Opinion: Haiti missionaries deserve jail

By Todd Seabrook

I’m sure most of the Baptists had good intentions, but what is alarming is that none of them did their homework before they...

88 Comments + Add Yours

Let's get one thing straight: the 10 missionaries who are locked in a Haitian jail deserve to be there.

Although there is a miasma of politics and circumstances clouding the facts of this fiasco, the one thing that seems undisputed is that the missionaries tried to take 33 Haitian children across the Dominican Republic border without the proper documents.

That's what we know. They have been charged with kidnapping and criminal association. On the political side, the Haitian government threw the book at these missionaries to show that they still have a ruling law and a working government. This is ironic, since the Haitian government has been in shambles since Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a military coup in 2004 (more than likely orchestrated by the U.S.). So in a show of misplaced power, Haiti made an example of these 10 missionaries.

A backlash came from the Haitian people, who thought that a governmental power-play should come in the form of helping a country that was just leveled, instead of using 10 piddling Americans as a diversion.

On the circumstantial side of this story, the missionaries claim to be taking orphans they found on the streets to orphanages in the Dominican Republic. However, it was learned that many of the children's parents were still alive, and some of them even handed their children over in hope that they would have a better life. But not in the DR. Make no mistake: the plan was to get these children into the United States. And the missionaries knew exactly what they were doing.

I have no doubt that these 10 missionaries are moral people and thought they were doing a noble deed. Hell, they even fired their lawyer, Edwin Coq, for trying to bribe them out of jail, a charge he denies. I think most of the world just assumed that's how one gets out of a Haitian prison, but the families of the Idaho missionaries believe in the system, apparently.

What I am saying is that these missionaries, like most Americans, have a deeply ingrained ethnocentrism and global classism that lets them believe (along with God's will) that we have a moral right to take children from their homes.

Imagine if China sent a rescue team to New Orleans after Katrina, and decided that China was a better place for a poor orphan to grow up and shipped a handful of them off to China by way of Cuba.

They do not have the right to think that, and neither do we. These missionaries revealed their ethnocentrism in its highest and most destructive degree. Just because we think we have the best country on the planet, does not mean that we do. Just because we believe that Christian doctrine gives us the moral authority to take kids away from their parents, does not make it true.

Don't blame the Haitian parents either, who were willing to give up their children in hopes of a better life for them. Haiti looks like a war zone right now, and for those parents in the moment, it probably looked like a viable option to give their kids away to Americans. It is the Americans' responsibility to say, "No, you will want your children with you when the disaster is over." Instead, the missionaries took the opportunity to be saviors to the poor, indigenous savages who live in a country that is prone to earthquakes. Missionaries to the highest degree. Such sacrifice. Such morality.

They should be locked up until they realize that it is not okay to force your class, culture and religion onto a foreign country, no matter how just you deem it. "We trust in God," the missionaries said while in jail. You are going to be in a foreign jail for a long time, maybe you should start trusting in Haiti.

Originally Published: February 10, 2010

↑ Back to the top

Comments

You say, "Make no mistake: the plan was to get these children into the United States. And the missionaries knew exactly what they were doing." You seem to be searching for the truth in this matter, but do you know the truth, or do you simply make statements of assumption. Until the truth is known, please do not pass judgement. From what I understand, the leaders had been building an orphanage in DR. At the time of the earthquake they were in the US and immediately returned with a team of volunteers to help. I ask rhetorically, "Could this be why they were taking the children to the DR?"
I would guess that they were missing some documents based on what I hear, but were they given a chance to correct a mistake? It is not like the kids were stuffed in the floorboard or back of a bus in an attempt to smuggle them across. Please! instead of being so critical, consider what efforts these folks ’might’ have been attempting. Were you there trying to help or just passing judgement from afar?

John | 2010-02-10 - 12:45:12 PM (CDT)
If the missionaries think they are above the laws of man, then let them go without the lawyers of man. Without legal aid (or any aid from another human being), how soon if ever will they get out of jail?

Observer | 2010-02-10 - 12:49:01 PM (CDT)
Let Them Rot!!!!

elisia | 2010-02-10 - 12:55:31 PM (CDT)
dmet007 | 2010-02-10 - 12:59:15 PM (CDT)
They are the people of God. Let’s God be their judje.

dmet007 | 2010-02-10 - 01:03:26 PM (CDT)
Nice try, but there’s a vast difference between Haiti and the US, Katrina and the Earthquake. Does it amaze anyone that this government has rapists and murderers wandering there streets freely molesting the youth that these missionaries were trying to help and the Haitian government is locking up the missionaries....they don’t deserve jail they deserve applause, but then so didn’t Daniel, their applause will come make no mistake about it.

SMiles0812 | 2010-02-10 - 01:04:53 PM (CDT)
They could have stayed in their own country and try to help disadvantage black kids from poor families and neighborhoods. It amazes me how these white kids come here to try and help us but have no relations with Blacks in their own country. But wait, the blacks in DR and Haiti are not the same as blacks in USA. Oh how even in the name of God we turn a blind eye to the truth!

Dominicano | 2010-02-10 - 01:07:40 PM (CDT)
Did any of you critics happen to think that these people have families back home who need them? Sure, they made mistakes, and their leader’s character is questionable, but they were probably misled by her. They are not criminals. Don’t be cruel.

Jeff | 2010-02-10 - 01:11:33 PM (CDT)
Hey, I know of poor black children in bad neighborhoods of Washington DC that need the missionaries assistance. How come they don’t go in these areas and take these children and provide them a better life? It’s funny how these white missionaries come from places where they have very little if any at all contact with Black American families. Families that need the same type of assistance that they want to provide for these black children of Haiti.

DC | 2010-02-10 - 01:16:04 PM (CDT)
Give us a break.
1. If you had ever been to Idaho you would know that there is a heck of a lot less racial bias there than in most other parts of the US. Just ask the black folks who live there.
2. The poorest families anywhere in the US are orders of magnitude better off than these people in Haiti.
3. Hopefully most of us have felt some compassion for those folks in Haiti and a desire to help them. These people took action on their compassion. What have we done besides post our biased opinions on this blog?

I challenge all of us to go do something to help the people of Haiti TODAY.

Jeff | 2010-02-10 - 01:26:17 PM (CDT)
Good thoughts Jeff.

David | 2010-02-10 - 01:31:00 PM (CDT)
These people were planning to build an orphanage with villas in teh DR so Americans would have a nice place to stay while they waited to adopt. Their intention was absolutely adoption to the US, to save these heathen catholic childrens’ souls. Inteh Third World, it is accepted for people to leave their children at an "orphanage" if they can’t feed and clothe them. They aren’t abandoning them, just leaving them in a better place, often temporarily. The parents who "gave" their children to the Baptists assumed their children would be available to them when things were better.If you break the law, you have to bear the consequences. There are people around the world in nasty third world prisons who didn’t realize that being an American doesn’t give you a get out of jail free card everywhere in the world. ANd since when do you not need a passport the cross international borders? These people really thought they were special.

Carolyn | 2010-02-10 - 01:33:13 PM (CDT)
Well, we know why Todd Seabrook writes for Uweekly.com.

david | 2010-02-10 - 01:41:02 PM (CDT)
Carolyn - I know one of the accused personally. That person is the most humble and kind person you’ll ever meet. You and Mr. Seabrook are just plain wrong with your assumptions about their motivation, and even the facts about the case. The opinions and distorted assumptions the anti-Christian media have made have distorted the truth. You’ll see this when these folks are given the opportunity to speak for themselves.

Jeff | 2010-02-10 - 01:43:37 PM (CDT)
I feel sorry for these missionaries and their families back home who feel hopeless in helping them. However, as a traveler to Dominican Republic, I have met Dominican and Hatian people and one thing I know is that everyone will either tell you that you will need a the proper legal documents if you want to take those kids from Haiti to DR or they will tell you how to illegally do it, and everyone has a version of how to do it so that it works. Not only the leader but the other 9 people knew what was going on. It is the same as what happens in Mexico and USA. Mexicans or other Latinos sneak across the US border or they get fake or legit documents to get to USA. Everyone knows that you need to do any of the above to get there. In Haiti, Haitians sneak across the boarder and either live illegally or they get fake papers to live in Dominican Republic. Every Haitian and Dominican knows you need papers to get into Dominican Republic and if you are going to take children they also are going to make you aware of the legal documents that are required or they will tell you the best way that they heard of to sneak into the country. Yes, I feel sorry for them but I also know they knew what they were doing. They just got caught. I see alot of Americans go there and they think that because they are Americans they are above the law. But when they realize that our law don’t mean jack in another country like DR then they claim ignorance. And it really gets lonely when the politicians turn their back on you.

