Friday, February 5, 2010

Haiti: Charged missionary was from church with recent child predator

One of the missionaries charged in Haiti with child kidnapping was from a Texas church that allegedly covered up for a child predator.

Jim Allen, from Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo, Texas, is one of the ten missionaries charged by the Haitian government with child kidnapping and criminal association. The other 9 mission team members are from two Southern Baptist churches in Idaho and a Baptist church in Kansas.

In a statement on the Paramount Baptist Church website, senior pastor Gil Lain cited Matthew 25:40 and said that the mission team’s goal was simply to “take care of the least of these.”

But Paramount Baptist Church had recent problems with taking care of “the least of these” even within its own congregation. (That’s Paramount in the photo.)

A 2007 lawsuit alleged that Paramount Baptist Church “was warned that a Sunday School teacher and paid childcare worker was a known pedophile, and yet did nothing to keep kids safe.”

As reported in EthicsDaily, parents bringing the suit alleged that Patrick Farmer molested and photographed their two young daughters numerous times. Farmer, who had also been a spokesman for Paramount’s Vacation Bible School, ultimately pled guilty to four counts of sexual indecency with children.

The parents said that, for years, numerous other parents and teachers “had complained to church leaders that Farmer engaged in inappropriate sexual touching of children on the church premises.” They said that, on at least one occasion, “parents who complained about Farmer were asked to leave the church.”

“Even after the parents reported their concerns to church leaders,” the lawsuit said, “the church failed to prevent Farmer from working with children.”

“Between the time they reported Farmer’s behavior to the church and his indictment by a grand jury… the parents claim Farmers abused a third victim.” All three of the children were under the age of 10.

Farmer worked as a local school teacher for one year, and according to the lawsuit, when the church contacted the school district prior to hiring Farmer, the school district “recommended against employing him in a position involving children.”

Allegedly, “the church ignored the warning from the school district… just as it ignored previous warnings from parents.”

The victims’ lawyer, Stan Broome, insisted that the church knew about Farmer’s sexual behavior and covered it up. “Paramount Baptist Church lied about what was going on. . . ,” said Broome.

According to the lawsuit, Paramount Baptist Church “did not take even the most basic of precautions to shield children from being molested by Farmer. Instead of requiring multiple adults to be present for children’s activities…the church regularly allowed Farmer to teach Sunday school classes in which he was the only adult present.”

So that’s the kind of history that Paramount Baptist Church has when it comes to taking care of “the least of these.”

Now let me emphasize . . . None of this means that Paramount’s member, Jim Allen, had any intention of kidnapping kids in Haiti. Personally, I doubt that he did.

I don’t know what any of the mission team members actually intended. What I suspect is that the mission team was grossly incompetent, dreadfully misguided, and possibly evangelically arrogant.

However, while Paramount's history with a pedophile does not speak one way or the other as to the specific charges against the mission team in Haiti, it does help to demonstrate why the Haitian government has good reason for being concerned and for enforcing its laws -- laws that were designed to safeguard “the least of these.”

Paramount’s history helps to demonstrate that, just because people call themselves “Baptist” is no reason why the Haitian government should automatically assume that they will be people who genuinely look after “the least of these.”

After all, Southern Baptists haven’t done a very good job of looking after “the least of these” even within their own faith group.

Morris Chapman, president of the Southern Baptist executive committee, complained that the Haitian government and international community immediately interpreted the missionaries’ actions “in the worst light possible.” Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I couldn’t help but think that Morris Chapman might do better if he would address himself to how Southern Baptists interpreted the Haitian government’s action.

Clint Henry, senior pastor of the largest Southern Baptist church in Idaho and the church that sponsored many of the missionaries, immediately responded by denouncing the charges as “accusations of Satan.” And Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics Commission, pointed out that churches give “hundreds of thousands of dollars to relief efforts” and that the Haitian government’s response was “outrageous.”

With talk like that, it’s hard to say that Baptist leaders themselves did anything other than view things “in the worst light possible,” isn’t it? If Southern Baptist leaders want others to interpret things in a better light, they should do so themselves.

