Two Sides of a Coin: An Egyptian Story

 

 

 

 

Two Sides of a Coin: An Egyptian Story is my newest fictional work from the Middle East and North Africa. One country–two distinct religious communities living in a state of tangible tension–this is Egypt. This is where Madame Phardos, a Coptic Orthodox Christian, is trying to help her children become successful against the constant push of the Muslim majority. Education is all-important in remaining above the crowd. This is also whre Madame Fatma, a Sunni Muslim, is striving to raise her own family in the midst of growing fundamentalism and economic hardship. In a society where religion is central, members of both families struggle to see how God could bring anything good out of their lives. Yet, good does come, attitudes change and unity is achieved in a way never imagined.

This book helps us to see that Muslims do not always live in a vaccum but are affected by the religions around them–in this case, Christianity, which has been in Egypt since the time of the Apostle Mark in the first century AD. As Muslims are affected by Christians, the same goes for the Christians of Egypt, a dwindling minority surrounded by a growing majority of Muslims. I believe there is hope for members of both communities that will never come in political solutions but in a relational one. Let me know if you have read this book and what you think. Share it with your Muslim and Christian friends. Pray that we will soon be able to see it translated into Arabic.

Things I Never Told My Mother

Things I Never Told My Mother (ISBN 978-1-60266-010-6) is a story set in the North African country of Tunisia. Deception has become a way of life for Iman. Ignored in her early years by her career-minded parents, the sudden intrusion of her mother into her life pushes Iman to become something she never imagined. Though Muslim, her loose lifestyle leads her into many dangerous encounters with the opposite sex. When true love does finally come her way, she finds herself incapable of returning it, perhaps losing forever the best opportunity to escape her mother’s reach. Desperation leads to desperate measures and even a reanalysis of her own faith. Could God love her? This is the question Iman asks herself as she things back over all the things she never told her mother.

This book brings us face-to-face with a side of Islam many of us do not realize is there–secular Islam. Yet, many Muslim live in areas that allow a freedom that sometimes causes them to swing from the very conservative norms of the religion to a lifestyle that looks virtually nothing like what we would consider normal for the average Muslim. I look forward to your comments on this book, as it is “spicy” and yet realistic for many Muslims in secular societies. If you are interested in an Arabic copy of this story, please let me know.

Lust Under the Veil

 Lust Under the Veil (ISBN 1-59160-654-3) is a story about Emira, who is looking for a way of escape from the secluded life she leads as the only daughter of a Muslim sheik. When her father takes a second wife and her mother has a breakdown, Emira is sent to the hospital to be by her side. Will her salvation come while she makes the daily trip to the hospital? Desperate, Emira searches the eyes of the first person she sees on the outside–the taxi driver. Emira could never have imagined the events that would follow this first encounter. Freedom does come but not in the way that Emira planned.

My desire in sharing this fictional story is for you to have a better understanding about the struggles a Muslim woman faces in confronting the Truth of Christ and to also encourage intentional prayer for and engagement of Muslim women by Christians. I would love to hear your thoughts after reading this book and to know if you have shared it with any Muslim women in your life. If you are interested in a copy in Arabic, please let me know.

Loving Muslim Women for Christ

My desire in beginning this blogsite is to be able to share with you my love for Muslim women, to talk with you and hear from you about my books, and to dialogue on issues related to reaching Muslim women for Christ. I welcome women from both Muslim and Christian backgrounds, western and eastern, to visit and share with me your stories, thoughts and dreams in relation to our common journey in Christ and desire to see Muslim women come to know Jesus.