Black in America | 2010-02-10 - 01:43:50 PM (CDT)
The possibility exists that the leader of this group, Laura Silsby could have been up to something nefarious in the Baptist church mission to Haiti. Suspicion is aroused by her personal legal and financial crisis back in Idaho and credible allegations that she has engaged in illegal and fraudulent schemes there that were imploding on her when she spearheaded the organization of this mission group by her Baptist congregation in Idaho. Maybe this was a child trafficking organization disguised as a charitable church mission. Maybe others in the group in Haiti or back in Idaho were in on the plot. Specific evidence of that has not yet been revealed, however.

The writer of this blog and some of the comments here and in other media seem to reflect religious resentment and continue to support specious allegations of illegality (child trafficking/kidnapping, as opposed to mere bungling of paperwork for crossing the Dominican Republic border) on the fact that many, if not most of these children had living parents. This all hinges not on any credible legal basis for the accusations, but rather on a dictionary definition of "orphan" as a child whose a parents are dead. This is at least as narrow-minded as the prevailing Southern Baptist approach to the Christian faith and the Bible. It seizes upon some discrete item, like select Bible verses taken out of context, and does not look to the full, more complex, reality.

Orphanages, of which comparatively few remain in the U.S., frequently house children who have one or more living parents who are unable to care for them, as opposed to children with no parents at all. Sometimes the parents have abandoned them or are incarcerated or otherwise absent for reasons beyond their control. Sometimes the parents have engaged in conduct that is abusive or neglectful and have had their parental rights stripped either temporarily or permanently. But many simply have parents who ask the orphanage to take care of their children because the parents do not have the financial or other material means to do so. My grandfather, as a child in the early 1900s, before the rise in the U.S. 20th century of public assistance programs for needy families with children, was cared for lovingly in an orphanage, where he was treated kindly, over a period of several years. The only reason for his stay in the orphanage was that his widowed mother did not have the resources to provide for him. She visited him frequently in the orphanage. When she got on her feet, she took him back to live with her.

There is no direct evidence whatsoever, other than innuendo and ridiculous substitution of the dictionary definitions for legal analysis of the overall situation, to suggest that the Baptist group involved in this Haiti incident were involved in anything sinister. At most, all that can be proven is that they may have been a bunch of well-intentioned rubes who were unsophisticated about the regulations and paperwork required to legally transport these children to the Dominican Republic facility they had acquired or, more likely, gullible about the corruption of local officials who wanted to set them up for bribes or for political purposes. The situation got out of hand and drew media attention and those petty bureaucrats are now are playing innocent to international media outlets that seem reluctant to challenge the utter absence of evidence of any real child trafficking scheme. Meantime, the Idaho hillbillies, who at most may deserve a slap on the wrist for stupidity, are in jail. The media needs to do its job and quit mouthing the line of Haitian officials who should have egg on their faces for their part in this fiasco. If they dont, this could turn into a travesty that results in lengthy imprisonments of Americans whose only real crime was to have bungled Haitian documentation requirements by naively following the instructions of incompetent or corrupt Haitian bureaucrats.

David | 2010-02-10 - 01:46:15 PM (CDT)
I accidentally posted the previous comment before I had proofread it for grammatical errors. Sorry.

David | 2010-02-10 - 02:06:58 PM (CDT)
Love the article. Most truthful one I have read to date.

DC from Idaho | 2010-02-10 - 02:09:51 PM (CDT)
Laura Silsby, the leader of this clueless group of missionaries, is the devil in no uncertain disguise. She is not even a Christian, but one who uses the Lord’s name in complete vain, for her own purposes. This is a cardinal sin in all religions, since it is the mark of hypocrisy and contempt of God Himself.

The others were duped by Silsby, who is not interested in the welfare of the children she "rescued." These children were merely pawns in her quest to find a low-cost, unmonitored, tax-haven in the Dominican Republic to funnel any future "investments" from charities, churches, businesses, or individuals to help her in her "cause."

If you look into her eyes, you can clearly see the devil smiling through Laura Silsby.

She brainwashed her group, using the mantra of strength in numbers and religion, to make them think they were doing something worthy and holy. Instead of helping the children and families in Haiti, Laura kidnapped them, bought them with false promises and candy bars, and used them to further her celebrity cause.

At first, she thought even her arrest was going just as planned, as it evoked sympathy from other Christians who were duped by her charade.

Not only did Laura Silsby commit the cardinal sin of using the Lord’s name in vain, she violated more of the Ten Commandments with her big lie that it’s amazing some Christians are still fooled by her motives.

She lied, stole, bore false witness, wanted the property of others, used the Lord’s name in vain, dishonored the children’s mothers and fathers, worshipped money instead of God, committed adultry in the heart, and the list goes on and on.

Don’t hide under the false pretense of religion. If you are a Christian or believe in God, you should have more wisdom than to be fooled by the devil.

Jack Handler | 2010-02-10 - 02:10:27 PM (CDT)
Upon what do you base your conclusion they deserve jail. What court has convicted them? What conclusive evidence do you personally have? Under U.S. law and Haitian Constitution due legal process must be followed. Are you willing to suggest we hold our 10 loved ones to one legal standard and ignore another? I am deeply saddened that you have reached your conclusion based on what you have read and heard not the evidence that is being presented. Our prayers are for of our family members and for those of you holding stones ready to throw.

Mel Coulter, father of Charisa Coulter | 2010-02-10 - 02:25:27 PM (CDT)
Rob Owens | 2010-02-10 - 02:39:05 PM (CDT)
Not even Sarah Palin can help these arrogant media whores.

Jesus | 2010-02-10 - 02:40:10 PM (CDT)
It is with great displeasure I read this article. There may be one person who should stay behind and that is Laura Silsby, but really, she seems to be someone who might need a psychiatrist and not a prison guard. The Haitian government should have released and sent make home Nicole Lankford. She’s 18 and her mother took her there. Silsby is the "leader" and the others are sheep, looking to do good in a terrible situation. Their all wrong, but they should not be in jail, period!!! The US should insisted that they be released by this very corrupt government that has and will continue to steal from their people and anyone that sends aid.

Cecil F | 2010-02-10 - 02:42:04 PM (CDT)
The Idaho Baptists are criminals! Kidnapping is a crime! Lets not get it twisted!

The bottom feeding kidnappers are nothing but modern day slave traders hunting down little black children like rabid scavengers. Let them rot while they spend life in prison. Laura Silsby exploited the parents desire to protect their kids by deceiving them into thinking their children would have a better life with a "big house". Silsby gave the parents brochures of a place in the Dominican Republic with photos of nice living quarters, a swimming pool. The place doesn’t exist. She’s a dangerous deceptive lying witch. This woman didn’t have a place for any orphanage. She conspired with the other people helping her to kidnap kids by exploiting their desire for financial gain. She didn’t give a rats ass about helping little poor black kids. This was all about her and how she could make money. When caught, she lied from the beginning claiming the parents of these kids had died. A bald-faced liar. Dead people do not talk! She had just deceived the parents and showed them brochures. Did she think the Haitian government was not going to see through the lies? Fact is, this woman saw the earthquake as her windfall. She thought the Haitian government would be in such disarray that they wouldn’t notice her stealing children. Child stealing thief!

I have no pity for bottom feeding scum that prey on little innocent children. These people are no missionaries. They are criminals hiding behind religion in order to scheme. People use these sweet little innocents to abuse them sexually, sell them into slave labor or God forbid, traffick them for their organs. I am livid at these scavengers. They had no respect for the law! God will never tell anyone to break the law of the land. Laura Silsby didn’t even respect the laws of Idaho & she thought she could do the same in Haiti. Read up on it! Let her rot in that Haitian jail and let this be a message to any other trafficker who would dare go to Haiti in order to steal the little ones. Let them rot!