And if Southern Baptist leaders want others to take them seriously when they say they care about “the least of these,” then they need to put words into action by implementing denominational safeguards to better protect against the child predators in their own ranks.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's something else to keep in mind while dealing with the Haiti crisis: http://www.pressdisplay.com/pressdisplay/showlink.aspx?bookmarkid=1RRT60Z0KKO1&preview=article&linkid=3900ad7d-0599-40a3-8811-2730185022df&pdaffid=ZVFwBG5jk4Kvl9OaBJc5%2bg%3d%3d


We need to know both sides of the story.

Sincerely,
MediaMentions

Christa Brown said...

Thanks MediaMentions. Here is perhaps an easier link to the same story.

What haunted me the most in the story was the parents' statement that they trusted the Americans "because they arrived with the recommendation of a Baptist minister." People the world over think the "Baptist" brand means something. But, it doesn't because, even though Baptists carry a shared identity, they refuse any notion of shared responsibility.

Sherri Vada said...

WOW AMERICAN MEDIA IS REALLY MAKING ME SICK! YOU HAVE 10 PEOPLE IN A 3RD WORLD COUNTRY IN ONE OF THE WORSE PLACES IN THE WORLD TO BE EVEN WITHOUT A CATASTROPHE AND ALL THE US MEDIA SEEMS TO FOCUS ON IS FUELING THE FIRE AND PUTTING SICK TWISTS ON INNOCENT PEOPLE THAT PURPOSELY CAME THERE TO JUST HELP HURTING CHILDREN. YOU ARE MAKING THERE CASE MORE DIFFICULT! CAN ANYONE NOT SEE THRU THIS SMOKE SCREEN? REAL CHILD TRAFFICKERS DON'T GET CAUGHT CAUSE IT IS A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY THEY SIMPLY PAY PEOPLE OFF. USUALLY NOT MOTHER DAUGHTER TEAMS FROM IDAHO EITHER. COME ON PEOPLE WAKE UP! THEY COULD OF LEFT THE CHILDREN ALONE BUT THEY ACTUALLY HAD THE HEART TO NOT THINK OF JUST THEMSELVES, THAT'S PROBABLY HARD TO COMPREHEND FOR SOME OF YOU FOLKS THAT ARE STUCK IN THE ME WORLD. WHEN IS THIS STORY GOING TO EVER REALLY GET TOLD. WHAT HAPPENED TO UNBIASED JOURNALISM? ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS HOW I CAN SUPPORT THEM FINANCIALLY. THIS STORY MAKES ME SICK. LIBERAL MEDIA AND THERE HATRED TOWARDS GOD AND ALL WHO REPRESENT HIM!

Jim said...

Sherri, this whole sorry episode could have been avoided if the "missionaries" from Idaho had just listened to the advice of non-governmental organizations and other religious groups in Haiti. Instead, like "Ugly Americans" they decided to do just what they wanted, without regard to the laws and customs of a foreign country...a foreign country in crisis. Attempting to a right thing the wrong way makes it wrong. The leader of the group is the President and CEO of her own successful company. I am quite sure she doesn't operate her business without proper documentation or legal opinion. At the heart of this situation is religious and nationalistic arrogance.

Sherri Vada said...

