Author: Sandra Marroquin

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,…

By Sandra Marroquin – In Phase 3, Brandon Sutton didn’t want to get drunk and he didn’t want to stay sober. “Life was miserable. I was not happy,” Brandon says. “Suicide crossed my mind as an option. Going back to jail where I just came from was an option.” Ultimately, Brandon found Jesus and today leads a recovery group. Brandon Sutton grew up in a stable family. But when he tried marijuana in junior high, it became the center of his life. “I was always looking for the next high,” Brandon says. “How can I maximize this fun?” In high…

By Sandra Marroquin — A South African mother sold her 6-year-old daughter to a Sangoma witchdoctor who wanted to kill her and use her body parts in rituals in March. Her pale skin and green eyes meant she would produce greater magical power for the “spiritual healer.” The horrifying court case of Joshlin Smith, which led to the conviction of mother Kelly Smith, is NOT a rare act of a psychopath. It is a common practice in Subsaharan Africa, according to a former Sangoma practitioner. “All the traditional healers that you see working out there are using human body parts,”…

By Sandra Marroquin — Because Sam Nasser refused to sign a fraudulent contract, the Iranian government persecuted him and his family to the point his wife wanted a divorce and his son was in danger of being kidnapped. “God, do you exist? Show me yourself,” a desperate and angry Nasser prayed to the god of Islam. ”Show me the right way. Every way is materialist. Everybody is against me and I’m doing good things. Show me the right person to come to you. I’m not going to follow you anymore.” God didn’t answer any of those requests. At least not…