SouthernGirl2 | 2010-02-10 - 02:42:47 PM (CDT)
The con-artist (not even an artist) Laura should have known you can’t con a con. I have no sympathy for the devil Laura. She is the garbage who feigns humility or holiness when it’s convenient, only to exploit others’ tragedy for her own personal gain or fame.

She deserves 33 years in Haitian prison, as a light sentence. If this was the US, she should serve 33 life sentences for child kidnapping, RICO, organized crime, fraud, tax-evasion, international crime, theft, and for being a fat pig who has no idea how to take care of children unless she can Fagin them so they bring her money for her own happy meal.

What a dirtbag.

The others -- I feel sorry for the younger ones who don’t have the experience or judgement to see a liar, hypocrite, thief, kidnapper, and abuser as long as scripture is quoted somewhere.

Jesus | 2010-02-10 - 02:51:48 PM (CDT)
I want to know how many people that are posting judgements against the 10 Americans in Haiti know them personally or have any source of information other than the mainstream media which is almost as corrupt as the Haitian government.

I am a frend of Paul Thompson and Silas Thompson. Paul is the pastor that married my wife and I in June of 2002. I have been involved in minitstries with Paul and Silas and know that they are of the best. We can all learn something from them and their Character.

There are facts that the media either doesnt tell, or get’s wrong, or sometimes seems to have simply made up! You people need to pull your heads out of your collective rear ends and have compassion for all people. Quit spouting the hatred that in your case seems to be fuelled by ignorance.

I am reminded of the story of the adultress who was about to be stoned. Jesus approached the men about to stone her and wrote something in the sand that they all clearly understood. They immediately dropped their stones and ran off.

Who are all of you to judge any of these people? I am praying for the safe return of ALL of these americans to their families. I am praying that when they return they will be able to endure the ridiculous amount of hatred and judgement from ignorant americans that have nothing better to do with their time. And I am praying that you will all have some sort of compassion. What if this was your friend? What if this was your dad, your son, your daughter, your brother, your sister, your uncle, your aunt, your wife or your husband?

You can play the high and mighty role of, "I would have used better judgement". But it simply doesnt stand. You dont know anything about the situation.

It is also my prayer that all of you will repent of your sins and turn your lives over to Christ. He died on the cross as a redeeming sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

Rob Owens, friend of Paul and Silas Thompson | 2010-02-10 - 02:58:34 PM (CDT)
If this incident were compared to the War on Drugs, this one incident would trigger a War on Religion. Both are equally senseless.

John | 2010-02-10 - 03:05:26 PM (CDT)
Those are nice thoughts, but as Wierd Al poetically put it, "I’m a hundred times more humbler than thou art."

Without judges, there is no law. Without law, there is anarchy.

If Laura Silsby was really well-intentioned, she wouldn’t have jeopardized the security of anyone in her posse, especially the "orphaned" children. Instead, she intentionally and knowingly jeopardized everyone for her financial gain.

If you can’t see who Laura is through her actions, your judgment is clouded by wool from the past. The others in her group have varying degrees of culpability or gullibility.

Try going to N. Korea and walking out with 10 orphans without a passport. Try that in Mexico or even Morocco, and you will be instantly detained and put on a crime watch list. Don’t feign ignorance of Haitian law. All that is saying is Laura thought sow lowly of Haiti that she didn’t think there were laws involving children or passports there.

That’s arrogance and condescending imperialism. Laura thought the kids of Haiti were her property as long as she had a bus driver and a Bible in her hand.

Are you CRAZY?

Jesus | 2010-02-10 - 03:07:13 PM (CDT)
Well they all got charged by the Haitian legal system of kidnapping.

Good.

Let the truth be discovered.

Judge Judy | 2010-02-10 - 03:23:28 PM (CDT)
Just the facts:

The only things Silsby had before heading into Haiti was:
- a piece of land in the Dominican Republic
- an agreement with the Catholic Diocese in Puerto Plata to
rent her 45 rooms at $7000 a month, for maximum 6 months.
- a rented bus that would make several trips to collect up to around 100 children.
Then she went searching for orphans and promised relatives that the kids would be well taken care of, and that they could visit them later on.

I do feel sorry for the 8 or 9 that got duped into her reckless adventure but am convinced they will be released soon.

common sense | 2010-02-10 - 03:52:11 PM (CDT)
Listen too how these people think. This is terrible where is the comfort and the okay people make mistakes. We have too look at the bigger picture. The law is the law but come on now dont be so cruel. Its not worth it only what you do for christ will last.

shawniece | 2010-02-10 - 03:58:30 PM (CDT)
Laura Silsby was on a money making scheme to sell children. She ignored the code of law. People warned her that she would be arrested for child trafficking but she ignored it all.

Let her rot in prison!

Lee | 2010-02-10 - 04:36:45 PM (CDT)
Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it and doesn’t relieve you of the punishment! The excuse that the others were duped is hollow at best and I am sure they were all over 18 and legal age to make their own decisions, hence responsible for their own actions! I dont care what the other 9 peoples intentions were they broke a law and all 10 deserve what they get.

Dustin | 2010-02-10 - 04:56:00 PM (CDT)
She lied. Let the others go but she was planning on selling kids for adoption. She can stay in jail( Laura Silsby)

Joe | 2010-02-10 - 05:20:53 PM (CDT)
I think this story is just that - a story based on someones opinion. For those of you support the 10 Americans, keep praying that the TRUTH will be made known, that the Americans will remain SAFE, that they will receive a FAIR and SPEEDY trial, and the INNOCENT will be set free.

Michelle | 2010-02-10 - 05:26:36 PM (CDT)
Susan | 2010-02-10 - 05:42:23 PM (CDT)
Their intentions do not matter (isn’t the road to HELL paved with good intenions?) They broke the law. They were trafficking in refuge children. They belong in jail and I hope they stay there. There must be consequences for their actions.

Susan | 2010-02-10 - 05:44:48 PM (CDT)
If I was a child trafficker this is exactly how I would operate, wouldn’t you, or are people niave enough to think they only snatch kids with candy? If their intent was only to put all of these kids in a safe hotel room in the DR and help them why couldn’t they invite their parents along to care for them? The extra cost would have been very nominal and if their motivation truly was to do good and help Haitians that goal would have been accomplished and they wouldn’t be in their current predicament. Unfortunately, regardless of their intent, their actions point to a motive of capturing young souls for Christ and/or to make a buck on an adoption. Hopefully if the 9 were truly ignorant and innocent in this scheme they will be released.

Dennis | 2010-02-10 - 05:57:43 PM (CDT)
http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/08/haiti.borde...

A police officer that stopped the group days earlier is now a witness in the case. The officer found the Americans with 40 kids on a bus a few days earlier & asked for documents and when the group couldn’t produce the documents, he made the children get off the bus. According to reporter Karl Penhaul, the group then went to another part of the city and gathered 33 more kids to try and cross the border.

http://weeseeyou.com/2010/02/02/americans-arrested-taking-children-out-of-haiti/#disqus_thread

http://weeseeyou.com/2010/02/02/americans-arrested-taking-children-out-of-haiti-update3/#disqus_thread

SouthernGirl2 | 2010-02-10 - 06:22:21 PM (CDT)
Please check out http://www.adopteesofcolor.org for a perspective from a group of Adult Adoptees & Researches who have were also removed from their families. They ARE the Haitian children 20 years from now. Listen carefully.

Lisa Marie | 2010-02-10 - 06:51:45 PM (CDT)
Lets talk about the kids- they are traumatized and any expert will tell you they are best off with their parents. The best help is rescue both and get the family on their feet. Kids given up deal with abandonment issues and attachment. The proper order is try and keep families together, rescue and only when the dust settles, then offer removal as an option. Giving up a child is a serious issue and poverty does not make one a poor mother.

One of the problems in Katrina was the tramatized kids wisked off roofs and dumped by the side of the road to save them thinking it was Ok to leave kids alone "safe" who can only answer the question "who is your mom?" with "Mommy."

You rescue child/caregiver units or you create a new disaster and generation of children with issues. Think of all the food and supplies diverted from these families by this effort.

This is why working with groups who regularly work in disasters zones is real help, short of that give cash. Not fly by night emotional help that feeds egos.

I do not judge this group, but they broke the law in a country with trafficking that has to plug this avenue of child "abduction" or others will use it in nefarious ways.

