Halal Dating

So, a group of us from the university were hanging out at Eastern Food Bazaar. I was sitting next to Anele. We're at the counter getting our food. I try not to stare at her but I can't help it. Since I've been at the university and this is my last year, I've never met …

Beneath the Surface

I didn’t see her as wanton but as someone who was hurting so, I befriended her and after several attempts to seduce me, she finally opened up to me about years of rejection and neglect by her parents.  To escape the pain, she engaged in casual relationships with men.  “At least they want me”, she …

Rejection

1 Samuel 8 Rejection is a terrible and painful thing, isn't it, especially when it comes from the people whom you love or whom you thought loved you. God knows what it's like to be rejected. In biblical times, He was rejected by the children of Israel whom He chose to be His people and …

Co-Workers Turned Couple

He glanced up from his computer and realized that Shantel and he were the only ones in the office.  Everyone else had left.  It was Friday.  Most people left either minutes before or exactly at five.  And it was summer.  People wanted to enjoy the nice weather. He wasn't in any rush to get home.  …

Love Not Professed

Love not professed is still love.  It lingers and refuses to go away.   It’s there just below the surface, longing to be expressed but keeping silent for fear of rejection.  No matter how much I wish my love for you away, it clings to my heart stubbornly.   Denying it is futile.  I tried forgetting you …

The Declaration

Friends since they were children, Eliza never once imagined that their relationship would blossom into a romantic one.  Franklin was so handsome and he had his pick of very beautiful and accomplished young women.   Eliza had always dreaded the day when he would marry. Her feelings for him had changed when she turned sixteen. …

Asha’s Story

Imagine you are a child and your daily routine is to get up early every morning to go and pick through trash with your mother.  You and your family are "untouchables" in your society which means you are treated as outcasts, undesirables.   You don't have many options when it comes to jobs so in order …

Broken Heart Syndrome

You can die of a broken heart -- it's scientific fact -- and my heart has been breaking since that very first day we met. I can feel it now, aching deep behind my rib cage the way it does every time we're together, beating a desperate rhythm: Love me. Love me. Love me. ― …

Finding Joy in Jesus

The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you - Jeremiah 31:3 Imagine you are a South Asian woman.  Every day is a struggle and a challenge to survive.  All you know is oppression from the day you were born until the …

Gender-Selective Infanticide

Over 50,000 baby girls are aborted every month in South Asia – just because they were girls - Gospel for Asia According to writer and gender-activist Rita Banerji,  "Females are being killed in India at every stage of life, before and after birth, only because they are female"  It has been said that the three deadliest …