Just like the biblical character Daniel in the lions' den, an Egyptian Muslim who converted to Christianity found himself at the mercy of ferocious attack dogs that were unleashed by his jailers to torture and possibly kill him.
However, law student Majed El Shafie had God on his side and, just like in the story about Daniel, the savage animals miraculously did not harm him—to the utter astonishment of his prison guards, according to God Reports.
"These dogs are trained to listen to their masters," El Shafie said. "But there is no higher Master than the Lord Jesus Christ."
El Shafie found himself in prison after he converted to Christianity, founded a pro-Christian legal aid organisation with thousands of members, and wrote a book to help fellow believers.
The police tortured him before throwing him to Abu Zaabel prison in Cairo, known in the Middle East as "Hell on Earth."
El Shafie came from an influential family in Cairo comprising of lawyers and Supreme Court justices. But he had an awakening when he found out about the injustices of the Egyptian legal system, including the imprisonment of 7,000 people whose only crime was being a Christian.
A friend then introduced him to the Bible where he discovered a justice, love and forgiveness he had never known before.
Shafie read the Bible for a year, comparing it with the Quran. When he finished he approached his Christian friend and said: "Now I know what Christianity is about. It's not a religion. It's not about going to church on Sunday. Christianity is a relationship with God. I accept the Lord and I want to receive Jesus."
His decision to embrace Christ cost him a great deal. He was barred from practicing law, lost his standing in the community, endangered his own life and faced rejection from his own family.
But Shafie was undaunted. "None of that equal anything if you know that your soul in the end will end up in Hell," he said.
He eventually found himself being tortured daily in an Egyptian prison. Despite the extreme pain, he endured and stayed loyal to his newfound faith.
On his first day in prison, his hair was shaved and his head was put alternately in freezing cold and boiling hot water for a minute each. "After that, they took me to my cell, and then told me, 'You tell us the name of your friends.'"
He responded: "I haven't taken a shower for a long time, so I enjoyed the cold and hot water."
On the second day, the jailers hung El Shafie upside down, burned his body with cigarettes and slashed him with knives.
It was on the third day when the jailers let loose three snarling dogs in his dark cell. But the three dogs just sat around him, refusing to attack him.
The guards brought in another set of dogs, which did the same thing as the first set of dogs.
"The guards were talking about it as a miracle," El Shafie said.
On the fourth day, a jail officer offered him anything he wants – a big house, money, women – if he would just inform on his associates.
El Shafie "agreed." After being fed with a sumptuous meal, El Shafie told the officer: "I can't remember the names, but I'll tell you the name of our leader, and if you can catch him, he can tell you exactly the names of all the members."
The jail officer asked him the name of their leader.
"The name of our leader is Jesus Christ," El Shafie answered. "If you can catch Him, catch Him."
The officer slapped him and hurled him against the wall. The guards then dragged him into a dark room where they tied up his hands, arms, feet, legs and neck to a wooden cross. He said he hung on the cross for two-and-a-half days. They even cut the skin on his left shoulder and poured lemon and salt on the wound.
El Shafie then found himself lying in a hospital bed. After a week, he recovered.
He was subsequently tried and sentenced to death. But with the help of friends, he made a daring escape. He stole a jet ski on the Sinai Peninsula and rode it out of Egypt to Israel.
He was later granted political asylum in Canada and eventually became a Canadian citizen.
He continued his humanitarian work and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
"Persecuted Christians are dying every day, but they are still smiling. They are in a very deep dark night, but they still have the candles of the living God," El Shafie said. "Our enemies have a very strong army, have very strong weapons, but we have the Lord Almighty. They can kill the dreamer, but no one can kill the dream."