Its like kindly "helping someone with their luggage" at the airport when I was a teen travelling overseas 15yrs before 9/11- you never do it. You, not they end up in jail.

1111CBCB | 2010-02-10 - 06:58:50 PM (CDT)
The hatred at these missionaries is incomprehensible and reveals Jesus is truly coming back soon in the rapture (see YouTube video about the rapture at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmLhyPjHVes . Jesus both forcasted this ’last days’ hatred when he said, Luke 21:17
"All men will hate you because of me" and John 15:18
[ The World Hates the Disciples ] "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." and the rapture when he said John 14 [Jesus Comforts His Disciples] "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God[a]; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." The missionaries are Jesus’ disciples going out of their comfort zones to a horrible place to help little black children. They simply made a paper filing mistake which they were willy to rectify immediately. The Hatians would not let them, but instead put them in dungeons where one is sick from bug bites, another collapsed from an inability to get her diabetes medicine, all are lacking sleep & hygiene, all are under threat of r@pe from other prisoners & prison guards, while women & children in the tent cities are being r@ped & looted at an increasing rate from real criminals included many criminals released as a result of the quake with little being done to stop them. Instead emphasis is placed on the the nice missionaries. This is insane and Hillary should work to free all of the ASAP. Not only that, GITMO terrorists are being released, some to re-attack our soldiers and kill and maim them, and one aquiring a nice job in Burmuda working an easy job at a golf course.

JandJ | 2010-02-10 - 07:10:04 PM (CDT)
1. The fact is she lied. She said they were all orphans when she jolly well knew that was not so.

2. She also knew she needed papers from the Haitian Authorities and she had none!

Those Who are defending the group can you say deny the above.

Johnny | 2010-02-10 - 08:05:42 PM (CDT)
It makes me sick to read through some of these comments. I know two of the missionaries and I know that their only intent was to help the children in Haiti (not because they are black) I think the comments about black children needing help is disgusting. What does color have to do with it. Pastor Paul has helped many children in Idaho. He does not see color, he sees need. He has a very good heart and sacrifices for many. You are judging without knowing the truth and it will come out. I do not know the other missionarys, but I do know the intention were not evil.. When it comes to the children with parents, we do not know the details, but we do know the parents willingly gave them up. Please don’t blame all the 10. Please pray for their release and that they will be safe!

Patty | 2010-02-10 - 08:16:48 PM (CDT)
For all those Christians who think it their right to fly in the face of the law, please read Mark 12:17 and Romans 13.

Non-Conformist | 2010-02-10 - 08:33:43 PM (CDT)
1. This group had been stopped 1 month prior with a bus load of 40 children at the Dominican Republic border and were ’cautioned’ and the kids taken from them.
2. There was no orphanage in Dominica, the children were headed for a beach holiday resort 45 room hotel.

The leader of this group has numerous pending cases involving fraud and illegal business matters.

How Americans who have been exposed, in recent times, with Angelina Jolie and Madonna’s adoption cases and the requirements and procedures necessary for them to adopt - are being less than truthful about their ignorance of the law. This woman is in dire financial straits which leads me to conclude that she saw this as an opportunity to make a quick buck.

I leave you Christians with this: John 10:1
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber

darkvader | 2010-02-10 - 08:40:20 PM (CDT)
Patty,

Giving up a child is a very serious matter and it is something that must be thought through. No one should give up a child under duress. Laura Silsby exploited the parents desire to protect their children. Pray tell? Why not coordinate with the Haitian government to work with people on the ground if they really wanted to help the children. No, con artist, Laura Silsby wanted to make money and sell the kids for a high price. She should be repenting before God for kidnapping these precious children and lying to their parents & authorities about her "real" intentions for these kids. The children were crying and tramatized from the ordeal. I am livid with this witch for what she did. An 8 year old girl was dehydrated. The children were in poor condition & very frighten. How can Laura Silsby says she cares when she didn’t even give them a drink of water? God would have given the children a drink of water. Laura Silsby need to remember one of the commandments "Thou Shall Not Steal"!

I’m so glad Hitian authorities are adamant about sending a strong message!
There is a law and they violated Haitian law. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Put them in prison for life!

SouthernGirl2 | 2010-02-10 - 09:03:54 PM (CDT)
Ah, but there was a double standard here.

http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/4494412981.html

LeftAndRight | 2010-02-10 - 09:22:56 PM (CDT)
Let’s try reasoning with
WWJD What would Jesus do?
would Jesus leave families hungry and encourage mothers to abandon their children?
would Jesus follow IRS rules and set up s 501 (3)c organization which prohibits mixing religion with charity then mix the two breaking the law? or Would he keep it church based free from IRS rules and risk lower profit margins for fundraising? Basically would he deliberately break IRS rules which have not even been addressed yet when she returns to this country.

I have worked with organizations both Church based and IRS 501(3)c groups run by church charities. If you want government protection- you coordinate with the UN/US military and they help avoid such incidents. But there were times the group chose to ignore UN advice to leave during a coup- no one expected the US to bail them out. They were Christians ready to die for a hospital in a crisis and stay with the people.

My favorite document is a VISA request from Cambodia and their typed response on beautiful letterhead asking to please try later as they do not have a government at this time. I later got my VISA.

I am posting not so much for this group of 10- who hopefully 8-9 will be forgiven and sent home, but also to help other groups who want to jump in and help half baked. Its not help. This group obviously did not even understand the psychological effects of trauma on parents and children. They have permanently damaged relationships and torn the last shred of mental stability from children.

As a Christian- the orphanage I supported and almost adopted from was expensive because a significant portion went to helping moms get out of prostitution and poverty and make a living rather than give up their child.
Unfortunately a few fly by night groups like this ruined adoptions for all and the country closed down all further adoptions.

Is it not trafficking to encourage moms to give up their child then adopt that child out charging adoption fees? No matter how well motivated, you are moving children for money. The unwitting parents who adopt do not realize these are not true orphans. SO this is an awareness raiser- work only with legitimate groups or you do more harm than good.

As for my opinion of Silsby- her faith is in God and she chose to ignore laws- God does not always rescue us from our choices but may He help her faith be strengthened and she gain wisdom.

1111CBCB | 2010-02-10 - 11:28:09 PM (CDT)
From what I’ve read, there appear to be a select few highly specific arguments from both sides; namely, that Silsby did what she thought was right and should be pardoned for this reason, along with the fact that she broke Haitian law and may or may not have had the altruistic intentions suggested by others. For the sake of retaining an iota or two of neutrality, let us, for a moment, disregard circumstantial evidence as provided by news outlets which are, I’m sure, completely and entirely flawless and unbiased in their coverage. *sarcasm* By this token, we cannot know for sure what her exact intentions were, only that she attempted to relocate a number of Haitian children and had a run-in with law enforcement.
SPOILER ALERT! From this point on I have an opinion!
Regardless of Silsby’s intentions, laws were broken and it is perfectly reasonable on Haiti’s part to uphold them. If it turns out that Silsby’s intentions were wholesome, then she ought to receive a light sentence. If she wanted to sell the children as slaves, (and I must admit, this does sound a bit "out there") then she ought to be handed a harsh sentence. The only argument against these courses of action at this point is that Haiti’s laws are immoral. My *tasteful* reply is as follows:
Who the %^$# are you to dictate the absolutes of right and wrong? You are entitled to believe whatever the $#@% you want, but to impose that belief on others until the human race as a whole has agreed to one unanimous standard displays your overt disregard for others’ opinions for all to see. Need some examples? Occasionally, those uneducated in the skill of CPR will attempt to save nearby trauma victims. Once every other blue moon, that same Good Samaritan will instead break a few ribs and serve only to hasten the unfortunate survivor’s death. If nothing else, this shows that altruistic intentions are no excuse for ignorance and/or misguided actions. Example #2: Many a story is told of a benevolent individual who disregards rules that are, in his/her opinion, corrupt or otherwise harmful for the greater good. Think Robin Hood, Batman and Jack Bauer. Also think suicide bombers. That’s right, you heard me. Suicide bombers. Not to point out any one religion in particular, *cough*Islamextremists*cough* but certain individuals take it upon themselves to harm others with the understanding that what they are doing is righteous and holy. The only difference between Mr. Underwear Bomber (LOL) and your friendly neighborhood crusader is... well... not much. They both kill for their ideals and use them as justification for infringing on others’ rights. And while I’m sure that around 70% of the people who read this will come away thinking only "He compared Laura Silsby to the Underwear Dude! AND Batman!!", I also hope that the ten or so people whose views I have changed will, from now on, actively suppress the urge to impose their beliefs, ideals and/or notions of right or wrong on those who disagree with them.
For those of you that are curious as to MY beliefs, I would like to inform you that I am an atheist (oops, there go two of the ten people I just convinced) and think that acting in the name of an omniscient, omnipotent supernatural being that defies the laws of the observable universe is just plain stupid. (There go another four...) I support the pursuit of individual happiness without neglecting reason and have come to the realization that if everyone believed so, then world peace would be very much in our grasp.

maxwell_sung | 2010-02-11 - 02:19:48 AM (CDT)
Laura Silsby and all the rest need to go to prison. It is an outrage that they’d be released. This woman has some serious issues. Kidnapping kids is a crime.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100210/ap_on_re_us...