PLEASE JIM SPARE ME THE POLITICS OF THE CASE, I'M ABOUT SICK OF POLITICALLY CORRECTNESS! YOU HAVE NO IDEA THE CONDITION THEY WERE IN AFTER THIS HORRIFIC EARTHQUAKE! THE STENCH AND AMOUNT OF DEAD BODIES SURROUNDING EVERY STEP THEY TOOK, THE DESTRUCTION LACK OF BASIC SUPPLIES, HAVING BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE D.R. AND HAVING THE CARE THERE NEEDED TO POSSIBLE SAVE A FEW...THEY OBVIOULY SEEN A GREATER PICTURE, BUT I GUESS THAT PICTURE IS SMALL IN COMPARISON TO THE SOAP BOX SMUG AMERICANS WANT TO SEE. NOT EVERYTHING IS BLACK AND WHITE AND WHEN YOU TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE WHOLE PICTURE, HAITIANS WILLING AND DESPERATELY WANTING THERE CHILDREN IN A SAFE PLACE, THE DEVASTATION AND DEATH SURROUNDING THEM, THE MEANS TO PROVIDE AND NOT JUST THINK OF THEMSELVES PLEASE WHAT LOVELY HEART WOULDN'T DO WHAT THEY DID. I CAN SEE THEM NOW EXPLAINING THEMSELVES AT THE BORDER WITHOUT PAPERS AND TRYING TO MAKE SENSE AS TO WHY THEY CAN HELP. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT I SAY OR HOW MUCH SENSE THIS MAKES DURING A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION THE LIBERAL JUDGEMENTAL AMERICAN WILL CRUCIFY THIS GROUP ON A MATTER OF LEGALITIES. WE ALL KNOW THEY WERE TRYING TO HELP SO JUST GIVE ME A BREAK! IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW I CAN HELP FINANCIALLY PLEASE REPLY OTHER THAN THAT I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT YOUR ALLS POLITICAL CORRECT SOAP BOX AND ARROGANT OPINIONS. THIS PEOPLE CHOOSE LIFE. THEY WILL BE VICTORIOUS IN THE END NO MATTER WHAT CAUSE GOD SUPPORTED THERE ACTION TO HELL WHAT MAN THINKS!

Sherri Vada said...

PS YES JIM THIS DEFINETLY COULD OF BEEN AVOIDED IF THE FRICKIN EARTHQUAKE DIDN'T HAPPEN....DUH!

gmommy said...

THEY WILL BE VICTORIOUS IN THE END NO MATTER WHAT [CAUSE GOD SUPPORTED THERE ACTION] TO HELL WHAT MAN THINKS!

IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW I CAN HELP FINANCIALLY PLEASE REPLY OTHER THAN THAT [I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT YOUR ALLS POLITICAL CORRECT SOAP BOX AND ARROGANT OPINIONS.]
February 6, 2010 2:17 PM

Sherri,
This is a blog, honey, and Christa Brown's blog. Her blog focuses on the many Baptist ministers that are not held accountable for their sexual crimes against children and others who are vulnerable to those who use their twisted spiritual positions of authority to harm them. That's fine if you aren't interested in our opinions but you can't control whether we have them or give voice to them on this blog.

We are people who have experienced the reality of how Baptist land operates when it comes to their own wounded and needy. I don't know how you read political correctness into that but you certainly have a right to your opinion.
Just as you are very concerned with the people now under arrest and are passionate to see the right thing done by them...we are concerned and passionate that there be proper checks and balances and protection for children in the American Baptist churches.
We know Baptist churches aren't a safe place for children at this time. We know God does not support the actions of these clergy sexual predators
(click on stopbaptistpredators.com to read the facts and view some of the faces of clergy abuse)
We also know God doesn't support the lack of action by those who turn a blind eye or defend the abusers while ignoring those wounded and bleeding right in front of them.
I can certainly give you scripture to support my position as I'm sure you could for yours. But clergy abuse is what this blog discusses.

I have no idea the circumstances concerning the American Baptists who have been arrested. I'm glad you are certain God supports their actions but many here were told that God supported their being sexually molested...by their own ministers. So that particular claim doesn't stir up any enthusiasm.
I hope the truth comes out and that the right thing happens for everyone involved...that includes the Americans arrested in Haiti and the Baptist clergy who prey on the defenseless right here in our own back yard.
More than my concern for the adults involved in both situations...my heart grieves for all the innocent children who are helpless,wounded,alone,and hopeless.

Jeri said...

Laura Silsby was transporting undocumented, untraceable children across a national border, to a non-existent orphanage. She talked a big game but had nothing in hand, and those children would have suffered. She's the one who has been outrageous. And now she's facing justice. And yes, if this had been left in SBC hands, it would have been one more cover up. But now they cannot cover up.

