Catholic Teens - December 22, 2004

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 13:21:19 -0600, pwxsevere wrote
> A note to wish you all a Blessed Christmas!
> I'm glad to see the snow. It's always nice to have snow for
> Christmas vacation--sledding/ice skating :-)
>
> I'll be out of town for the next week. My fiance' is from San Diego
> and we'll be spending Christmas with her family. (High in San Diego
> is supposed to be around 70 degrees...it'll be tough, but I'll try
> to handle it :-) ).
>
> While we celebrate this beautiful Feast of Christmas, Jesus' birth,
> let us not forget those who are persecuted for their their belief in
> Jesus. The story below is from Saudi Arabia. Please keep these
> people in your prayers.
>
> God bless you all and Merry Christmas!
> In Christ,
> Phil
>
> Saudi's Conversion Lands Him in Prison
>
> JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, DEC. 21, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A Saudi father of
> four has been arrested and imprisoned for converting to Christianity.
>
> Emad Alaabadi was arrested Nov. 29, but the news was reported only a
> few days ago by the Washington, D.C.-based human rights group
> International Christian Concern (ICC).
>
> Local sources confirmed Alaabadi's arrest to AsiaNews, an agency of
> the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions, stating that "he is
> not the only Saudi Christian in prison at present. … There are
> others."
>
> The presence of Christians in Saudi prisons had also been confirmed
> by Brian O'Connor, an Indian Protestant who was deported from Saudi
> Arabia after being tortured and held in prison for "evangelizing."
>
> ICC said at least three Christians were arrested along with
> Alaabadi. Fundamentalist Wahhabi Islam is the only expression of
> religion allowed in Saudi Arabia.
>
> Alaabadi, 30, converted to Christianity two years ago. He was
> intercepted by the muttawah, the Saudi religious police, while
> driving his children home from school.
>
> The police escorted the children home and then took Alaabadi to the
> local prison in Hofuf. Later he was transferred to Jeddah.
>
> On Dec. 4, he managed to telephone his mother in Australia, who said
> that he sounded "very weak." ZE04122105
>
> email this article

"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you
wish." --Mother Teresa