Charisa Coulter, left, and Laura Silsby are two of 10 missionaries accused of trying to take children after the Haiti earthquake. Photo Source: Getty Images

On Monday, the Haitian judge involved in the case of the 10 American Baptist missionaries who attempted to transport orphaned children out of the country declared that all charges still stand, according to several international news reports.

Although rumors had been circulating that the volunteers would soon be exonerated, Judge Bernard Saint-Vil denied ever suggesting he would drop charges against the group.

Last Friday, Haiti’s top prosecutor in the case, Attorney General Joseph Manes, said that any information suggesting dropped charges was “absolutely incorrect,” according to a report from CNN.

Under Haitian law, the charges are required to stand until Judge Saint-Vil “renders his decision.”

Missionary group leader Laura Silsby is still being held in Port-au-Prince, nearly two months after eight of her fellow volunteers were released on the condition that they would return if there was a need for future questioning.

The ninth missionary was released in March.

Interestingly, Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho said via a spokesperson last week that the State Department had informed him that all charges had been dropped against nine of the 10 missionaries (excluding Silsby). Saint-Vil’s statement to the media, however, suggested the opposite.

Reverend Clint Henry of Central Valley Baptist Church in Idaho, where the missionaries hail from, said he received an e-mail from the State Department informing him that all the charges had indeed been dropped.

Manes, however, said on Friday that, based on the confidential documents his office received from Saint-Vil’s investigation, it remains to be seen whether the case will be dismissed or move to trial.

Right now, Saint-Vil has until May to decide if he will release Silsby or arrange a trial.

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People have been announcing the “last days” for millennia.

In antiquity, Old Testament prophets such as Daniel (Daniel 12:1) spoke of them.

As did Jesus in Matthew 24:3-8.

“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,^[a]‘ and will deceive many. ⁶You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸All these are the beginning of birth pains.”

Today, statements of 20^th century increases in natural disasters are coming from worldwide sources.

MSNBC, CBC and Fox News have all done reports on the increase in natural disasters.

In 2006, the European Journal of Public Health reported, “Natural disasters are increasing in frequency because of the worldwide deterioration in the natural environment. The incidence of floods, storms, earthquakes and droughts and the number of people affected by them are escalating greatly.”

“Weather-related disasters throughout the world continue to rise, from an annual average of 200 in 1993–1997 to 331 per year in 1998–2002.”

The UN Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery more recently stated,
“The 21st Century has already been marked by escalating economic losses and human devastation caused by natural disasters.”

“In 2008 alone, more than 300 disasters killed more than 235,000 people, affected more than 200 million others and caused losses and damage worth $181 billion.”

Although most of these Web sites and authorities relate the catastrophes more to climate change than biblical prophecy, the reports sound eerily similar to “end times” Bible verses.

Six major earthquakes in the last seven years, plus some of the deadliest hurricanes (Katrina and Rita) -– does that look like the birth pains Jesus referred to, meaning the beginning of the end of the world as we know it?

Of course, anything we may say is certainly speculation, but one thing is certain, the number of natural disasters in the past 20 years outweighs any other written recorded history.

This may be something to think about as we ponder God’s will for our lives and what we do with the time He has given us.

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"Eight American missionaries were freed from a Haitian jail month, weeks after being charged with kidnapping for trying to take a group of children out of the country following the devastating earthquakes in January."--From theguardian.co.uk

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Award-winning Christian gospel, hip hop and R&B singer Kirk Franklin is bringing together artists from around the world to support Haiti. Photo (c) kirkfranklin.com.

Multi-Dove Award and Grammy-winning Christian gospel, hip hop and R&B singer Kirk Franklin is heading up a project to provide relief and financial support to earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince Haiti, according to his official web site www.kirkfranklin.com.

Franklin’s latest single entitled “Are You Listening: A Love Song for Haiti” will feature the voices of over 150 well-known contemporary Christian and gospel singers including Jeremy Camp, Natalie Grant, BeBe, CeCe and Marvin Winans, Mary Mary, Nicole C. Mullen and dozens more. As has been the case with so many other music artists throughout the industry, all proceeds and donations to the project single will go directly to relief efforts in Haiti.

Franklin recently told the Gospel Music Channel, “We see these people as God’s children. We want to do our part and I just want people to know that the gospel community can respond to a powerful natural disaster.”

Haiti was struck two weeks ago by a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake, leaving over 150,000 dead and an estimated 1.5 million homeless, according to national news reports. Since that time, several countries have continued to extend national aid and support to the remaining citizens. Unfortunately, as one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti lacks the infrastructure to deal with such a large scale catastrophe.

“We hope this song will bring much needed support and awareness in an effort to raise funds in the near and long-term future,” says Franklin. “The people of Haiti are very spiritual people with an unwavering faith and belief in God and still count the Lord as the main source and provider. We will continue to pray and stand with them.”

According to Franklin’s web site, the official “Are You Listening” music video is slated to air worldwide during a special one hour Gospel Music Channel presentation on Friday, January 22 at 7:00 p.m. (ET). The GMC will also broadcast a special “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon at 8:00 p.m., immediately following. The single is already preparing to enter the world of iTunes and will be released at Wal-Mart and other major music retailers after January 30.

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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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