Sherri Vada said...

PREDATORS POSING AS CHRISTIANS IS ONE THING, THE HAITIAN MISSIONARIES IS ANOTHER. I TOTALLY AGREE WITH WHAT YOUR SAYING DON'T GET ME WRONG BUT THATS ANOTHER SOAP BOX, THE IDAHO MISSIONARIES IS ANOTHER. WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IS IF AND WHEN THEY ARE FOUND OUT TO BE COMPLETELY INNOCENT (NON-PRETADORS WITH PLAN TO TAKE AID TO THE CHILDREN) WILL YOU THEN UNDERSTAND THERE DILEMA? ITS SO EASY FOR THOSE PC PEOPLE TO GRAB AHOLD OF A TOTALLY OFF THE WALL SUBJECT TO MAKE THE CURRENT MATTER LOOK DIRTY. THAT BEING THE CASE IF THE IDAHO MISSIONARIES TURN OUT TO BE FILTHY PEOPLE THAN SO BE IT AND HOORAY FOR ALL THE CONDEMERS, BUT I AM BETTING THAT YOUR ALL WRONG ABOUT THEM AND JUST TRYING TO MUSTAR UP SOME JUICY TRASH TALK AGAINST THEM. WHATEVER THE CASE I AM PRESUMING THEIR INNOCENCE AND IF I AM RIGHT THEN THIS MEDIA COVERAGE HAS BEEN A FARSE. AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH ME DOESN'T MATTER, BUT BEHIND ALL LEFT WINGERS LIES A MOTIVE OF SMEAR AND I DON'T GET IT CAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A RIGHT WINGER TO GET MY SUPPORT I JUST LIKE WHAT IS THE RIGHT AND LOVING THING....

Sherri Vada said...

SORRY FOR DISTURING YOURBLOG DIDN'T REALIZE THAT FOR WHATEVER THAT MEANS.....

Dan said...

There's nothing in the Bible that says you shouldn't follow the laws of the land. Instead of turning on the persecution button, these people should apologize for not obeying the law. If they are legitimate missionaries, that will come out. Until then, they, or particularly, SHE should shut up and let the diplomats and law enforcement officials do their thing.

gmommy said...

Dang....now we are left wingers and PC people???
I thought we were suppose to be opportunists:)
I personally have never done anything even the good ol boys at the SBC would consider left wingie and I enjoy freaking out the PC people...especially those who are PC about turning a blind eye to the reality of Baptist clergy abuse.
Sherri,
I respect and appreciate your support for these people. I hope everything works out for them.
What I meant by this is a blog is that it is not the media....Christa only gives links to media articles. Our support for victims of abuse isn't a soap box...it's a reality we have been forced to live in.
Did anyone call the people arrested filthy???? I don't see how it is an off the wall subject or how WE made them LOOK dirty.

My gut is that they had no horrible intentions for the children. But while there is discussion here about articles and facts published already...you are making tons of very off the wall assumptions about who reads and posts on this blog.
I'm sure when this particular situation is resolved Christa will post links with the facts and there will be more discussions.

Thank you for appreciating our passion for victims...even if you had to call us names.

Jim said...

Sherri, I can't discern how you found "politics" in my comments. If you were disturbed by my "Ugly American" reference, may I suggest you read Eugene Burdick's book by that title...published in the late "50's. He talks about US citizens going to foreign countries and conducting themselves without regard to the laws and customs of nations. My comments were intended to be a literary reference. Have you ever been to Haiti? I have...many times. Haiti is more than Port au Prince and it is far more than you have seen on television. There are, at this very moment functioning orphanages, not destroyed by the earthquake, in that nation. Those orphanages operate on a "shoestring," and were in existence long before the earthquake. They need help. This group of missionaries could have helped some those institutions and thereby helped children. There was no need to remove children from their homeland, especially without appropriate documentation, in order to help Haiti's children. These "missionaries," for whatever reason, chose to ignore the laws of a sovereign nation in order to achieve their own ends. Now, they want that nation to act as if those laws are not important. How does recognizing that make one a "liberal judgmental American"?