She enlisted members of her Baptist church and told them she had all the necessary paperwork. She even found a Kentucky couple, Richard and Malinda Pickett, who had been trying to adopt three siblings from Haiti and told them she could get the children out.

The Picketts say they politely declined, figuring the youngsters were safe and would soon be evacuated to their new home.

"My wife told her that under no conditions should she try to move the kids that would just interfere with our plans. But she called two more times, and the last time she called, on the 25th, she said she was getting on a flight and would like to pick up our kids," Richard Pickett said. "My wife, for the third time, told her no way stay away from them."

A few days later, Silsby and nine other Americans were charged in Haiti with kidnapping for trying to take 33 children out of the country without proper documentation. The 10 defendants remain in jail in Haiti.

The Haitian and U.S. governments are investigating Silsby and her group, trying to determine why they were rounding up children, many of whom were not orphans. Silsby and her supporters say they just wanted to save youngsters from the chaos, disease and uncertainty of quake-ravaged Haiti. Others, like the Picketts, aren’t convinced.

The Picketts said they were immediately suspicious of Silsby. The Kentucky couple didn’t need her help the government had already given them permission to go pick up the children. But Silsby persisted, they said.

She showed up at the Compassion for All orphanage in Haiti, asking to collect the Picketts’ three adopted children and claiming to be Malinda Pickett’s friend, according to Richard Pickett.

When the orphanage told her the children had been moved, Silsby went on to ask for any other kids she could have, Richard Pickett said. She paid a worker to take her to other orphanages in the region and translate for her.

"She asked for kids at each of the orphanages, and at the end of the day when no one would give her any, she cried," Richard Pickett said. "Why would you cry after you see these kids are being taken care of?"

SouthernGirl2 | 2010-02-11 - 03:28:15 AM (CDT)
The only reason the devil Laura Silsby recruited other church members for her cause was in the event they got arrested, their naivete and numbers serve as her insurance.

The worst part is one Haitian girl crying to be returned to her father because her mother gave her away to these people. Who encouraged, enticed, and paid for this?

Laura, the devil,

I’m disappointed in the Haitian Legal System for letting this kidnapper, exploiter, pimp, devil, criminal, contempt of God to go free.

Perhaps she will be castigated so much in America she will go hide out in the DR or Haiti. Either way, she’s the worst example of an American or a Christian I can think of. Pure exploitation for herself.

If you argue she was thinking about the children and that this was for the children, you are hopelessly a fool. I don’t think she won any mother-of-year awards.

The church is so easily fooled, that they would condone child rapists as long as scripture is quoted and they’re holding a Bible.

Disgusting. God will punish Laura Silsby for such heinous crimes against humanity and God Himself.

Jesus | 2010-02-11 - 06:06:41 AM (CDT)
PUT THEM IN JAIL!

Justice | 2010-02-11 - 06:11:37 PM (CDT)
To Patty
If you return to this site- please consider that approx 100-150 lives were devasted by this group( the original busload of 40 kids plus the 35 plus the parents). Do you care about their souls and feelings? If yes- consider encouraging the churches involved to go back and heal this group. Adopt the families and feed them and help them get back on their feet. Raise money and make a difference for them specifically and provide a counselor to help heal the families torn apart to visit now and in a year or two.
I’ll bet Jim Allen is reliable enough and I would even trust him myself to donate to such a cause. Don’t need an IRS charity.

1111CBCB | 2010-02-11 - 06:54:55 PM (CDT)
Sorting out the facts in this mess is difficult. At a time when the efforts of American diplomats etc should be focused on the aid and reconstruction efforts in Haiti valuable hours are being taken up with this case of 9 rather foolish and naive "missionaries" and their leader who sounds both morally corrupt and mentally unbalanced. I am a Christian and support genuine humanitarian Christian work but child trafficking and persuading parents to part with their children in the hope of a better life is a despicable sin. I imagine the US will be exerting pressure behind the scenes to get their citizens released quickly unlike some of our innocent UK citizens who were held and tortured in Guantanamo for years before being released.

Annie (UK) | 2010-02-11 - 08:38:10 PM (CDT)
Did anyone hear the story of the little muslim boy whose parents wanted him to be educated so badly that they gave up his American citizenship? Turns out it was a pretty good idea on their part as their Junior later became the Prez. Seems like the editor should investigate this one, and stop the "white christian missionary hate"

Ray | 2010-02-11 - 09:46:43 PM (CDT)
I just reread my comments and would like to retract them, and I meant no disrespect for the Prez. His story is amazing,and I believe the muslim stuff is false. I was just trying to get everyone to think before bashing everyone.I think the Haiti parents wanted what they thought the best for their children, as did the missionaries

Ray | 2010-02-11 - 10:52:14 PM (CDT)
The best thing we can do is to pray for the kids, pray for the missionaries & give to help in the relief efforts. The total casualties are over 200k. Don’t we have better things to do than bash each other?

Chuck | 2010-02-11 - 11:10:44 PM (CDT)
I suppose Elizabeth Smart’s abductors and kidnappers are missionaries too in your eyes since they were doing "God’s work."

First of all, don’t trust anyone whose defense is that they were doing God’s work. Usually the devil says that in the likes of Hitler, bankers, false prophets, Indian-givers, snake-oil salesman, dictators, exploiters.

Anyone who does God’s work with true devotion knows that His work speaks for itself.

This devil woman Laura is a shyster and a shylock who thinks children are like refuge that needs to be gathered up like cattle.

In defending Laura, you destroy God’s true work. If she really cared about those children, she would have ensured all the paperwork on all ends were more than secure before trying to take them across the border illegally under the guise of missionary work.

Don’t be fooled by the devil.

Jesus | 2010-02-11 - 11:38:37 PM (CDT)
Well surprise, surprise! Now we learn that the Haitian authorities are not prosecuting. Wheres the lynch mob that has been all over this site now? There was never any EVIDENCE of child trafficking. (See my comment #16, above.)

Yeah, those missionaries are a bunch of wackos representing the evangelicals (mostly Southern Baptists and a variety of "Bible" churches and Pentecostal churches) that have come to dominate American Protestantism, overwhelming the withering former mainline protestant denominations that combine faith with intellect. And Ms. Silsby appears to have a trail of dubious conduct and problems back in Idaho, which raises questions about her character generally, but none of which established anything with regard to the accusations in Haiti. There was never anything more than innuendo and speculation suggesting child trafficking. These people were just a bunch of well-intentioned, if clueless, do-gooders who stumbled on Haitian legal requirements and bureaucracy. They never intended to do anything other than set up a refuge for children in need of care (whether their parents were alive or not) at a location on the same island, but across an international border.

From many of the comments here, it appears that a lot of people hate these Baptists, but its a close call on which side is shallower. The commenters showed their own mental inability to detach personal resentments of the missionaries’ religion in assessing the accusations that were made and the actual conduct that could be demonstrated.

David | 2010-02-11 - 12:12:19 AM (CDT)
Laura Silsby’s website was asking for $1,500 donations for her Haiti Cause, with the key being that it was tax exempt if the check was made to her organization.

This is just like Saddleback Church’s swindler Rich Warren asking for money to fund his Christmas Party, while saying it would go to feed the homeless.

Stop lying to get money from others, and trying to live tax-free. Exploiting others’ tragedy to further your pocketbook is worse than child slavery.

What a disgrace and a disgust.

