Author: Sandra Marroquin

By Sandra Marroquin — Shamsa Azra Zahid bristled against the pressures from Muslim men to coverup their dalliances recently. “As Muslim women, we are heavily taught that our worth lies in how we are perceived, and that one little mistake, one mishap, can destroy us forever,” the fashion brand businesswoman says. “But Muslim men can do the very things that we are warned against. They can lie, they can cheat. They can have a past of clubbing, and sleeping around and smoking, and drinking, and have secret wives, secret families. Yet their reputation remains intact. “What does that tell us?…

By Sandra Marroquin — Fulanis in Nigeria are winning the competition to see who can kill the most Christians in Nigeria. According to new study, they murdered more than their two biggest rivals combined. The jihadist Fulanis in Northern Nigeria killed 79,323 people from 2019 to September 2025, according to the tally conducted by Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA). They are so successful at installing Sharia society and stealing farmland from Christians, they slaughtered 36 people a day — 42,000 of which were civilians. Islamic Fulanis accounted for 44% of the deaths — far more than the 12%…

By Sandra Marroquin — At dawn, masked officers blew the door off Pastor Alexander Epp’s home, stormed inside with machine guns and beat him to the ground. As blood streamed from his broken nose, he cried out, “Jesus, help me.” One officer allegedly replied, “Jesus is not going to help you.” The raid shocked the city of Duisburg, Germany. Cops stormed the house based on a single tip from a disgruntled former church member that the pastor possessed and illegal weapon. Vera Forum Church members say that the broader context is one of deep suspicion against Christianity in their community.…

By Sandra Marroquin— Jayden Urban found God by fighting. The night before his mat fight, Jayden Urban sat alone overwhelmed with fear. His heart began to race and his thoughts kept spiraling.. “I just started praying, asking for some help to deal with the anxiety,” he said. “I felt like a sign of relief in that moment.” Jayden won the fight – and he made God his regular routine. Today, he’s in MMA Australia and has been clean and sober for about four years. Born of parents, one Polish, the other Lebanese, Jayden was raised Maronite Christian but fell into…

By Sandra Marroquin — Only after she completed her studies in marketing in the United Kingdom, only after she walked across the stage and received her degree from the University of Westminster in London did Jamie Lever inform her dad she wanted to do comedy. “What about all the money I’ve put in? Hello,” responded her flabbergasted dad. “So much money I’ve wasted.Jamie wasn’t dissuaded: “I feel it in my bones. I have to do comedy.” Jamie’s dad acquiesced. But he didn’t help her with any of his connections in the industry. Jamie’s dad is Johnny Lever. His real name…

By Sandra Marroquin — During the summer of 2025 — the summer of ICE raids — church attendance dropped 35% in Spanish-speaking congregations, a study shows. Out of fear, many stayed home. Pastor Samuel Rodriguez, an adviser to President Donald Trump, encourages people to still attend church: “There is no safer space than the church. We need to come together and believe that the God of the impossible who changed the hearts and minds of leaders in the Old and New Testament will do it again for us.” Since the summer of ICE raids, deportation efforts have focused less on…

By Sandra Marroquin — Immigration has been good for evangelism, a new study shows. Two out of three converts in Latino congregations are first generation immigrants, according to a Lifeway Research survey of 300 new Spanish-speaking churches, half in California, Florida and Texas. “It is not surprising that despite many challenges, Hispanic church planters are quick to say, ‘It’s worth it!’” says Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. The reason why it’s hard to break out of your culture when you are immersed in it. When you leave that culture, you can re-evaluate your worldview in light of your…

By Sandra Marroquin — The Chosen has wowed audiences and won over critics, drawing people into the gospels who ordinarily wouldn’t go to church — and now they’re going to church. That’s what Jonathan Roumie said on The View Dec. 1 based on the DMs he gets on Instagram. “Every so often, I randomly go through DMs on Instagram, for instance, because that’s the platform I’m most active on and I just randomly will just pick – I pick two different people and both of these people that wrote to me, happened to have been lifelong atheists and never had…

By Sandra Marroquin – He lost all his teeth as a drug addict. “All my teeth were knocked out either robbing drug dealers or other incidents gone wrong,” said Christian singer Joe Nester. “I had become that person that I envisioned when I took that first hit of crack over ten years ago.” In June, Nester passed away from a sudden bleed near his trachea, leaving his wife, Faith, and kids Kiley, Hunter and Layla. During his 13 years of sobriety, he produced four full albums with millions of views on YouTube. Joe Nester had a united, good family, he…

By Sandra Marroquin— Nicole C. Mullens was a grown woman and could make decisions for herself. So she married an abusive man who made her life a hell. “I recall begging him to finish the job as he held my neck against the wall,” she recalls an instance of domestic violence in her book It’s Never Wrong to Do the Right Thing. “I wanted out of this torment, and I longed to see Jesus. As if to spite and torture me even further, he would release my neck and deny me my request. He rather I suffer with him.” Today,…