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Intercessor, are you familiar with Philip and Kathie Zodhiates? Though these believers have not received much coverage in the mainstream media, they have courageously withstood brutal persecution for over a decade.
Who is praying on the wall?
This persecution stems from Philip’s decision to help a mother protect her child from sexual abuse. The story centers around Lisa Miller, a former lesbian-turned-born-again-Christian, was trying to protect her biological daughter, Isabella, from her ex-wife Janet Jenkins. According to Philip, Jenkins had been sexually abusing Isabella. When the courts refused to protect her daughter from her ex-wife, Lisa decided to flee the country in 2009. Philip, eager to help protect this mother and child, offered to drive the Millers to Buffalo International Airport.
Though they certainly didn’t realize it at the time, this small, innocent decision would lead to years of suffering for the Zodhiates. Jenkins, assisted by notorious left-wing and anti-Christian group the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) sued Philip and other defendants, accusing them of violating her supposed parental rights. Philip even spent three years in prison over this as punishment for “aiding and abetting an international parental kidnapping.”
It is important to remember that Jenkins is not biologically related to Isabella at all, she was simply in a relationship with her mother for a small amount of time. Nevertheless, in the eyes of far-left Vermont, this brief relationship entitled Jenkins to parental rights, rights that she claims were obstructed when Lisa and Isabella left America.
For years, believers who knew about this case have faithfully prayed for Philip and his wife Kathie. And just recently, on February 4, Philip shared an update with Christian publishing group Lighthouse Trails, detailing how he and his family are holding up and where the case stands now.
From Lighthouse Trails:
Let me explain. Last spring we were shocked and blindsided by Federal Judge William Sessions’ summary judgment against me, denying my right to a trial in defending the civil suit. A case filed by Janet Jenkins [Lisa Miller’s former lesbian partner] and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for supposedly denying Janet Jenkins her imagined parental rights.
In other words, the judge finds the case against me compelling enough to order the forgoing of a trial, meaning a jury merely needs to assign the supposed monetary damages they claim I owe Janet Jenkins, of which SPLC takes a sizable proportion.
This is merely a way to assure we do not present in trial the evidence of Janet Jenkin’s sexual abuse of Isabella Miller, paving the way toward the normalization of adult-child sex.
Philip does vow to appeal the summary judgment, but only if “I am financially able to continue this fight.” This has truly been one of Philip’s greatest struggles. According to a video interview from 2024, he has spent well over $1 million. And financial troubles aren’t the only issues facing his family. According to the update, the Zodhiates have faced their fair share of relationship and health issues in recent years.
Why is this all happening? According to Philip, it’s because groups like the SPLC want to normalize sex between adults and children. “Simply put, their agenda is to legitimize sexual access to children. And the federal judge in this case just took a huge step towards doing that!” He write that, although the normalization of pedophilia sounds impossibly bizarre right now, people felt the same way about the normalization of homosexuality twenty years ago.
As Philip and Kathie’s fight continues, it’s important that we pray. Let’s ask God to provide for their every need, to continue to give them courage, and to ensure that justice is finally delivered!
Share your prayers for Philip and Kathie Zodhiates below.
(Excerpt from Lighthouse Trails. Photo Credit: DNY59/Getty Images)