Michael Angelo | 2010-02-11 - 12:23:20 AM (CDT)
Proverbs 6

[16] There are six things which the LORD hates,
seven which are an abomination to him:
[17] haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
[18] a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
[19] a false witness who breathes out lies,
and a man who sows discord among brothers.

Laura Silsby committed all seven abominations against God.

Her evil intentions are known by God, and by those who have common sense, or wisdom.

Jesus | 2010-02-11 - 01:40:22 AM (CDT)
Please don’t argue that Laura Silby was naive or had good intentions. She is not naive. She has multiple lawsuits and unpaid wages claims against her as well as tax violations at the state and Federal level. She dangles carrots in front of employees and investors, or donors, with false promises and half-assed attempts at making things look legitimate.

Don’t be fooled.

Her actions and intentions are never legitimate. They are only for the pursuit of money, which can be funneled under the holy auspices of charity work. All the money raised so far has only gone to pay Laura’s bills and spending habits.

Don’t be fooled by the devil, just because she fooled her makeshift flock.

Laura is not naive. She is only using that as her defense as a "humble Christian who didn’t know no better."

What a fool. What a greater fool should anyone believe her lies.

All she cared about was money. Everything else was a tool to get her the money she wanted.

As for the Haitian parents who gave up their children under duress and false promises of milk and honey -- shame on Laura for exploiting the vulnerable. It wasn’t even parents who gave over some of the children to the group. Some kids were let go by siblings or other relatives. No parent signed a waiver or release.

Don’t be fooled by the devil. She wanted to pick up free merchandise to further her scheme to raise money for her own lifestyle at the expense of a country’s devastating tragedy.

For the lowlife scam-artist Laura, the Haitian earthquake was her PERFECT STORM for tax-free money she could then take to Vegas.

Don’t be fooled by this devil woman.

Jack Handler | 2010-02-12 - 02:04:50 AM (CDT)
El Salvador Investigates Adviser to Detained Americans in Haiti

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/world/america...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti The police in El Salvador have begun an investigation into whether a man suspected of leading a trafficking ring involving Central American and Caribbean women and girls has been providing legal advice to the Americans charged with trying to take 33 children out of Haiti without permission.

When the judge presiding over the Haitian case learned on Thursday of the investigation in El Salvador, he said he would begin his own inquiry of the adviser, a Dominican man who was in the judges chambers days before.

The inquiries are the latest twist in a politically charged case that is unfolding in the middle of an earthquake disaster zone. A lawyer for the group has already been dismissed after being accused of trying to offer bribes to get the 10 Americans out of jail.

The adviser, Jorge Puello, said in a telephone interview on Thursday that he had not engaged in any illegal activity in El Salvador and that he had never been in the country. He called it a case of mistaken identity. I dont have anything to do with El Salvador, he said, suggesting that his name was as common in Latin America as John Smith is in the United States.

Theres a Colombian drug dealer who was arrested with 25 IDs, and one of them had my name, he said, not elaborating.

Bring the proof, he said when pressed about the child-trafficking accusations in the brief interview, which ended when he said he was entering an elevator. He did not respond to a number of subsequent attempts to reach him. Reached later, he became angry and said that he had broken no laws.

The 10 Americans have been imprisoned since Jan. 29 in the back of the same police station used by President René Préval as the seat of Haitis government since the earthquake. They had been told by their lawyers that at least some of them would be on their way home on Thursday, but the judge overseeing their case, Bernard Saint-Vil, recommended to the prosecutor that they be tentatively released from custody but not allowed to leave Haiti until he issued a final ruling.

Mr. Puello has been acting as a spokesman and legal adviser for the detainees in the Dominican Republic.

I was skeptical of him because he arrived with four bodyguards, and I have never seen that from a lawyer, the judge said in an interview. I plan to get to the bottom of this right away.

The judge said he would request assistance from the Department of Homeland Security to look into Mr. Puellos background. A spokesman for the department said American officials were playing a supporting role in the investigation surrounding the Americans, providing investigative support as requested.

An Interpol arrest warrant has been issued for Jorge Anibal Torres Puello, according to the police and public documents.

There were also questions about whether Mr. Puello, who said he had been hired by the Central Valley Baptist Church in Idaho to represent the Americans, was licensed to practice law. Records at the College of Lawyers in the Dominican Republic listed no one with his name.

Wow! So the Central Valley Baptist Church in Idaho hired a human trafficker to represent the Americans in Haiti? OMG!

How did the church know Jorge Puello?

SouthernGirl2 | 2010-02-12 - 02:08:23 AM (CDT)
SouthernGirl2,

You’re very insightful, and that article is a great find. Laura Silsby’s story gets fishier and fishier each day.

This woman was up to no good. She needs to serve time in Haiti, Idaho, or Hell.

The nine others she fleeced may not be as guilty since they didn’t know the same thing that Laura knew already from her previously failed attempt at sneaking a busload of children across the border.

Laura Silsby should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in all jurisdictions. It would be a shame if the Haitian judge released her due to money.

Jack Handler | 2010-02-12 - 02:27:24 AM (CDT)
You’re absolutely correct in your analysis of this situation. I don’t know what the nine who followed her were thinking, but I can tell you what Laura Silsby, the leader, was thinking.

$$$

All she saw were dollar signs in the perfect storm to erase her past debts and live tax free for the rest of her life in the Bahamas, while occasionally visiting the DR to do photo shoots. I think she got this idea by watching late night infomercials by that old bearded guy who keeps showing phony pictures of children in distress that he helps with little morsels of food, all the while asking you to be a donor, one who will get "updates" from these children. These updates are not even genuine, so it’s sad that this kind of exploitation of children and distress is fueled by scammers like Laura and the old man in the informercial.

What’s further telling about Laura’s MO is her itinerary, where she expects to swoop in and "gather 100 children" off the streets of Haiti in one day and swiftly smuggle them to the Dominican Republic. When she thinks and plans out her business like this, it’s clear that she sees those children as nothing more than props she needs to gather at a discount store for her photo shoot for marketing materials and brochure. Since kids are photogenic and can easily be appeased with candy and teddy bears, she could shoot video worth a million dollars for her new "charity organization."

Trust me. If you can’t see this as her MO, you are clueless.

JesusHeKnowsMe | 2010-02-12 - 02:49:31 AM (CDT)
Alot of what you are saying is assumption..."She wanted to make money off the children" "The church hired a human trafficker" "all she saw was dollar signs" you know what they say about assumption....Be careful. I do not know Laura Silsby, but I will not judge her until I know the truth. Not what I hear on the media. I do know Paul and Silas Thompson and I know they went to help the people of Haiti. No, not to steal children, but to help them. Reread your blogs. I hope you see the hatred you are showing. It’s fun to put down Christians, isn’t it? Some of you are really running with it. I bet some of you are even the same people who say "Christians are too judgemental".

Patty from Idaho | 2010-02-12 - 05:39:04 PM (CDT)
Im appalled at the ignorant comments about the government in Haiti.

Francois Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier ruled Haiti from 1957 to 1985 with death squads called Tonton Macoute.

That government made Adolph Hitler and the SS Gestapo look like choirboys.

Dictatorships like Haiti regularly arrest missionaries and aid works to blackmail the churches and governments for money of concessions.

Most of the time the charges are trumped up, this time they got lucky and caught 10 simpletons who didnt have proper exit visas.

Im very happy to see the United States and the NGO agencies helping the people in Haiti.

Haiti is going to need this kind of help for the next twenty years.

But, if you go to that god-forsaken country as an aid worker or a missionary you had better bring lots of money to stay out of jail.

In Haiti they call the jail the waiting room for the Tonton Macoute, the demon voodoo devil.

My church has a hold on all aid to Haiti until the church workers come home.

Donald Mitchell | 2010-02-12 - 05:40:24 PM (CDT)
Donald,

Who hires a suspected human trafficker to be their legal adviser? But you keep squeezing your eyes shut, mmmmkkkkk?

EyesWideOpen | 2010-02-12 - 06:43:30 PM (CDT)
http://www.todayonline.com/BreakingNews/EDC100213-0000032/Dominican-lawyer-for-Americans-jailed-in-Haiti-has-no-license-to-practice-in-native-country

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) - An official says the Dominican man giving legal advice to 10 Americans detained in Haiti on child-kidnapping charges has no license to practice law in his home country.

