Although my mother grew up in the church, she joined the Nation of Islam in the early 1970s. The news was heartbreaking to my grandmother, who was a woman of enduring faith.

Mama Birdie’s natural eyes saw her daughter and grandchildren as Nation of Islam members, but her spiritual eyes looked through the mountain of Islam and saw us as born-again Christians on the other side.

My grandmother sowed good seed into our hearts. Then she allowed her faith to work by loving us and believing God for the harvest of our salvation. Her love enabled her to endure more than 10 years of witnessing her daughter and grandchildren living as Muslims.