay in bed I thought, "I wonder if my apartment will be bombed since there are many American contractors in here." Or when I would walk past parked cars to get to my apartment I was always afraid that there may be a car bomb going off. Nothing did happen in Kuwait since they are great at foiling terror plots. One plot was stopped but they got close to one of our bases with explosives. I would read in the local English newspaper of Iranian spy rings, terror rings, etc. And when it was my day off and I went to the mall, as I sat enjoying some food- I too feared an explosion. 

So my trust in God went out the window. How I could feel 'safe' in his arms? What really shook my faith the most was the real story of 2 missionary couples. These couples lived on a boat and traveled to many small parts of the world giving away Bibles to unreached people. Well their boat was hijacked by pirates and they were held hostage. I immediately prayed for their safety and release. I was pleading with God and in a way, telling him, "Lord if you miraculously let them go, I'll be able to trust you again! Lord I need to see a miracle b/c my faith is fading!" I couldn't even sleep,  I kept thinking about the four, their safety, and praying. Surely God would let them go to continue their work in leading people to Christ right? About 3 days later the U.S. intervenes. They take the boat back away from the pirates. But all 4 were dead. http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-202_162-20034691.html

That broke my heart. I literally sobbed like a baby. I was mad at God. Of course I still loved him and I had to remind myself that Jesus warned us, "in this world you WILL have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world." It was an inner struggle between my logic, between the ugly realities, and my weak faith holding onto the very words about persecution, suffering, and God's will. But I still couldn't read the Bible. I still didn't pray as much. But I still kept paying attention to the news regarding Christian persecution b/c it still kept happening. I was mad at the American Christians. I was disgusted that SO many of our brothers and sisters are suffering in such cruel, inhumane ways and the American church does nothing! They pray and that's it. I found organizations that go to those places and help rebuild villages, provide Bibles, provide training for local pastors, provide for widows of pastors, provide for orphans whose parents have been killed for being Christian. I learned that there is more the American church can do than just pray. They can give. And more than that, I realized that American's didn't know what was going on b/c they weren't exposed to it nor is it ever on the news. So another way to help the persecuted body is to let their voices be heard. So I started posting articles, gruesome pictures, and links on Facebook about Christian persecution. It was the ugly reality that needed to be seen. People were telling me how much negativity I posted on FB- but that was just a LITTLE bit of the reality I was seeing. Then what pissed me off was that some people were complaining to me about the images and negativity that showed up on their feed rather than accepting the truth. Now, at the time I was a bit zealous and mad at Christians and felt unsure about God (though I didn't blame him since we have been warned), so I know I can't push my convictions on others. But we in the West have a lot of unused power to make a difference and yet we don't.  Few, however, do.

Now, I kept seeking miracles through horror stories. I wanted God to restore my hope. One story I read was finally enough to get me back on track with God. This is the story: https://www.facebook.com/notes/jessica-vasquez-cone/captured-woman-freed/10150104412253364

Well anyway, sorry I wrote a book ahaha! But I now have a huge burden for the persecuted body of Christ and that is just one of the reasons why my time in Kuwait has changed my life.

"Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness"

Lamentations 3:22-23

Obama Accused of ‘Crimes Against Humanity’

by Raymond Ibrahim on November 7, 2013 in Islam, Other Matters

According to Egyptian newspaper El Watan, a group of Egyptian lawyers has submitted a complaint charging U.S. president Barrack Hussein Obama with crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.

The complaint charges Obama of being an accessory to the Muslim Brotherhood, which incited widespread violence in Egypt both before and after the June 30 Revolution.

Along with Obama, the complaint reproduced by El Watan mentions several Brotherhood members by name, beginning with the leader of the organization Muhammad Badie, and other top ranking leaders such as Mohamed al-Beltagy, Essam al-Erian, and Safwat Hegazi, adding that “Obama cooperated, incited, and assisted the armed elements of the Muslim Brotherhood in the commission of crimes against humanity in the period from 3/7/2013-8/18/2013, in the Arab Republic of Egypt.”

According to the published text, the complaint begins by quoting Article 7/1 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, titled “Crimes against humanity,” which is reproduced below:

Article 7

Crimes against humanity

1. For the purpose of this Statute, “crime against humanity” means any of the following

acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against

any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:

(a) Murder;

(b) Extermination;

(c) Enslavement;

(d) Deportation or forcible transfer of population;

(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;

(f) Torture;

(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced

sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;

(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial,

national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other

grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international

law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime

within the jurisdiction of the Court;

(i) Enforced disappearance of persons;

(j) The crime of apartheid;

(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great

suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.