Jorge Puello operates a consulting and law practice in Santo Domingo. He has been spokesman for the American Baptists charged with child kidnapping after they tried to take 33 children out of the country without authorization.

Jose Parra is vice president of the Dominican Lawyers Association. He says Puello has no license to practice.

Puello declined comment Friday. He said he would be busy in court helping a U.S. firm set up a business in the Dominican Republic.

SouthernGirl2 | 2010-02-12 - 08:44:18 PM (CDT)
Nobody is being anti-Christian. Laura Silsby is the devil posing behind a Bible. Just because a drug dealer hides larges stashes of drugs he’s smuggling into the US behind a painting of Jesus doesn’t mean the drug smuggler is a Christian or that he’s doing God’s work.

Don’t be fooled by her attempt at acting naive. She was doing this for the money. Follow her money trail and her associates, and you will have no doubt that this woman only worships Mamon.

The other nine were duped by Laura, so they are caught in the crossfire of her evil intentions.

True, Haiti is corrupt. So is the US. However, no one is bashing actual missionaries doing relief work in Haiti or running orphanages in Haiti. We are only aghast that this woman uses the innocent and vulnerable to further her "business" -- which she tactically made tax-free and opaque by hiding behind the veil of Christianity.

She is the devil trying to drain resources and goodwill from the Church. Even Jesus, before his crucifixion, made it a point to get all the money-changers and usury sellers out of the Churches and Temples because they were an abomination to the Lord’s name and purpose. In other words, these money-hoarders were doing the exact same thing Laura was doing -- selling false hopes and redemption in the name of God and doing so on the grounds of the temple itself.

That’s beyond blasphemy. That’s a cardinal sin against God and the Church.

Don’t just claim Christianity or anti-Christianity as your defense. You’re only obfuscating the crime and criminal intent harbored by Laura Silsby.

Jack Handler | 2010-02-13 - 03:11:55 AM (CDT)
The leader of this group figured each child could fetch her $10,000 in adoption. So she figures 100 children = $1 Million for her "charity."

Sadly in her eyes, she only got to gather 33. But at $10,000 each, that would be $333,000. Coincidentally, she lost her house to foreclosure last November, which she bought for $358,000.

Not bad for a days work in the name of God, if that can pay off your $500K debt.

She stole from those kids’ parents, she stole from Haiti, she stole from the good efforts of true missionaries and aid workers, she stole from Rich Warren’s money making formula, she stole from everyone who trusted her.

She’s worse than a thief. As the Bible says over 200 times, in judgment day, God will specifically examine how someone treats the vulnerable in their lifetime, since that is the cornerstone of all ethics and morality.

Laura Silsby is so evil, she gives all Christianity a bad name by hiding under its veil of impunity.

joey | 2010-02-13 - 10:46:27 AM (CDT)
Criminals tends to work together if the price is right. I’m beginning to wonder if the "local" Haitian minister who lives mostly in Florida and visits his "homeland" only occasionally, must have gotten a kickback, cash advance, or promise of future percentages on profits for him to have brokered and pitched this deal to a village. Unless he knows this group very well, how could he assume so much responsibility for handing over 33 children to live in another country away from their entire family and village? This minister is shady, especially since he tries to claim legal authority over these people by his innuendo and actions, and doesn’t even help the missionaries go through proper channels. If he knows his country’s plight so well, why did he act so shadily?

This needs further investigation. Anyone who deals with the devil Laura Silsby, is suspicious by association.

Jack Handler | 2010-02-13 - 10:57:53 AM (CDT)
Korean orphans during the Korean War and the happy Haitian children.

During the Korean War, when the Korean and American troops retook the Won ju city area, I had chance to brief visit to a refugee house in the city. I saw a group of about 15 children gathered in a small room under the car of a youngman who was a Christian refuge himself from the North. He couldnt stand up in the weakness in starvation. All the children were stood up as I entered the room, all half naked, none was sitting on the floor, with just frightened facial expression as they had experienced the horror in the bombings and the battles and they lost their parents and family members.

Fortunately, they were picked by the American or Korean soldiers up on the roadways or from the fields. They starved in horror. That was why they had but an expression of horror in despair as they could remember only frightening of the brutal war during the communist invasion.

I met an American army chaplain visiting the refugees. Although we saw the sufferings, we had no special means at hand to help them. So I asked him if we could offer a special services for them. He gracefully agreed. In the following morning, he led a special service for the sorrowful group, mostly women. The chaplain preached in the most heartfelt emotional tones for those who in desperate situation. I acted as his interpreter.

The refugees worshipped, sitting on the small yard front of the house, spent the tearful moments during the services. I always remember the chaplains, emotional facial expressions and the lamenting worshippers, wailing for heavenly help. Since then, I do not know about their fates but their facial expressions.

Nowadays, whenever I see the disaster stricken Haitian refugees in the news, my old memory recalls me to the half-naked Korean orphans images.

But the immediate contras to the Haitian orphans was that the difference between
them is that the Haitian orphans have the timely supply of food and other aids from the neighboring Americans and others and are fed well, and lively, happily jumping around, many of them are hope to be adopted into the American families.

But the Korean orphans during the war time never had any such timely luxury whenever I had chance to see them in the many war torn areas.

Later, in America, I had chances to see the happy faces of the some adopted children under Mr. Holt plan in Oregon and The Welcome House plan under the leadership of the well known Pearl S. Buck, Doylestown, Pa.

By now, I believe that many of the grown up Korean children in the American adoptive families would be playing very rewarding roles in various ways for this society.

Laura Silsby case

Laura Silsby is very characteristic leader for the missionary group often failed her own business in the recession as many others, but always her heart was to help the homeless or the disadvantaged children over the world, according to the news. She seems to be very able person and hastily organized this
Missionary group to help the Haitian orphans at this time. Ones business failure does not necessarily mean any moral defects at all.

Unfortunately her group in Haiti mistakenly ended up in the jail as the suspected orphan kidnappers as they missed some legal steps in confusion of the disaster stricken land. Although they were in the situation very much needed a legal advice and consent from the authorities, they didnt seem to have had such a timely opportunity in confusion.

During the court hearings, some parents testified that they willingly gave their own children to the Missionary goop in contrary to the accusations.

The incident appears not to be in a mutual malice at all but the disconnection in the confusion of the land of the great calamity without the functional infrastructure as if a heavenly strike.

As the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated graciously to the public that the Haitian judicial authorities would determine the case in honor, According to the news, the court seemed to have discovered the truth.
Judge Bernard Saint-Vil has the final word soon on whether to free the missionaries, on the basis of the hearings and Defense attorneys request.

The judges brilliant determination will gladify everyone concerned about them in the world.

In Gods grace, hopefully, Laura Silsby
could find a graceful way to continue her inherently passionate instinctive humanitarian mission towards the needy people in Christian faith.

We pray for the relief efforts by the American Christians, Mr. Bill Clinton pray for his quick recovery, Mr. George H. W. Bush, the UN Secretary Ban Key Mun and all the people in good will towards the disadvantaged. We are all the children of God.

Sincerely, Chae S. Sone

chae s. sone | 2010-02-13 - 01:04:11 PM (CDT)
Laura Silsby is the devil.

Don’t compare her to people who try to do good for goodness’ sake.

Korean, Vietnamese, Afghan, Haitian, or whatever. Child trafficking is what she did.

Koreans can thank America for helping save the country when it was about to become Communist. These kids in Haiti were being exploited by Laura.

You may be sensitive to compassion, but easily fooled by the devil. Seriously, can you trust a woman who networks with pedophile child traffickers and doesn’t do anything by the Book?

Jack Handler | 2010-02-13 - 06:26:53 PM (CDT)
Laura Silby hired Jorges who is not a lawyer.

Jorge Puello hired a Haitian lawyer who he later fired because he didn’t get the $60,000 he wanted.

The Haitian lawyer also saw through Laura’s BS and told the press he thought 9 of the 10 were innocent and that one was responsible for everything.

Jorge fired him because without Laura, whom he made the deal with, he would not get paid in the future.

Jorge doesn’t have a license to practice law, yet he requested over $30,000 from the missionaries’ families to represent them, while saying those funds will be used for transporting the children. (The kids were transported for under $5.)

