Mother in Sudan, Girls in Nigeria, Apostasy in Egypt

At the core of being Coptic Orthodox is the will to keep the faith alive even under duress.

Every Coptic child is taught from a young age not to say the Shahada, the Islamic statement of witness. It begins, "There is no god but God..." and we were taught never, under any circumstance, to speak the rest. As it is a common greeting (one party says the first half, the other responds), my grandmother taught me to say gently with a smile "and Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

Apostasy. In Islam, everyone is Muslim. It is not a choice. If you were born to a Muslim father, you are already a Muslim in Islamic countries, under sharia or sharia-derived law. If it can be proven in court that you spoke the Shahada or signed your name to it, you are considered Muslim. Conversion away from Islam is punishable by death. Thank God, often, that sentence is commuted.

I knew most of this by the time I was seven. Living in America, I thought my parents were crazy old coots from the old country.

My mother always said that to be born a Christian is a great privilege. In Egypt, this is not just a cute saying; this is a reality. When someone is not born Christian, but wishes to be, the penalty is death. When someone is born a Christian in an Islamic country, he or she is just one phrase away from losing everything.

All this pregnant mother has to do is say the Shahada (and leave her husband). Then she can go "home" a free woman with her toddler (who is staying with her in prison).

But...  "what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)

If she keeps the faith, she is a saint. If they beat her, she is a confessor. If they kill her, she is a martyr.

“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." (Revelation 2:10)

Easy to say from behind my computer.

Pray for Meriam Ibrahim and for the girls of Nigeria.