The Sunday Dispatch
Five stories about faith and culture you probably missed this week — delivered every Sunday morning.
Author: Abdul Masih
By Abdul Masih — No, the Houthis are not from Whoville (or Houthiville), and Dr. Seuss doesn’t rule the Middle East. So why did Trump send 1,000 bombing missions on them, and why did the Israelis completely blow to smithereens their airport? For that matter, what is the cause of all the chaos in the Middle East? Behind the attacks (not the retaliations) lies one thing: extremist Islam. The Houthis are radical Islamists in Northeastern Yemen on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula. They ascribe to the fundamentalist Islam that believes Mohammad’s conquest by war and terror is the way…
By Abdul Masih – While the pending deportation of Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil is a flashpoint for progressives, analysts from the Middle East call him — and others like him — terrorists, plain and simple. “In America, they’re called activists,” says Amjad Taha, an analyst from the United Arab Emirates. “In the Middle East, they’re called terrorists. You have now more extremists in the United States of America than you have in the Middle East. Why are you allowing these extremists to destroy this beautiful amazing Western Civilization?” Khalil should be deported, Taha says. But Western progressives are fighting under…
By Abdul Masih – At-risk youth from some of the poorest neighborhoods in Guatemala are building robots, doing 3D printing projects and learning STEM – thanks to some laboratories set up by a missionaries’ kid. “I have no doubt that some of these kids are going to do incredible things,” says Alexander Martiny, of his labs in Santa Fe and San Jose Pinula. “Before the program, some of the kids were failing their grades. Now they’re graduating at the top of the class; they’re studying at the best universities in the country. The impact is very evident.” Born in Guatemala,…
By Abdul Masih — Parts of Europe descended into darkness Monday — whether it was the Dark Ages or Third World afflictions, you can decided. Spain, Portugal and parts of France experienced a massive power outage, leaving passengers stranded and nearly shutting down hospitals. This happened because Europe is now being lead by a 22-year-old Greta Thunberg, who has shoved “renewable” energy down everybody’s throats. So much for saving the environment — not to mention Greta’s future. The so-called “Net Zero” goal producing energy from non-fossil fuels is to blame. Spain has increased dependence on solar and other renewable sources…
By Hannah Hughes — Swarmed with doubts about his family’s Hinduism, Rahil Patel, a respected Swami priest in London, thumbed through a children’s Bible in a bookstore. “I opened it and started reading and I felt a connection so quickly, so easily I then had to shut the book quickly,” Rahil says in a Billy Graham Organization video. “I had to shut it quickly. It represented something completely opposite to what I represented.” He was raised in England in a Hindu family and hungered for whoever God was. “Hinduism is a canvas of hundreds of religions with different doctrines and…
Faced with no finances, no family and no friends, Aicha Dramé tripped into stripping in Ottawa, Canada, and Nicki Minaj’s lyrics pushed her into the disreputable but profitable lifestyle, she says. “At that time, Nicki was popping,” the ex Muslim recounts. “She came out with the song Rich Sex which is basically about, if you’re gonna have sex with a man, he’d better have mad money, songs glorifying strippers, glorifying sex in exchange for money.” Eventually, Aicha climbed out of the glamorous but lost life into marriage, business and Jesus. Aicha Dramé began as an immigrant from Guinea, Africa. Her…
By Abdul Masih – When Than Baardson decided to go all-in in the fight against sex trafficking, he quit his job. THEN he told his wife. “Do we get the keep the house, or do we sell it?” his supportive wife, Emma, asked. Not only did Than and Emma keep the house. The North Dakota couple has filled it with two children. At the same time, they have saved hundreds of thousands worldwide from the scourge of sex trafficking. Than’s organization, Unseen, is helping groups worldwide find funding so that their boots-on-the-ground efforts are not hampered because of lack of…
By Abdul Masih – Antisemitism is so rampant in Ireland that Israel recently decided to close its embassy, making the Emerald Isle one of the only nations in Europe without a diplomatic envoy. A third of Irish Christians believe Jewish people “talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust,” 49% agree that “Jews are more loyal to Israel than this country,” 36% say Jews “have too much power in the business world,” 31% say Jews are hated “because of the way they behave,” according to a December 2024 survey by Professors Motti Inbari of the University of…
By Abdul Masih – After the loss of ideals during WWI, after Biblical criticism and evolution unleashed doubt, after atheists pulverized the Bible and promoted the utopia of rationalism, Western Europe qualified to be called “Post Christian.” Europe is now Post Post Christian. A new study from the UK shows church attendance rose 50% over the last six years. Bible sales exploded 87% from 2019 to 2024. The church is now more diverse, younger and more masculine, according to the UK’s Bible Society report titled “The Quiet Revival.” The newest statistics show a reversal of decades of decline that cratered…
By Abdul Masih – Disney continues to die with its latest shove-down-your-throat woke self-righteousness in Snow White. Meanwhile, Angel Studios/ Charles Dickens’ adapted re-telling of the life of Jesus, King of Kings, showed that families want heart-warming, faith-stirring movies. As of last weekend, King of Kings made $19 million compared to Snow White’s $2.8 million in box office tickets. Angel Studios showed Disney who is king. Snow White will have a hard time recovering production and marketing costs of $370 million. Rachel Zegler (who plays Snow White) alienated audiences by preaching against traditional power roles for women. Furthermore, Disney annoyed…

