W. L. Cati's Testimony
I think I always deeply believed in God. I can remember as early as four years old, when conversation about God came up around the dinner table, I would always cry. Even though I was raised in a Christian household, no one in my family really went to church or prayed other than on Easter Sunday or Christmas. I had a good family; there were no drugs, alcohol, or abuse. My father, grandfather and uncles worked hard 5-6 days a week to provide for us, and were always home on time. As a teenager I started down the wrong road, but when I was 17, I began going to church on a regular basis. It was my mother who first got me to go. She never said a word about participating in church activities, but when she began to attend regularly; I saw such a change in her over a short period of time that I had to go just to see what it was all about. In one small moment, as I knelt down at an altar, Jesus changed my whole direction and purpose in life.
Within a year's time, my whole family started going to church. I told everyone about God, my classmates, my teachers, strangers, and anyone else who would listen, it didn't matter. I saw many people follow in my footsteps. I wanted everyone to know about God, and what God meant to me.
A few years later, I strayed from my religion and was lost for many years. It was during this time that I met Mohammed, my husband. We met in a nightclub. I was there with my Aunt who had just lost her husband of 25 years to cancer. We were there to drown our sorrows. I had been divorced six weeks and was in not ready to start any kind of relationship. I was just there to have a good time with my Aunt, and to maybe dance off a pound or two.
Men continually asked me to dance. I wasn't interested. Mohammed had been watching me from across the bar. I later learned that his wife had just left him that day. He walked over to me and asked "What if a nice guy asked you to dance? Would you?" There was something about him that I liked and for some reason, I agreed to dance with him. He could dance! He twirled me, spun me, threw me, and literally swept me off my feet! It was love at first sight for me. We talked all night about many different things, but somehow managed to avoid the subject of religion. At first, he gave me a bogus name, but later that night, he finally told me his real name and where he was from. I didn't know much about his country and therefore didn't ask questions about it. I only knew it was somewhere near Egypt. From that day on, we were together almost everyday. We had our ups and downs, and our break ups, but we always got back together.
My parents were very concerned. READ MORE
Article BY: CHARISMA READ MORE
When Christian Women Marry Muslim Men
By Elisabeth Farrell
Stories of love and romance sometimes turn into nightmarish tales of brutality done in the name of Allah.
You've seen her--the veiled, dark-robed woman in the checkout line at Wal-Mart or Target. She's Muslim, you think to yourself, probably from the Middle East or Asia.
But on closer inspection, you discover that she has blue eyes. A few strands of sandy blond hair peek out from her head veil. Or perhaps she's black and speaks with a distinctly American accent.
She's not from the Middle East, you realize, but from your own backyard! In fact, she could be someone you went to high school with.
Why would an American woman marry a Muslim man and convert to his religion and way of life?
The answer might surprise you: She could have been tricked into conversion. And the result might be intense physical and emotional abuse.
In growing numbers, women all over the United States are marrying Muslim men from other countries. Many find themselves trapped in a nightmare of oppression, abuse and control, according to W.L. Cati, founder of Zennah Ministries, an organization that reaches out to women married to Muslims.
"I should not be alive," says Cati, an American woman who endured an abusive relationship with a Muslim man from the Middle East. After 14 years of horror, she managed to escape. Most women, she says, don't make it out alive.
"I'm not bashing Muslims," Cati says. "This is a morality issue. We're talking human rights ... READ MORE
