Archive for the ‘Haiti Earthquake’ Category
Haitian Judge Recommends Release of Ten Missionaries
February 11th, 2010
I posted the other day that the Haitians should free the ten American missionaries.
A Haitian judge has agreed that they did not have criminal intent and should be set free.
A Haitian judge recommended Thursday that 10 American missionaries detained in Haiti be released.
The missionaries were arrested for taking 33 children and trying to transport them out of the country, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed judicial source.
The missionaries have been jailed in Haiti since Jan. 29, after being stopped at the Dominican Republic’s border with Haiti.
“One thing an investigating judge seeks in a criminal investigation is criminal intentions on the part of the people involved and there is nothing that shows that criminal intention on the part of the Americans,” the source told Reuters.
The prosecutor has the right to appeal Judge Bernard Saint-Vil recommendation, but the judge has the final say.
So, I suppose after a legal battle the judge will set them free, and that’s only right as they were just trying to help out what they thought were orphaned or abandoned children.
Maybe they’ve learned a lesson and will be sure to have the legalities worked out before they attempt to do something like this again.
Posted in 
The U.S. Government Has to Get the Missionaries out of the Haitian Jail
February 7th, 2010
Ten Southern Baptist “missionaries” went to Haiti to try to give a new life to the newly orphaned children in that earthquake-ravaged country.
They claimed to have proper paperwork but that’s in dispute, since adoptions were stopped for people who did not already have approval for adoption before the earthquake hit.
The original plan was to build an orphanage in neighboring Dominican Republic and the parents could visit, but with the intention of eventually getting these children adopted by American families.
At least nine of the people are innocent. Whether the lady who headed up the mission knowingly disregarded legalities is still in question.
Right now these ten people of good will are in a Haitian jail and will be tried. Our country as a government, as a people and as organizations have been to Haiti and continue to be there to help those who need it the most.
Some of the children’s parents said they thought their children were going to the Dominican Republic to get away from all the destruction and turmoil in their own country and allowed them to go. Other children’s distant relatives brought the children to the workers, telling them both parents were dead and they could not care for them.
Even though the orphanage is not completed, the ten people tried to take the children to safety. I doubt anyone thinks they wanted to engage in child trafficking, although appearances don’t always tell a story.
Now they sit in jail awaiting trial and sentencing.
Our government should exert as much pressure as possible to free these Americans (at least the nine who were not in charge) as a goodwill gesture to the nation that has helped Haiti more than any other country on earth.
The intent to take them to the DR is certain, but it didn’t happen, and no harm was actually done. I’ve seen videos of these people (at least one a young teen) and they seem credible to me. They wanted what was best for the children.
It could very well be that the State Department is in negotiations to get these people out of Haiti. I hope so. Even the leader, who may or may not have deceived the others, has learned from this experience and I doubt she will try anything like this again.
Many will disagree with me because what they did was illegal, but in a country whose jails were destroyed and regular criminals are once again roaming the streets, it seems they can free up some jail space and deport these people under the condition they never return to Haiti.
I welcome your thoughts, even if they are not the same as mine.
Dear God, Please Help the People of Haiti
January 18th, 2010
I haven’t posted anything about Haiti because I knew it was big news and everyone else was covering it much better than I could, but after seeing the following video I can’t help but beg you to give until it hurts if you are able to give at all.
I just got a letter from the Southern Baptist Relief Team asking for donations, but last week when it first happened I didn’t know where to go for my denomination so I tried the Red Cross, and Salvation Army but the servers were overworked and down at the time. I then went to Samaritan’s Purse, the organization headed by Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, and the organization that does so much in humanitarian aid. Rather than do an online donation I made a phone call since they are just about 25 miles from where I live.
Former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush are also heading up relief efforts at Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and are promising every cent donated will go for relief efforts in Haiti.
Whatever organization you use, be sure it is legitimate, as some scammers are trying to make money off other people’s suffering.
May God help the people in Haiti to find their dead, bury them properly, find the living and get them help and get the much-needed supplies out to the populace.
