Author: Shalem John
The day after the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, Elisha Lazarus—a Messianic believer and reservist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)—reported to a top-secret base in northern Israel as part of his Iron Dome defense unit. The assault caught the nation by surprise, and many in his unit feared Hezbollah would launch a similar cross-border attack from Lebanon. Lazarus saw IDF helicopters circling above and fled with his unit to a bunker seven floors below ground, carved into a mountain. There he watched 20 to 25 soldiers line up near a tiny underground synagogue. “All these people that probably…
In just over two weeks, the US war in Iran has sparked conflict across the Middle East, rattled the world economy, and placed pressure on military alliances. Roughly two thousand people have been killed in the region, and US service members have also been wounded or killed in the conflict. President Donald Trump has given mixed signals on the war, and it’s unclear when the fighting will end. But in the meantime, many Iranian Christians, including those in the diaspora, are hoping the war results in the toppling of the repressive Islamic regime, which has ruled Iran for decades. Recently,…
Seventeen years ago, Ruth Mulongo had an affair with a young man from her village in Bungoma County, western Kenya. The 18-year-old became pregnant and nine months later delivered a baby girl at home during the night with her mother’s help. The baby looked weak, with one leg shorter than the other, so Mulongo’s mother told her the child was cursed. She feared her daughter wouldn’t be able to marry a good man if word got out that she’d had a disabled child. (CT agreed not to use Mulongo’s real name due to the social stigma.) Mulongo said her mother,…