Ramesh said...

I would encourage Sherri to use lowercase letters in blog comments. Using all uppercase letters means you are shouting. I am presuming you are not. But it is very hard to read comments when they all capitalized. Thanks.

Christa Brown said...

"Dang....now we are left wingers and PC people???"

Dang. Who knew? And here I thought I was just a middle-age, growing-more-boring-by-the-day sort of person. ;-)

Thanks for giving me a laugh, gmommy. It's a day when I thought I was all out of laughs, and so it's particularly appreciated.

"I hope the truth comes out and that the right thing happens for everyone involved...that includes the Americans arrested in Haiti and the Baptist clergy who prey on the defenseless right here in our own back yard."

Me too.

gmommy said...

Always happy to give you a laugh, Christa!!
I was having more of a left wingie, juicy trash talking, soap box kind of off the wall day...so I had a few to share:)
I'm teasing!
For reasons beyond my understanding but for which I am grateful...I had a strong sense of peace today in spite of some challenging circumstances. I think tomorrow will be your day!!

Christa Brown said...

"I had a strong sense of peace today...."

I'm so glad for your good day, gmommy. It's what I always wish for all abuse survivors -- a measure of peace.

Junkster said...

Off topic (somewhat):

Christa,
Be sure to check out FBC Jax Watchdog's article about Ed Young. With just a few changes in wording, the "template" Watchdog provides (for how mega-church pastors and their followers respond to questions cast on their ministries) could be used to describe the standard response of many SBC leaders and churches to predator ministers.

Christa Brown said...

Junkster: Thanks for the link. The patterns have become so predictable, haven't they?

You can read the rest at Junkster's link, but here are just a few of the lines from the template response for pastors when questions are raised about their "ministry":
1. "Whatever I did my motives are right because I am called by God.
2. The followers say "It doesn't matter because you're doing great things for God."
3. The questioner is Satan and the questions are a device of the devil to divide the church.

We see this template in practice so often that I'm starting to think they must have workshops on it at their annual pastors' conferences.

Greybeard said...

Junkster, Ed Young is a Southern Baptist. He's using the mega Baptist pastor handbook for dealing with questions and/or descent.

Sherri Vada said...

SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS NO INTENT OF HARM JUST BETTER READING FOR MY POOR EYES.

