A Christian school in Florida has filed a lawsuit alleging it was wrongfully evicted by a radical Islamic group. Kissimmee Christian Academy (KCA) claims it was harassed off the former college campus it leased from the Muslim-owned conglomerate, Super Stop Petroleum, which installed an organization called "Universal Heritage Foundation" on a section of the premises.
According to Pastor Lee Wasson of Celebration Worship in Osceola County, the Christian school his church operates was victimized by the Muslim group in a systematic campaign of harassment.
KCA had its power, water, and sewer services shut off by Super Stop Petroleum, Wasson says, and later the school was sent an erroneous bill against the provisions of its lease. To the pastor it soon became obvious that the Muslim corporation wanted the school off the property. The reason, he believes, is so Super Stop could establish its local agent, UHF - a group known for its hate speech against Christians and Jews.
Wasson says UHF has "called for death to worshippers of the cross." And, he adds, "it's unfortunate to have to repeat these words that are in print, but they've called the Jews the scum of the Earth, the grandsons of monkeys and pigs." Also, Wasson says the radical Islamic group has either chaired or been in charge of other mosques and schools that have had arrests or "have been under investigation, or even have been raided."
According to the Florida minister, the UHF has invited speakers to its mosque who describe homicide bombers as "martyrs" and call for the imposition of Sharia law in the U.S. He believes the UHF is made up of Muslim extremists and says, "They are with organizations that have noted terrorist ties."
KCA has had a hard time since its eviction from the leased property. The academy has had to meet in Sunday school classrooms, has lost two-thirds of its enrollment, and is struggling to stay open after 17 years in business. Moreover, the school has become encumbered with enormous legal fees due to its efforts to fight the injustices to which the Muslim conglomerate has subjected it.
Wasson is urging fellow Christians locally and across the country to pray with him that a court of law will not allow civil rights and religious liberties to be stolen by a radical minority. "I have been meeting with a group of local pastors about this situation on a weekly basis for a year," the Florida minister says. "We have utterly submitted everything we've done with our attorneys, with the press, and with other churches to these men so that they could check our motives."
The head of Kissimmee Christian Academy explains that he has invited local clergy to be in on every aspect of the school's fight, so they could hold him and his staff accountable and "could give us wise counsel" and "could pray and hear from God along with us." In this crisis, he asserts, "First of all, prayer is everything."
Kissimmee Christian Academy (
http://www.KissimmeeAcademy.org)
(c) 2004, Agape Press
