Official theatrical poster for the film. (c)Copyright 2010 Crown of Life Ministries and Gener8Xion Entertainment.

In the wake of Haiti’s devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake, one faith-based film is making a difference. Writer/Director Stan Foster’s “Preacher’s Kid” debuted in 109 select theatres in 33 cities the weekend of January 29 and has already gained considerable support. The film raked in $109,000 in just three short days, a small amount compared to the majority of Hollywood blockbusters, but more than enough to aid relief efforts in Haiti.

“Preacher’s Kid” tells the tale of 20-something Angie King (played by platinum-selling Capitol Records artist LeToya Luckett), a preacher’s daughter who “strikes out on her own for the very first time and joins a traveling gospel show,” according to the movie’s official web site synopsis. “In this modern-day rendition of the fable of The Prodigal Son, she soon discovers life on the road is tough but fears going home with nothing to show for herself, or worse, to a father who no longer loves her.”

At the film’s official blog, Gener8Xion Entertainment founder and CEO Matthew Crouch, who also co-produced the film, says it was only natural to aid the country with which he has shared a lifelong relationship.

“My family has shared a longtime love for the people of Haiti,” he said, “Having made numerous trips there over the years as my mother funded a hospital and supported an orphanage, it’s touched our hearts to see how the world has stepped forward to give so generously to the relief efforts.”

Critics are continuing to hail “Preacher’s Kid” for its excellence, including Roger Moore of the “Orlando Sentinel who deemed it “the best Christian drama since ‘Fireproof.’”

“Hollywood Shuffle” (1987) Director Robert Townsend praised the movie as “filmmaking at its best—well written, well directed, and the performances are top notch. It touches your heart, breaks your heart and puts it back together again. A new American classic is born.”

In addition to Luckett, “Preacher’s Kid” also stars Sharif Atkins (“White Collar”), Greg Alan Williams (“Remember the Titans” and “Baywatch”), Essence Atkins (“Half & Half,” “Are We There Yet?”) and Tammy Townsend (“Sherri”).

Although movie theatres generally keep close to 60 percent of box office income, Gener8Xion Entertainment has estimated that just over one-third of the cost of each ticket sold will be sent directly to relief efforts in Haiti.

For more information on the film and how you can contribute and support, visit the movie’s official web site at: http://www.preacherskidfilm.com

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A group of ten Americans, most of who hail from Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho, have been arrested and detained in quake-ravaged Haiti after illegally transporting 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic, according to CNN, FOX and several other national news outlets. The group was recently released from their cells for brief interviews with reporters.

Group leader Laura Silsby, 40, told CNN, “We believe we’ve been charged very falsely with trafficking […]. We literally all gave up everything we had and used our own funds to come here and help these children.”

“God is the one who called us to come here,” said group member Carla Thompson, “and we just really believed this was his purpose.”

The group was arrested by Haitian officials last Saturday after it was discovered that they did not have the proper documentation to transport the alleged orphans out of the country. The children ranged in age from two months to 12 years. Subsequent investigations revealed that at least ten of the children have at least one surviving parent.

Silsby told the Associated Press that their group received the children from Haitian Pastor Jean Sanbil of Sharing Jesus Ministries.

Prior to the group’s arrest, Sharing Jesus reported that they planned to drive a bus from Santa-Domingo, Haiti into Port-au-Prince and “gather 100 orphans from the streets and collapsed orphanages, then return to the Dominican Republic,” according to Christian Today News. The children would then be placed in a 45-room hotel located in Cabarete while it underwent a conversion into an orphanage.

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told the Associated Press on Sunday that he was angered and outraged by the group’s “illegal trafficking of children” in a country that has long been pestered by meddlesome foreigners.

According to FOX News, Central Valley Baptist’s Revered Clint Henry has denied the allegations of child trafficking brought against his members and even told his worried congregation to pray that God would “help them as they seek to resist the accusations of Satan and the lies that he would want them to believe and the fears that he would want to plant into their heart.”

“The intention was simply to go down and try to be an aid in ministering to children that had been orphaned in the quake,” said Henry. “It was our intention to be part of a new orphanage. The decision was made that we could house those children in the temporary sites.”

Prime Minister Bellerive, however, disagrees and told CNN, “From what I know until now, this is a kidnapping case. Who is doing it, I don’t know. What are the real objectives or activities, I don’t know. But that is kidnapping, and it is more serious because it’s involving children.”

Bellerive also added, “The children certainly were not fully willing to go, because in some cases, from what I heard, they were asking for their parents, they wanted to return to their parents.”

Even Haitian Social Affairs Minister Yves Christallin was quoted by the Times as terming the group’s action “an abduction, not an adoption.”

The Baptist group of five men and five women received a visit from U.S. Embassy officials over the weekend, who reported that the Americans were receiving fair treatment and were holding tight to their faith. U.S. officials did note, however, that the Americans had been detained for “alleged violations of Haitian laws related to immigration.”

The group was informed that government approval is required before any Haitian child can leave the country and/or be transported to another location outside Haitian borders. Members of the Baptist group also confessed that none of the 33 children had passports or identification paperwork of any kind.

Currently, the Haitian government has halted all adoptions for fear that children may be more vulnerable to being seized and sold.

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NASA satellite photo of Haiti's Gonave Island

Dr. Pat Robertson, the world renowned founder of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) and the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), recently commented on last Tuesday’s 7.0 magnitude earthquake which toppled much of Haiti.

Robertson blamed the disaster on the country’s alleged “pact with the devil.”

According to officials and several international news reports, more than 100,000 people perished in what has been recorded as the country’s most severe quake in over 200 years.

During his Wednesday broadcast of “The 700 Club,” Robertson said, “Something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever.”

Robertson continued by claiming that, “They [the Haitians] got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French.’ True story. And so the devil said, ‘Okay it’s a deal.’ [And] ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another.”

Robertson’s comments have continued to draw fire from several conservative Christian pastors and speakers, including renowned author, founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sojourners Magazine Jim Wallis.

In his recent blogs, both on “The Huffington Post’s” official web site and at his personal blog www.godspolitics.com, Wallis wrote, “As I reflected on Robertson’s comments, I was reminded of how many times he has embarrassed so many fellow Christians with his intemperate comments.”

Wallis also added, “As a Christian leader, I have had to spend too much of my time trying to overcome an image of Christianity that was created by the likes of Pat Robertson […] The God I serve, the God of the Bible, does not cause evil. God is not a vengeful and retributive being, waiting to strike us down. When evil strikes, it’s easy to ask, ‘Where is God?’ The answer: God is suffering in the midst of the evil with those who are suffering.”

Followers of Robertson’s broadcasts know that this is not the first time he has linked natural disasters or terrorist attacks to political decisions.

During his Sept. 12, 2005 airing of “The 700 Club,” Robertson attributed the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Katrina upon The Gulf Coast to the U.S.’s abortion of unborn children.

“We have killed over 40 million unborn babies in America,” he said.

“I was reading, yesterday, a book that was very interesting about what God has to say in the Old Testament about those who shed innocent blood. And he [the author] used the term that those who do this, ‘the land will vomit you out.’ But have we found we are unable somehow to defend ourselves against some of the attacks that are coming against us, either by terrorists or now by natural disaster? Could they be connected in some way?”

CBSNews.com reports that the Robertson-Haiti story continues to rank high among Google search trends and is even gaining attention overseas.

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