OK SO YOU GUYS ARE CONSERVATIVE RIGHT WINGERS? HMMMM COULD I OF EVER BEEN SO WRONG TO ACCUSE YOU OF BEING A LEFTIST OR DO WE HAVE ANTI-CHRISTIAN MONGERS AMONGST US? IT'S VERY HONORABLE OF YOU TO BE HUNTING DOWN PAEDOPHILIA'S BUT WAIT NOT JUST ANY PEDOPHILIA, BUT THE PEDOPHILIA BAPTIST KIND, ESP IF WE COULD FIND SOME THAT HAVE SOME SORT OF CONNECTION TO THE HAITI MISSIONARIES. I MEAN COME ON THERE JUST IN THE POOREST 3RD WORLD COUNTRY IN THE W.I AND THERE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW. OH BUT THEY SO DESERVE THAT DON'T THEY! THEY DESERVE TO SUFFER AT THE UTMOST SEVEREST FORM. YOU'VE ESTABLISHED THE IMPORTANCE OF PAPERS VERSUS HEALTH OF CHILDREN, SO YOUR RIGHT I'M WRONG AGAIN. HOW DARE THEY ATTEMPT TO RESCUE THEM WITHOUT THE PROPER PAPERWORK! SO FOR THEIR PUNISHMENT WE IN THE USA SHOULD GET AS MUCH DIRT ON THEM AS WE POSSIBLE CAN CAUSE LORD KNOWS THEY COMMITTED THE MOST HEINOUS CRIME AND HAD NO REGARD TO THE LAW, THERE EVIL! HOW DARE THEY ATTEMPT TO TAKE CHILDREN OUT OF PORT-AU-PRINCE WITHOUT PAPERS! NO PAPERS!!! OMG I AM LIKE SO HOPING THEY FRY THEM. SO WHAT WE SHOULD DO IS FUEL THE FIRE AND HOPEFULLY THE OFFICIALS IN HAITI WILL GET WIND OF THIS PEDOPHILE YOU LINKED THIS CHURCH UP WITH AND WE CAN MAKE IT AS SEVERE FOR THEM AS WE POSSIBLE CAN CAUSE THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE THAT WOULD WANT TO TAKE CHILDREN OUT OF HAITI WHEN 200,000 PEOPLE ARE LYING AROUND DEAD ON THE STREETS, AND MILLIONS HOMELESS WITH MAYHEM RUNNING AROUND. BUT FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE EVER SO LAWFUL AND HONOR THE GODLY LAWS OF THE LAND, CAUSE THAT IS AN ACT OF GOD THAT IS MUCH GREATER THAT REMOVING HELPLESS CHILDREN FROM DEVASTATION AND DESTRUCTION. SO I HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO THE LIGHT. YOU GUYS ARE RIGHT THERE HORRIBLE, ARROGANT, SELFISH PEDOPHILIA LOVING, PEDOPHILIA COVERING UP BAPTIST'S WHO DESERVE TO ROT IN HAITI! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! MY BAD......PS I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS BLOG IS FOR OTHER THAN I AM TRYING TO JUST FIND A LINK TO HELP SUPPORT THIS GROUP AND YOUR BLOG POPPED UP SO I JOINED IN. SORRY IF THIS IS SOMEONES PERSONAL BLOG AND IF IT IS I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE I HAVE BROUGHT, BUT FOR WHAT ITS WORTH MY HEART IS ACHING FOR THESE PEOPLE STUCK IN JAIL. ALSO ANY CHILD THAT IS MOLESTED BY ANY TYPE OF PERSON OR GROUP MY HEART BURNS FOR THEM TOO. I JUST ACCIDENTLY RAN INTO THIS BLOG AND RESPONDED....

John said...

Like a lot of SBC work these "missionaries" were self appointed and self motivated. Their desire to help is great. Their approach is very wrong.
I am going to be very interested in seeing how this plays out. I wonder, if any of them get jail time, do you think the SBC will top their massive relief program in order to teach those poor "third world" people a lesson?

Christa Brown said...

"I wonder, if any of them get jail time, do you think the SBC will stop their massive relief program in order to teach those poor 'third world' people a lesson?"

Sadly, I wondered the same thing, John. And I wondered if that was the undercurrent of the message that Richard Land (SBC Ethics Commission president) was trying to convey when he said this in a public statement: "Our nation's churches are giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to relief efforts for the people of Haiti. . . . For the Haitian government to respond in this way to the obvious good intentions of these honorable Christians is outrageous."

Why did he juxtapose these two statements? What's the connection between the money churches send for relief efforts and the Haitian government's attempt to enforce its law requiring documentation of children who are taken across the border?

I'm not sure what Richard Land intended, but at best, I thought it was a grossly insensitive statement.

Christa Brown said...

"I JUST ACCIDENTLY RAN INTO THIS BLOG AND RESPONDED...."

Well, "Sherri," I could be mistaken on this, but it appears to me that your comments are coming in from the area of Memphis, Tennessee, and so I'm a little skeptical that you just "accidentally ran into this blog."

If I'm wrong about that, my apology. If there's one thing that dealing with clergy sex abuse has taught me, it's to be more skeptical -- and so I tend to question almost everything these days.

And just for the record . . . I don't consider myself an "anti-Christian-monger."

Greybeard said...

