San Diego County Edition Vol. 31, No. 1
January 2013
www.christianexaminer.com
Persecution Watch
Documenting History
The intellectual bankruptcy of the ‘pro-choice’ position
American pastor imprisoned for his faith while visiting Iran
Filmmakers explore ‘Jesus Movement’
page 7
page 10
page 14
FREE
Eric Metaxas
Yuletide miracle Christmas fiction brings non-fiction joy as homeless man reunited with family By Lori Arnold
S
outhern California author Kathi Macias uses a novel approach to highlight such societal issues as the persecuted church, human trafficking and homelessness by incorporating those themes in her fictional works. Her newest release, “Unexpected Christmas Hero” inadvertently crossed into the non-fictional realm after it became its own unexpected story when the book’s cover photograph of a homeless man helped to reunite the North Carolina transient with his estranged family. “There is just no way it could have happened without God,” said Macias, a resident of the small Riverside community of Homeland. “It Willard Parker, a homeless man from just could have never come Asheville, N.C., has reconnected with his family after someone recognized him together.” Macias, who has ties to from the cover of Kathi Macias’ new book, “Unexpected Christmas Hero.” San Diego’s Christian writshe decided to address the issue ers community and has served on the faculty of the an- of homelessness because of her nual Christian Writer’s Guild fall earlier experience in the ministry conference, specializes in a genre and after more recently befriendher publisher has labeled “fiction ing a young homeless couple. “I would always stop to talk to with a mission.” The mother of six, with 17 grandchildren and them and sometimes bring them four great grandchildren, said lunch or something, and I always
prayed with them,” the writer said. “One time I laid my hand on the young woman’s shoulder to start to pray and she started crying. She said, ‘You know, it’s wonderful when people stop and pray with us, but almost nobody wants to touch us—and I understand that because we’re dirty—but you don’t know how much it means to me that someone can look past that and care enough to put their arm around us or lay hands on our shoulder and pray with us.’” Macias said she was also urged to pursue the topic by a family member who was briefly homeless. “He really challenged me to do it,” Macias, the author of 40 books, said of her relative. “He said, ‘I think you should really consider putting a face on the homeless and helping the church to really understand what they deal with so the church can be more effective in ministry.’ I thought that was really a challenge I couldn’t pass up.” Macias began work on the project about a year before its October reSee MIRACLE, page 2
Active in promoting biblical citizenship within churches, Dran Reese is a popular speaker about the Christian worldview. Her own life, from being a child of rape and having multiple abortions, is a remarkable story of redemption.
Raising up Cain Local activist shares personal journey in hopes of thwarting abortion By Lori Arnold RANCHO SANTA FE — She tried to leave her abusive husband numerous times, but limited resources and a mentally disabled 4-year-old daughter limited her opportunities. Each time she successfully fled, her husband found her and dragged her home. The last time she left she figured the distance of several states would be enough to keep her and her young daughter safe, so she retreated to her childhood home. Undaunted, her husband tracked her there where violence— once again—rained down on the mother.
January 22, 2013 marks the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 7-2 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in America. 50 million unborn babies have been killed in the past four decades.
“He came and literally pulled her by the hair and, at gunpoint. raped her. I am the product of that rape. Three months later he died of a heart attack. That’s how I came into the world.” This is the confession of Dran Reese, the Rancho Santa Fe resident who founded the Salt & Light Council, a biblical citizenship group that See REESE, page 5
Christian school club develops device to send to space By Lori Arnold SAN DIEGO — While most of their peers at Maranatha Christian High School will be spending this spring monitoring the whereabouts of their friends by texting, nine of their classmates will be using technology to communicate with a device they are launching up to the International Space Station. “It’s really great, although it’s also challenging because it’s in addition to regular school stuff, and then we have this project, too,” said science teacher Bill Miller, who is heading up the project. “Like any science and engineering project it has its moments when it’s all hands on deck and everybody has to work hard, from the students to the mentor.” The students were invited to partner in the NASA program by peers at Valley Christian School in San Jose. That school is now in its third year of the Micro-Lab project. Other partners in the project
include Riverside Christian High School, Minnehaha Academy (Minn.), Los Gatos High School, the Girl Scouts of the Islands of Hawaii and Be Wise, a science alliance for women based in San Diego. Primary supporters of the program are NanoRacks LLC and The Quest Institute for Quality Education. Combined, the students will conduct 12 different experiments. “These kids are doing something in a few months what it would normally take a few years to do in the industry, partly because we are confined to working in such a small space,” Miller said of the device which measures about 2 inches by 2 inches by 4 inches. “It’s been well thought out in advance.” The team from Maranatha is working to develop a CO2 device to improve oxygen output while reducing the size and weight of the unit. “It’s a critical function on submaSee SCHOOL, page 22
Maranatha Christiana High School student Chris Knutson and his father, Mike, look at a CO2 device that Chris and his teammates developed for the International Space Station. The device will be launched into space in March.
For information about advertising, subscriptions, or bulk delivery, please call 1-800-326-0795