The following is taken from Jamal Jivanjee’s FaceBook wall on which he posted an open letter to the church in Ohio, rebuking it for apathy and disinterest in the plight of Rifqa Bary. Well worth the read.

To the church of central Ohio,

I have been a part of the church in central Ohio since I became a Christian at the age of 18. I am thankful for the many people whom have enriched my life, and whom I have served with in this church over the years. I have since moved away from the central Ohio area, but because of my history in Columbus, the church here holds a special place in my heart. Because of this, I must tell you that what I am about to say does not come easy for me. I am compelled to say what I am about to say out of a heart of love for the church in central Ohio however. Since the rally for Rifqa here in Columbus, I have spent the last few days here in the city processing things, and praying. I have debated whether or not I should share these things with you, but I cannot keep silent about this any longer. I must share these things out of a personal sense of obedience. You can take this message to heart, or you can discard it. The choice is yours, but I must share this. I humbly but strongly ask you to read this letter in its entirety.

I can honestly say that in my entire 34 years of life, I cannot remember a time in which I was angrier than I am right now. In my 34 years of life, I have never experienced the type of strong nausea that I feel right now in the depths of my soul. I have never felt anguish like I have felt these last few days. In my 34 years of life, I can honestly say I have never been more broken for a group of people than I am right now. I began to wonder if I should be feeling like this, and if there was something wrong with me. A good and wise friend of mine shared something with me that greatly helped me however. She said that I don’t have to apologize for being angry, because God gets angry and he created us with this emotion. There is such a thing as righteous anger, and somebody in the body of Christ needs to feel the emotions that God feels. I believe these emotions are His, and not mine. So, what is the cause of my anger, nausea, anguish, and brokenness?

The institutional church in central Ohio!

It is absolutely heartbreaking to see just how spiritually dead or comatose that the institutional central Ohio church has become. I am absolutely ashamed to have come from you. I know that is harsh, but the facts speak for themselves. What facts am I talking about? Let me give you just one.

Cowardice

The institutional church in central Ohio has demonstrated its cowardice through its silence regarding Rifqa Bary’s struggle. Don’t get me wrong, there have been several precious and courageous people from central Ohio who have prayed and / or emailed, called authorities, or have spoken out in some way about Rifqa’s situation. Please know that this letter does not apply to you. This letter is addressed to the institutional church as a whole that has been utterly silent or ignorant of Rifqa Bary’s situation. There are literally almost 1000 local church communities in the greater Columbus metro area alone that represent tens of thousands of people. To my knowledge there are only 2 local church communities that have done ANYTHING to stand with Rifqa Bary!

WHAT AN ABOMINATION!

Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch is interviewed by an acquaintance of mine, Nabeel Qureshi who, along with David Wood, comprise the Acts17 Apologetics Ministry. I was with David and Nabeel this past summer in Dearborn when the now infamous Shari’a in America video was made, which now has over 1.6 million hits on YouTube.

Note at about 4:30 into the interview, Nabeel asks Robert if there is any hope or if there is any light at the end of the tunnel. Spencer says there is no solving this problem; there is only managing it. I have to disagree. The problem will be solved when Muslims worldwide meet the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ himself and yield to Him as Lord and Savior. Being the good Catholic man he is, Robert Spencer should know this.

A rally for Rifqa Bary took place as scheduled in Columbus, Ohio on Monday November 16, but the court hearing for Rifqa did not take place as scheduled. Instead, her next hearing has been postponed until December 22. No explanation has been given by the court system for the delay. In fact, no information of Rifqa has been provided at all. Nobody knows if she is even still in the country. Her contact with the outside world has been cut off: no phone, no internet, nothing. She is being held a prisoner in her foster home, for the crime of embracing Christianity.

You have to love how the media is spinning the rally held on Nov. 16. As the headline of the following article notes, this was sponsored by “Christian Activists.” Pamela Geller, who spearheaded the rally, is Jewish! Once again, the media is reporting on an event for which they know nothing and have failed to do their homework. But to put the spin that this was only “Christian activists” sets the tone that this is a fringe group worthy of only being ignored.

Christian Activists Draw Attention To Rifqa Bary Case At Public Rally

Here are video clips of the rally.

Part 1

Rifqa Bary

Today is the scheduled hearing in Ohio for young Rifqa Bary to determine her final status: if she will be returned to her parents, allowed to remain with foster parents until she turns 18, or possibly another arrangement.

If you have not been following her story, here is a quick recap. Four years ago, Rifqa became a Christian as a girl of 13 years of age. She successfully hid her religious conviction from her Muslim family until earlier this year, when her father discovered she had been reading the Bible. According to Rifqa’s testimony, her father threatened to kill her. She then fled to Florida to seek protection with a Christian minister she had been conversing with online. The family attorney successfully argued for her return to Ohio based on jurisdictional grounds and won.

Meanwhile, CAIR even got involved. When the Florida Department of Law Enforcement interviewed Rifqa’s parents, a representative of CAIR was present. Why? For intimidation? To pressure the FDLE for a favorable report? We will really never know. Nor will we really never have a complete understanding of what Rifqa’s parents may have said had CAIR not been present.

But the bottom line is that this young woman’s life is in danger. She has been threatened with death by her father, who is fully capable of carrying out that threat. Yet our law enforcement and media continue to downplay the threat, in spite of many similar stories that have surfaced over the past few years: Amina and Sarah Said, Aqsa Parvez, Sandeela Kanwal, Assiya Hassan, the Shafii family.