The baby coos and smiles at the kitten that walks into the room. Her cherub face is full of innocence as she glances up at her mother. She squeezes the baby tight to her body. There is no fear in the little one’s eyes, only wonder. She has no idea what her mother went through to be at this point. The mother, Sajaa is just 20 years old, but has already lived a lifetime of danger. She and her two... Read more
I was like a man walking into the desert without a plan. As a writer, it’s hard not to think ahead about plot lines and the twists that lead to the explosive ending. I wanted to develop a lead and an outline before I even boarded an airplane. I wanted to write the story and just fill in the blanks along the way. But I committed to sit back and let God write the story, to prepare the steps and... Read more
The Syrian crisis is a humanitarian issue that should rivet the world. Political leaders, thinkers, religious figures and aid workers should come together and figure how to end the dismantling of a once prosperous and free country. But God isn’t waiting for any those things before He acts. I’m here in Jordan listening and observing, to see how God is at work in two different refugee fronts – the ISIS situation in Northern Iraq and other states and the Syrian... Read more
His name is Jack. It’s not a typical Middle Eastern name, sounding more like a New Englander instead of a kid from Aleppo, Syria. He’s 12 and he lights up the room. He misses his friends. His toys. His grandmother. Just nine months ago his family left everything in Syria. According to his dad, Albert, their refugee status isn’t economic. It isn’t out of convenience as some in the media want us to believe. They were targeted for their faith.... Read more
I recently spent a couple of days last week with the leadership of the Voice of the Truth Ministries, who have ministered to Muslim around the world for 43 years. I thought I would hear despair and hand wringing, frustration at a world that seems crazy. I got just the opposite. According to the Dr. Mateen Elas who serves with the ministry, the chaos of the Middle East is actually seeing opportunity as never before. “For decades, the veil was... Read more
I can’t believe I’m doing this. I’m a middle-aged government office worker who, until recently, had little exposure to the Middle East beyond pita bread and Indiana Jones movies. But now, I have an amazing opportunity to interview Christian families who have been impacted by persecution. How did I get to this place? Give me two paragraphs to tell you about this extraordinary year. First, I was invited by the Jordanian Tourism Board as one of 12 Christian writers to tour their country to see... Read more
Bowing to pressure from some activists, Whole Foods announced they would quit selling products produced by inmates of the Colorado prison system. Whole Foods said it has sold tilapia, trout and goat cheese produced through the program at some stores for years. At first, this sounds laudable. Who wants to profit from prison labor? The thought of forced labor pierces through our collective conscience. It sounds inhumane. But when you get past the headlines and hyperbole, the story changes. Walk... Read more
The news reports and the haunting faces scrambling across Europe are jarring. They are desperate images with photographers eager to capture the tear, the frightening toddler or the crippled woman. The refugee and immigration crisis is one that is knocking at nearly every European door and officials are being pressured to do more. As Christians, our hearts are pricked. Our compassion moves us and our spirit is stirred. We want to do something, anything. But it is also important to... Read more
Our black lab, Obie, was a great dog, but adventurous. Every squirrel needed to be chased, every hole in the ground held a mystery, and every fence needed to be jumped. One of those fences was just a little too tall and he opened up a festering wound on his front side. Two pills a day for five days and the infection would be gone, the vet told us. The problem was giving him the pill. Obi would hold it... Read more
This isn’t a political blog, nor do I want this to be a political post. But I thought it might be a little fun to look at the two GOP front-runners and compare and contrast their leadership styles. I had a friend the other day describe his boss as “Trumpish.” I kind of shook my head, amazed that a man’s surname morphed into a casino name, and then into a brand, then into a candidate and now an adjective. “What... Read more
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