Next, the complaint shows how Muslim Brotherhood leadership violated some of the above definitions, for example, by torturing, mutilating, raping, and killing Egyptians in their “sit in” camps (first reported here), with a highlight on the role the Brotherhood played in inciting violence and the killing of peaceful protesters around Itthadiya Palace back in December.

Above and beyond the accusations of crimes against humanity that the lawyer-drafted complaint cited by El Watan levels against the Brotherhood, one need only look to the fate of Egypt’s Christian minority, who were especially targeted by the Muslim Brotherhood—and thus, by extension, their supporter, Obama—to see numerous examples of nearly every aforementioned definition of crimes against humanity, as follows:

Religious Persecution and Apartheid (see h and j) 

Right after Morsi was ousted, the Muslim Brotherhood, including its supreme leader, Muhammad Badie, and its spiritual leader, Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, as well as several of the other Brotherhood members mentioned in the complaint, publicly scapegoated the Christian minority for daring to support the popular June 30 Revolution (that is, for acting like equal citizens as opposed to coweddhimmis as required by Islamic law).  The aftermath of the atrocities committed against the Copts are well known (to those who do not exclusively rely on the so-called mainstream media), and include the torching, destroying, and plundering of at some 85 churches, some of which were ancient.  Islam’s back flag was raised above some churches; anti-Christian graffiti littered the sides of other churches and Coptic homes.

Murder and Extermination (see a and b)

Among many others to be murdered in response to Brotherhood-incitement against the Copts, aten-year-old girl was shot and killed while walking back from Bible class.  In the Sinai, a young Coptic priest was shot dead in front of his church, while the body of another Copt was found mutilated and beheaded.  Four other Christians were slaughtered by Muslims in Luxor province.  Most recently, a church wedding was attacked, leaving, among others, two girls, aged eight and twelve, dead and riddled with bullets.

As for “extermination,” the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters have long been threatening the Copts with annihilation if they ever opposed them.  Back in December 2012, Safwat Hegazi (a leading Brotherhood member named in the complaint, publicly declared during a Brotherhood rally:

A message to the church of Egypt, from an Egyptian Muslim: I tell the church—by Allah, and again, by Allah—if you conspire and unite with the remnants [opposition] to bring Morsi down, that will be another matter [screams of "Allah Akbar!" followed by chants of "With our soul, with our blood, we give to you, O Islam!"]… [T]here are red lines—and our red line is the legitimacy of Dr. Muhammad Morsi. Whoever splashes water on it, we will splash blood on him” [followed by more wild shouts of "Allah Akbar!"]

Around the same time, and more to the point, Dr. Wagdi Ghoneim—another vocal Brotherhood agitator who earlier praised Allah for the death of the late Coptic Pope Shenouda, cursing him to hell and damnation in a video he posted on YouTube—made another video telling Egypt’s Christians:

You are playing with fire in Egypt, I swear, the first people to be burned by the fire are you [Copts].” … The day Egyptians—and I don’t even mean the Muslim Brotherhood or Salafis, regular Egyptians—feel that you are against them, you will be wiped off the face of the earth. I’m warning you now: do not play with fire!… What do you think—that America will protect you? Let’s be very clear, America will not protect you. If so, it would have protected the Christians of Iraq when they were being butchered!

Ghoneim’s words have proven prophetic—an indicator that this Egyptian hatemongering sheikh, who was expelled under Hosni Mubarak, knows the conduct of America’s leadership better than most Americans.  Along with Iraq’s and Egypt’s Christians, he could have mentioned the Christians of Syria as well, who are being decimated thanks to Obama’s support for al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists, AKA, “freedom fighters.”

Deportation, Extortion, Kidnapping, and General Abuse of Copts (see c, d, e, f, g, and i)

Since the Muslim Brotherhood publicly denounced the Copts, entire towns and villages have been emptied of Christians—for example, more than 100 Christian families from El Arish. After mentioning the mass destruction of churches during a recent conference, and speaking of a different incident, Dr. Sherif Doss, an Egyptian activist, said, “But worst of all, about 140 families were evicted from their own homes; and worse still is that, not only were they thrown out of their houses, but their shops and properties were robbed and destroyed… General Sisi has promised to rebuild the churches and this takes time to be done. But we can’t wait all that time for those people destitute and in the streets, with no place to live and nowhere to work…. These people are in a very bad condition. If you go and see these villages, you will be amazed—it is as if a nuclear bomb exploded there. People burned and plundered their homes without mercy.”