It is laughable that Sherri would consider a contributors to this blog "anti-Christian." Most, if not all have had deep relationships with Christian, often Baptist, churches. Many have spent their lives in Christian ministry. We just don't buy the "Baptist Bubba" line. I suspect, for the most part, posters here love Jesus; they just believe the Southern Baptist expression of His Church has gone off course and sold-out to wealth, power and privilege. We focus on Baptists because many of us remain Baptists, hoping against hope to restore some element of grace and goodness to a once great community of faith. Richard Land's comments indicate they still don't get it. Southern Baptist Leaders actually believe they can wave their checkbook or threaten to withdraw it and folks will bow to their demands. They tried to destroy the Baptist World Alliance with that tactic, and it did not work. I don't think it will work in Haiti, either. Let them leave...along with their money...I am certain there will be much less drama on the ground with them gone.

Sherri Vada said...

NO I'M IN SAN DIEGO ORIGINALLY FROM OHIO AND I DON'T LIE FOR THE MOST PART

Sherri Vada said...

SO YOUR CHRISTIAN HUH? WOW WOULD OF NEVER GUESSED, I GUESS IF WE "SAY" WERE CHRISITAN THAN WE REALLY "ARE" I HAVE NO AGENDA HERE AS OPPOSED TO THE SOAP BOX I HEAR YOU ALL WAILING ON. ONE THING I DO KNOW IS THAT FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD. AND IT APPEARED TO ME THE HAITIAN (EWWWW) BAPTISTS WERE DEF WORKING. BUT SINCE YOUR ALL CHRISTIAN HERE YOU ALL CAN PRAY THAT THOSE THEM THERE SOUTHERN BAPTIST WILL ROT IN JAIL AND FINALLY GET YOU ALL SOME VENGENACE! THAT WAY YOU MAY ALL USE YOR BLOG AS PRAISE REPORTS AND ADDED PLEASURE TO YOUR GLORIOUS FELLOWSHIP YOU SHARE. AMEN. BYE YA ALL! BLOG ON....

Unknown said...

In church today, one of the ladies was telling about an orphanage in Haiti. She said that the orphanage in Haiti is preparing for an influx of orphans (and I'm sure children whose families can no longer take care of them) because of the earthquake. They haven't gotten very many yet, because things are still being sorted out. As a result the orphanage has on their website what they need and how to get it to them.

The lady was also saying that until things are sorted out, many kids are in camps with an insufficient amount of adults in them.

And as she was saying that, I was thinking "Now why couldn't the missionaries have done something like that, helped an existing Haitian orphanage? Many of them, especially outside Port au Prince, are still standing, and need lots of help right now. Or why couldn't they have stayed in one of the camps that consist of kids, and few, if any adults?

That's one of the tragedies of this. There was a whole lot they could have done to help kids and not take them out of the country; in fact, they could have helped many more children than just 33 they were attempting to if they had helped an existing orphanage or helped in one of the camps.

Sherri Vada said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Christa Brown said...

"...the Southern Baptist expression of His Church has...sold-out to wealth, power and privilege."

Yup.

"We focus on Baptists because many of us remain Baptists, hoping against hope to restore some element of grace and goodness to a once great community of faith."

Yes, and even for those of us who no longer remain Baptist, it nevertheless remains a part of us. For myself, I often think that you can take the girl out of the Baptists (which I definitely did) but you can't take the Baptist out of the girl. I often wish I could. But I was raised in this faith group and it remains a part of me and there's just no escaping that part of my own self.

But, of course, for many people, with or without faith, I think the simple reality of a claimed 16.2 million member group that puts people in positions of authority without any systematic safeguards for accountability or the protection of children is more than enough to prompt great concern.

Michelle said...

Crap, I just wrote this huge thing out, and I think it was lost. But, Christa, I agree with you fullheartedly.
-Michelle

Jeri said...

SHERRI WROTE (in all caps) "SO YOUR CHRISTIAN HUH? WOW WOULD OF NEVER GUESSED"

I know. That's because you have the wrong definition of what makes a person a Christian. (Here;s a hint: it has nothing to do with being dunked in a tub of water).