This story deserves serious prayer:

CONVERT FEARS DEATH

The Canadian government may deport an African who has converted to Christianity. Lamine Yansane, 36, fled Guinea after his father, a Muslim imam, disowned him for converting to Christianity. Yansane arrived in Canada in 2005 and applied for refugee status, but it was denied because the Immigration and Refugee Board hearing his case did not believe him. Yansane claims he was physically attacked by his father, brother and uncle after he failed to convert his Catholic wife to Islam and instead attended church with her regularly. His father told the National Post: “I am a Muslim, and if he has become Catholic, he can never come back here. I don’t even want to see him…. He knows what would happen. It would be dangerous for him….” Guinea’s population is 85% Muslim and only 8% Christian while 7% are animists.

His priest, Gerard Martineau, says Yansane attends church every Sunday; “I have no doubt about his faith.” And his congregation of 300 has signed a petition supporting him. Yansane works full-time as a crane operator in Montreal and has the total support of his employer.

Yansane told the National Post in a story published June 4: “I know what will happen if I go back to Guinea. I know I will be dead. There is no doubt. I know they’re going to kill me. Now it’s even more dangerous because I’ve been baptized.” He is still in Canada in a kind of limbo. There is a court date set for the fall to reconsider his case but there are fears he could still be deported.

And, on a lighter note, the cartoon on the bottom left of page one is not to be missed!