Do I have some good news for you, Crisis readers! It’s a story of miraculously answered prayers, of which many of you played a direct part. And I’m beyond excited to tell you about it.

Almost exactly five years ago, Sophia Institute, the parent organization of Crisis Magazine, graciously agreed to publish The Persecuted, my account of befriending and advocating for persecuted Christians who had fled Muslim countries and sought asylum in Thailand. When the book was published, its most prominent characters, Pakistani Catholics Wilson William and Michael D’Souza, were living in Thailand and Azerbaijan, respectively, with their families—with no indication their many years of suffering would ever end. I am happy to report that, as of January 14, both of them and their immediate families are now safe and happy in the West. 

Before I share the details of that recent, wonderful, winter afternoon that finally brings this terrible saga to an unanticipated happy ending, it’s worth revisiting the incredible stories of these two devout families.

About two decades ago, Wilson William and his wife, Maryam, were working as nurses in the Pakistani metropolis of Karachi. Wilson’s brother was an accomplished physician. All of them were Catholics, which attracted the attention of Muslim extremists, whose presence was increasingly visible in the city as NATO and Pakistani forces applied military pressure to their hideouts in the mountainous regions of eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. 

Wilson’s brother was falsely accused of blasphemy and forced to flee to the Netherlands for fear of violent retribution. Not long after, Wilson and Maryam were accused of trying to force a Muslim patient to break his Ramadan fast. Members of the patient’s family tried to kill the couple, shooting at them as they fled the hospital.

Assessing that they could not live in hiding in Pakistan indefinitely, Wilson led not only Maryam and their children but many members of their extended family (including Wilson’s elderly parents) to Thailand, where they were told they could seek asylum and refugee status with the United Nations. That is where I met Wilson and his family in 2014—they were important fixtures of our parish in downtown Bangkok. Over the next several years, my wife and I tried to help Wilson with his family’s application to the United Nations, which was rejected, as well as their appeal (also rejected). By the time my family departed Bangkok for the United States in 2017, Wilson’s situation seemed more or less hopeless.

Then, in 2019, Wilson learned that he and his family had been sponsored for resettlement in the Netherlands, joining his brother. We raised the necessary money to pay for airplane tickets, and Maryam and the kids flew to Europe, where they were able to begin a new life. After burying his father in Bangkok and helping the rest of his family get their resettlement applications to Holland initiated, Wilson joined his wife and children last year, as I reported in Crisis at the time.

The story of Michael D’Souza and his family is even more harrowing. Also a native of Karachi, Michael, who worked various odd jobs at a Christian school and as a courier, was also targeted by Muslim extremists. Over the course of several years, they harassed and threatened Michael and his family, one time ambushing them on their way to church and violently assaulting Michael. One of Michael’s sisters-in-law was abducted by these extremists, who forcibly remarried her to a Muslim man. Like Wilson, Michael decided to flee to Bangkok with his family.

Michael did not have the same connections or financial resources as Wilson. Because of this, his family was twice arrested by Thai immigration authorities and placed in the notorious Immigration Detention Center (IDC), where my wife and I would regularly visit them to bring food, toiletries, and other necessities. Despite these trials, which included deteriorating health during their second stint in the IDC, they remained firmly confident that Jesus would intervene on their behalf. Shortly before my wife and I left Thailand, we raised money from friends and family to persuade the Thais to put Michael’s family on a plane back to Pakistan.

There, Michael became a taxi driver using a motorized rickshaw. Unfortunately, after a few months, Muslim extremists recognized Michael, pulled him out of the rickshaw, burned the vehicle, and once again beat Michael almost to death. After that, Michael and his family went into hiding and made several ill-conceived attempts to flee the country, deceived by human traffickers who pocketed the little money they could proffer. Eventually, they fled to Azerbaijan, where they stayed for a few years—until the Azerbaijani authorities detained Michael’s wife and two of his children and sent them back to Pakistan. Michael and his eldest daughter, by this time old enough to have graduated from college, escaped and evaded the authorities. 

Then, unexpectedly, a relative of Michael’s who lived in Canada helped bring his case to the attention of the Canadian organization International Christian Voice (ICV) in 2024. ICV agreed to sponsor Michael and his family for resettlement if they could raise the necessary funds ($50,000), which we did, relying in part on the generosity of Crisis readers! After a long, bureaucratic process, Michael and his eldest daughter were cleared to travel to Canada, which they did shortly before this past Christmas. Then, on January 14, after a 21-hour train ride to Islamabad and a long international flight, Michael’s wife, Rosemary, and their two other children arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

For Michael and his family, a nightmare that began two decades ago is finally over. I spoke with him on the phone in early January, a few days before the arrival of the rest of his family. He is renting a basement space in Toronto and looking for work, as will Rosemary, too. Undoubtedly, the D’Souza family’s struggles in various ways continue (they have to navigate life in a new country, one that is far too cold for my liking!). But this is no longer a tragedy. Prayers have been answered in ways only a pious few could have ever anticipated. I confess, I myself didn’t think this day would ever come. But, glory to God, the Lord is faithful and merciful.

For Michael and his family, a nightmare that began two decades ago is finally over.Tweet This

Sophia Institute and Crisis deserve effusive praise for their integral role in promoting the cause of persecuted Christians. You can find a lot of articles and even books that talk about the contemporary persecution of the Church. I’m not sure there are very many that can point to such a remarkable—perhaps miraculous—example of divine intervention to save the lives of persecuted Catholics. Thanks to Sophia, and you, Crisis readers, we know two such stories. From the bottom of my heart, and that of the William and D’Souza families, thank you.

If you would like to support the D’Souza family as they adjust to life in Canada, you can do so at this GoFundMe site.