What’s Wrong with the World

The men signed of the cross of Christ go gaily in the dark.

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What’s Wrong with the World is dedicated to the defense of what remains of Christendom, the civilization made by the men of the Cross of Christ. Athwart two hostile Powers we stand: the Jihad and Liberalism...read more

And now for some good news

Today, something that is right with the world:

From browsing Compass Direct News Service, I have just learned (rather late in the game) that Christian convert Bahaa El-Akkad was released at the end of April from highly unpleasant imprisonment in Egypt.

I first learned of Sheikh El-Akkad from TROP last fall, when they had a link to this story. El-Akkad used to be the leader of a group that taught and promoted Islam, but he gradually "became disillusioned," began to pray that he could "somehow know God personally," and eventually converted to Christianity. When the secret police learned of it, he was arrested, apparently under a provision of Egyptian law that allows imprisonment for "insulting a heavenly religion" and "committing blasphemy against Islam." Though a court eventually ordered his release, the authorities defied the court order and transferred him to a prison "notorious for its spartan conditions in the desert," housing its prisoners in one by two meter cells.

The more recent story tells how, in April, prison officials told El-Akkad that he would stay there for another ten years if he did not return to Islam. He replied, "God has brought me to this place, and he alone will let me go to my home. You cannot do anything against God." Just hours later, in a gesture that has not yet been explained, prison officials handed him money for a taxi, opened the door of the prison, and sent him home. It isn't quite as dramatic as St. Peter's prison visit from the angel, but it'll do very well!

El-Akkad was somehow able to receive word from his family while in prison that thousands of people were praying for him. (These, incidentally, included Middle McGrew Daughter, who prayed faithfully for El-Akkad for months.) He says, "I was sure that was true, because Jesus was with me all through my ordeal."

He is still in danger, as the Muslim Brotherhood and others have evidently threatened to kill him for committing apostasy, and he is still being "monitored," apparently by the authorities.

But with this evidence that God answers prayer before us, we should be the more encouraged to pray for him, and for all the persecuted Church.

Thou wast their Rock, their fortress and their might,
Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight,
And thou in the darkness drear their one true Light.
Alleluia!

From the hymn "For All the Saints"

Comments (4)

The middle McGrew daughter, huh? I had a feeling the goings-on in the McGrew household were a little 'different'. My kind of different. Give your kid a hug for me.

I'd like to hear Mr. Akka's conversion story, but I doubt the Egyptian press will give it to us, or let anyone else tell it either.

Did you see that other story about "traditionalist" Catholics tearing down an evangelical church and kidnapping some women? They "practice a blend of traditional Mayan religion and Roman Catholicism." I always knew those Mayans were a bad influence.

The nearest thing to a conversion story for El-Akkad is in the earliest of the two articles I linked (the second one). That one also mentions that he got the tar beaten out of him in prison when it was discovered he was evangelizing and baptizing other prison inmates! The guy's courageous, that's for sure.

Yes, I read a different story on there about the whole water dispute thing in Mexico, too. My guess is that this is partly a case of anger from the local political bosses (almost certainly a very apt term as used in the story) because the evangelicals have the chutzpah to refuse to pay some sort of local tax specifically designated for saints' festivals. In the U.S., if you don't pay a local tax, they fine you for extra interest and stuff. In Mexico, these things appear to be much more physical and direct: Engage in civil disobedience against local county bosses, and the water to your town gets cut, your contact with the outside world gets cut, your churches get torn down, nursing mothers get locked up in prison, and other nasties. To be honest, it's not nearly as horrible as the persecutions being suffered by Christians elsewhere in the world, but there's that Mo the Bully feel to it that gives it an overwhelming air of authenticity. It's legally pretty telling that apparently the slightly higher authorities eventually told the local bosses that they had to stop trying to collect the money for the festivals from the evangelicals. But then the bosses just sort of forgot to reconnect the water lines, and the higher authorities are still "looking into it." The wheels of bureaucracy grind exceeding slowly, especially for peasants who probably can't afford to pay bribes.

My late wife was a middle daughter. Very pious, very devout, and passionately God's daughter. Such ladies are best kept at their prayers, that they don't get out to face God's enemies personally, and to the detriment of the sad enemies. Fierce warriors, in prayer and out!

God be praised for and blessed in His middle daughters - knowing so well how to 'fight the good fight'.

God's and my love to you.

Thanks Pristinus. This particular daughter is unusual in several different ways that I won't go on and on about. She can indeed be very pious and is also one of the most stubborn people I have ever known. Of course, she doesn't get the stubborness from *me*(grin). She prefers contemplative activities and being left alone and was rather annoyed a couple of years ago when she had minor surgery that resolved a hearing problem. She didn't like being able to hear all those sounds; said it made it hard to concentrate on the things she wanted to do.

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