You can tell a liar by how many times they backpeddle and change their story depending on how much they think other people know. Laura Silsby has been changing her story by the minute.

First the children had no living parents. Then they were claimed as having all the approvals. Liar. If Laura would have stayed 2-3 days to get paperwork taken care of instead of rushing to smuggle her bounty across the border amidst chaos, her story might have a touch of believability. However, to swoop in and out is only the act of plunderers.

The parents who told the judge they let their children go away with people they had never met before to protect themselves. If you were a parent duped into giving up you children to someone you don’t even know -- you would be charged with child endangerment, trafficking, and kidnapping as the parent. The parents were unknowing accomplices to this crime against humanity conducted by Laura Silsby, who tried to surround herself with people who can make her look moral.

That too is a big lie.

If you believe her or defend her, you are defending the devil.

Jesus | 2010-02-13 - 07:04:36 PM (CDT)
Laura Silsby owes lots of debts to people, businesses, and the government. Yet, she has a live-in nanny who is 24. How can she afford that? Why can’t she take care of her own kids?

Why is Laura, and her 24-year-old nanny, Charissa Coulter, so fat? Why is her 24-year nanny the VP and co-founder of Laura’s charity organization called New Life Children’s Refuge (interesting choice of words). Why did the two of them make several trips to the Dominican Republic in 2009 to set up shell companies by using bribes to ensure locals were "running interference" on the government there?

So obviously Laura knew what she was doing was wrong, illegal, unethical, fraudulent, and improper to say the least. When she used children as refuge to be collected, pawns and props for her scheme, 8 others in her rapidly-assembled group were clueless as to her past actions and current intentions.

It’s interesting to note that the Dominican in question Jorge, claims to be a Sephardic Jew, and wanted to get investors to set up a city of Jews in the Dominican Republic.

Everyone is chasing money, but the little devil Laura got her scheme handed to her on a plate by a more experienced devil hiding in the Dominican Republic.

If anyone has read Laura and Charissa’s Org. Statement and Mission Statement, you can see it was tailored to exist as a consequence of the perfect earthquake that hit Haiti. Calls for donations with direct wire transfer numbers being on this document is a tell that she made this document as a means to get money into her tax-free account. The fact that the To-Do list in Haiti is so brief, and the supplies she logistically considers taking doesn’t even include medical kits other than baby formula and tylenol, and doesn’t even include food or other emergency supplies, is also a tell that she didn’t really care about the children’s welfare beyond 1% -- just to keep them alive. She didn’t even include a doctor in her group.

Are you still convinced Laura and her fat nanny were doing this for the sake of their children, or for the blue Lexus convertible Laura drives around in Idaho?

Jesus | 2010-02-13 - 09:16:22 PM (CDT)
"Three people can keep a secret, if two of them are dead."

Shakespeare | 2010-02-13 - 11:00:37 PM (CDT)
First hand account of what Laura Silsby and her group were up to by someone who actually cares:

http://www.haitivox.com/2010/02/more-suspicious-ties-in-haiti.html

mary | 2010-02-13 - 01:22:25 AM (CDT)
This woman is twice divorced with custody battles going on in her own broken family... yet she’s the president of an Adoption Agency for orphans and other children?!

What’s wrong with you people? This is who you entrust vulnerable children to?

joespeh | 2010-02-13 - 01:45:24 AM (CDT)
U.S. missionaries’ legal adviser linked to child porn:
Sat, Feb 13, 2010

For the past 10 days, Torres Puello has been a visible figure in the church case, granting interviews with reporters about his role as legal adviser to the group.

But little was known about his background until Friday, when Salvadoran police announced an investigation into whether Torres Puello was the same suspect who led the notorious trafficking ring.

Using photographs and fingerprints, police say they are close to confirming Torres Puello is the same suspect wanted since last year for leading a large network that recruited children for prostitution in Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador.

In the interview with The Herald, Torres Puellos mother confirmed that her sons wife Ana Josefa Galvarina Ramirez Orellana was already convicted in the case and remains in jail in San Salvador.

Police broke the ring last year after three children, 14, 15 and 16, escaped from a house in El Salvador and went to the police to report they had been forced to pose naked to promote the enterprise.

Torres Puello managed to leave the country, but his wife was arrested.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100213/NEWS02/702139865

PT Barnum | 2010-02-14 - 03:16:31 AM (CDT)
So who’s taking care of Laura’s kids right now? Are they at an orphanage?

bart | 2010-02-14 - 04:23:48 AM (CDT)
Laura’s kids are with their father.

Kieran | 2010-02-14 - 09:57:21 PM (CDT)
I see 8 more lawsuits in her future.

Prognosticator | 2010-02-15 - 02:16:19 AM (CDT)
It’s a good thing God does not think like you do.

Patty | 2010-02-18 - 06:34:14 PM (CDT)
Did you even research the legitimate news articles about this case before posting your opinion? Do you realize that after interviews with the Haitian parents and those who helped the missionaries it was substantiated that the missionaries never deceived them? The children who were handed over by parents were to be kept in the DR orphanage and their contact information was written down and kept. Only the children without parents needing adoption would be hopefully brought to the US. This was substantiated!! And it’s certainly not a matter of ethnocentrism or global classism that motivated these people. There is NO ONE in Haiti or the DR or anywhere in Central America that wants these children!!! The orphanages have no money to care for all these children. They are fed one meal a day of rice!! I happen to live in Pittsburgh where the two McMutrie sisters are from (they brought back 50 orphans from the orphanage they ran in Haiti). These selfless girls lived on the same food as the orphans and that’s what they ate every day! So to think those kids are better off left starving in Haiti is heartless and selfish. Sure there is poverty here in the US, but our poverty is nothing compared to third world countries. We have a welfare system where children can at least have food and medical care. Shame on all of you half wits who sit back and criticize. What are you doing to help those less fortunate?

Renea | 2010-02-19 - 01:23:11 AM (CDT)
We have laws against smuggling children across borders. The kids are being cared for by a European orphanage in Haiti. The eight that got released were there to do relief work and some prosthelizing if you want to label them as missionaries.

Laura Silsby, on the other hand, wasn’t there as a missionary or to do relief work. She was there to capitalize on the earthquake to gather materials needed to put her brochure together for money. It was all about the money for Laura. That’s why she cut as many corners as possible, and never went by the book.

You say things are better in the US. So what? If a bunch of Hare Krishnas or Jehova’s Witnesses come into town after Katrina and take kids to their compound in Bermuda because the weather is better there, you would sign your kids away to this group because their group leader has a hand-written note by another Jehova’s Witness saying he gives them authority to do so?

You are crazy or on drugs if you think that’s legitimate. Laura was thinking money, not for the children’s sake, but for her own sake since she owes more money stateside than most people make in a lifetime. If you sign your child away to the clan of Jehova’s Witnesses with inkjet tri-fold brochures printed locally, YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR KIDS TAKEN INTO STATE CUSTODY. The state will offer better protection and facilities for your child than someone who thinks their children can be handed off to anyone as long as they come in groups with Bibles and money.

Jack Handler | 2010-02-20 - 03:42:54 AM (CDT)
I’m sure most of the Baptists had good intentions, but what is alarming is that none of them did their homework before they committed to the mission and to have Silsby as their leader. This is a grave mistake they all need to own. The trip was not well planned with clear objectives and an exit strategy and everyone on the same page, and therefore was doomed to failure, Now all the church members are crying and protesting that they did nothing wrong, based solely on their good intentions. The lack of planning and vetting is what got them in trouble, and we all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Just admit you screwed up folks, and get on with your lives a little wiser. Don’t insult everyone by playing martyrs. The most sensible person in this mess was the husband that wouldn’t let his wife go because he sensed something was wrong.

Goku | 2010-02-20 - 03:53:15 AM (CDT)

Your Thoughts,

Name: (required)

To protect everyone from terrible spam, please enter the following code: (required)

* Offensive comments will be deleted!

U Weekly. Serving The Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio

Don't Miss

Uweekly Print

February 10th, 2010 Archives

←

2010

→

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

Jan 6th, 2010

Jan 13th, 2010

Jan 20th, 2010

Jan 27th, 2010

Feb 3rd, 2010

Feb 10th, 2010

Feb 17th, 2010

Feb 24th, 2010

Mar 3rd, 2010

Mar 10th, 2010