There will be no winners. . .

From Mark Shea's blog, Catholic and Enjoying It! comes a request from a former ECUSAn, now an Anglican under Uganda, and soon-to-be returning Roman Catholic:

After two decades in the Anglican world, I'm seriously considering coming back to Rome, with my family, for whom it will be something of a shock. We're members of one of the Southern California parishes which bolted from ECUSA for the Anglican Church of Uganda a year or so ago, and it's an extremely warm, friendly, family-oriented parish. Our local RC parish, where I grew up and where I've been taking my Dad every other week for the last year, is the obvious place for us to go, but though I like the priest it's not a very warm or lively place.

The truth is more important than that, of course, and I'd rather be involved right near home than not. . .

I suppose one could consider the Roman Catholic Church the "winner" in terms of numbers in the pews, but just think about what this family has probably been going through for the past several years. And for that anquish and heartbreak, there really are no winners, but only to continue to persevere in the Word and search for the Gospel.

Read it all.

Threats force Egyptian convert to hide

From the Associated Press:

CAIRO, Egypt - An Egyptian Muslim who converted to Christianity and then took the unprecedented step of seeking official recognition for the change said he has gone into hiding following death threats.

Mohammed Hegazy, who sparked controversy when pictures of him posing with a poster of the Virgin Mary were published in newspapers, was shunned by his family and threatened by an Islamist cleric vowing to seek his execution as an apostate.

"I know there are fatwas (religious edicts) to shed my blood, but I will not give up and I will not leave the country," the 25-year-old Hegazy told The Associated Press from his hideout Thursday.

Hegazy made a public splash when he took the unusual step of going to court to change his religion on his national ID card. His first lawyer filed the case, but then quit after the uproar; his second is still considering whether it's worth pursuing.

Hegazy said he received telephoned death threats before he went into hiding in an apartment with his wife, a Muslim who took the name Katarina when she converted to Christianity several years ago. She is four months pregnant.

He said he wants to change the religion on his ID for two reasons: to set a precedent for other converts and to ensure his child can openly be raised Christian. He wants his child to get a Christian name, birth certificate and eventually marry in a church. That would be impossible if Hegazy's official religion is Muslim, because a child is registered in the religion of the father. . .

. . . "I started readings and comparative studies in religions," he said. "I found that I am not consistent with Islam teachings. The major issue for me was love. Islam wasn't promoting love as Christianity did."

He said after his conversion was discovered, police detained him for three days and tortured him. He said he was harassed several more times. . .

Read it all, and add Hegazy and his family to your prayers.