Similarly, Muslim Brotherhood supporters are extorting Copts, rationalized in the context of making them pay jizya—the money, or tribute, that conquered non-Muslims historically had to pay to their Islamic overlords “with willing submission and while feeling themselves subdued” to safeguard their existence, as indicated in Koran 9:29.  For instance, the roughly 15,000 Christian Copts of Dalga village in south Minya province were recently forced to pay jizya.  In some cases, those not able to pay were attacked, their wives and children beaten and/or kidnapped.  As a result, some 40 Christian families had fled Dalga, joining the ever growing list of displaced Christians in the Middle East.

Days before the June 30 Revolution, letters addressed to the Copts threatened them not to join the protests against Morsi, otherwise their “businesses, cars, homes, schools, and churches” might “catch fire”—which of course they all did. The message concluded by saying “If you are not worried about any of these, then worry about your children and your homes.”

Such threats, as mentioned, were hardly limited to anonymous letters.  During a TV interview, Sheikh Essam Abdulamek, a then member of parliament’s Shura Council, warned Egypt’s Christians against participating in the June 30 Revolution against Morsi, threatening them by saying “Do not sacrifice your children” since “general Muslim opinion will not be silent about the ousting of the president [Morsi].”

And the children of Copts have certainly been targeted—both during and after Morsi’s tenure.  Some, especially young girls, are regularly abducted, raped, and shamed into converting to Islam and “marrying” their rapists. Coptic boys have increasingly been abducted from the doorsteps of their churches and held for ransom. Recently, a 6-year-old Christian boy was murdered by his kidnapper—after the boy’s family paid the ransom.  (Read more about the jihad on Egypt’s Christian children.)

——

In short, by simply focusing on the plight of Egypt’s Christians, almost every criterion found under the category of “crimes against humanity”—including murder, extermination, deportation, torture, rape, disappearance, apartheid and religious persecution—are met.

Only one is necessary for the charge to stick.

As for the Obama administration’s support for the Brotherhood, if most Americans are clueless or indifferent about it, average Egyptians have long known and resented it—hence the many large placards and signs held during the June 30 Revolution calling on Obama to stop supporting terrorism and calling on Americans to wake up.

One need only follow the words and deeds of Anne Patterson, John McCain, Lindsay Graham,Hillary Clinton, et. al. to know that the U.S president is a firm supporter of the crimes-against-humanity-committing Muslim Brotherhood.

Of course, whatever the merits of El Watan’s report—here is another English-language articletalking about apparently a different complaint of crimes against humanity leveled against Obama by Coptic activists—all these complaints seem futile, as the U.S. is not a signatory to the International Criminal Court.

However, all technicalities aside, the facts are clear: by any definition, the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters have committed numerous crimes against humanity in Egypt, especially in the context of the Christian Copts; and by its ongoing support for the Brotherhood, the Obama administration is complicit.   Remember this next time the Obama administration cites concerns about “human rights” violations as reason to involve the U.S. in war—as it recently tried to do in Syria, again, to support more Islamic terrorists who are committing even worse crimes against humanity.

Watch Raymond Ibrahim discuss this report on CBN News:

North Korea- The Most Difficult Nation To Be A Christian

For the past 11 years, North Korea has been ranked #1 on the

 Open Doors World Watch List.

It is ILLEGAL to be a Christian in this totalitarian state. 

Christians cannot attend church openly. If their faith is discovered, 

they and up to three generations of their family could be sent to a 

prison camp for life. If they are caught with a Bible, they could be 

publicly executed.

North Korea seems like a dark and hopeless place- but the 

light of Christ is still shining!

Even though it is illegal, it is estimated that there are 400,000 

Christians in North Korea

… and the church continues to grow!

Open Doors is able to help North Korean 

Christians by providing safe houses, 

emergency aid and other needed items.

Would you join with us in strengthening believers in 

the most hostile nation on earth? 

Your gift will not only save lives, but will allow the

 gospel to prevail in this seemingly 

hopeless place.

Thank you for standing with our North Korean brothers and sisters!