Baptist Pastor: We'd Do It Again in Haiti

(CBS)  Haitian government officials are adamant about sending a strong message as they determine how to deal with the Americans arrested for attempting to take Haitian children out of their earthquake-ravaged country.

CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports the 33 Haitian children are safe, playing at a Port-au-Prince orphanage, unaware they're at the center of a swirling controversy.

Across town, the 10 American Baptists accused of kidnapping them remain in jail - and maintain their innocence.

"We showed them where we were going, and they were excited to go with us," said Laura Silsby of New Life Children's Refuge.

The controversy began when the Americans tried to take the children across the Dominican border. Long plagued with illicit foreign adoptions, and now with thousands of quake orphans, Haiti has put a hold on all adoptions.

Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive wants to make an example of the Americans.

"There is a law," Bellerive said. "Those people are supposed to know the law. They violated the law.

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Some of the Americans being held belong to the Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridan, Idaho. Appearing on CBS' "The Early Show" this morning, assistant pastor Drew Ham said while information about the incident involving their church members is incomplete, "Based on the information we have, I'm not sure that we would do anything different. I think they did handle it in the best manner possible.

"We don't know who knew what and particularly with the language barrier, it was probably remarkably difficult to know how all that transpired."

"With a history of sex trafficking in Haiti, can you understand why the Haitian government is so insistent on procedures and rules being followed here?" asked anchor Maggie Rodriguez.

"Absolutely, absolutely understand," said Ham. "And to be real honest, even the families who are here have expressed their desire for Haitian government to really raise those standards. So in many ways this is a positive step that they've raised those standards."

But Ham maintained that the Americans arrested had the best intentions.

"I know the hearts of those folks that went to Haiti, and their heart was to help combat the problem of human trafficking," Ham said, "and so certainly this would never be something that they would be a part of, at least those things that they're charged in doing in."

Ham said there were many lessons to be learned from the event.

"Based on the information that we've been given, our folks had certain procedures that they were supposed to follow, they followed that to the best of their ability, only to realize that they were missing a document when they got to the border. They were certainly willing to go back to Port-au-Prince to get that missing document and it was there that they they were arrested."

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CBS' Bill Whitaker went to the home village of 20 of the children, and were told by the children's parents and siblings they willingly signed their children over to the Americans.

To get a better life, one woman said. "We have nothing; look around here."

Did anyone offer anyone any money? asked Whitaker. No, they all said.

"We have to get these people and these families, we have to make them able to take care of their own children," said Georg Willeit of SOS Children's Village. "We have to empower them."

One mother said she'd send her daughter away again, if it meant she'd get a good education.

Try telling that to her 10-year-old daughter in the orphanage, crying on her cell phone.

With the Haitian courts in shambles, the Americans could be returned to the United States for trial.

The incident is intensifying an already-bitter debate over international adoption.

Some groups are urging a long pause on new adoptions from Haiti because there is too much chaos and too high a risk of mistakes or child trafficking. Other groups fear any long-term clampdown will hurt future adoption efforts.

Chuck Johnson, chief operating officer of the National Council for Adoption, calls the Baptist group's actions a "critical mistake" that could undercut efforts to expand adoptions.

SOS Children's Villages, which is caring for the 33 Haitian children targeted by the arrested Americans, said international adoptions should be avoided until every effort at family reunions are made.

[Atlas1234]

More Evangelical meddling. They've ruined the US Govt by slowly infiltrating the ranks with their minions, and they have been effective with that. Now they feel they have the power - both via the US govt and of course through God - to do whatever they wish. These are dangerous people, beware...

[jankebenzone]

by slownewsday______ February 4, 2010 7:57 PM EST

Gee, I dunno - aren't all of those Catholic priests Christians?

Doesn't sound like you have a very strong argument, there, thumper.
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You are right, you dunno. Perhaps study of what the difference between catholism and christianity is ,will put you in the know. Then,if you comprehend,you,re arguments will be more sound.

[cbsblogger]

I doubt very much if these Baptists had criminal intent. But the US media has decided to punish these missionary people from America just as they decided to aid David Goldman from NJ in his marital problems and in returning his son from Brazil. It was a conscious effort on their part in their interest. The media picks and chooses what stories that they hype and these decisions are made on high.

[jawbreaker101]

I'm sure if the real bad guys ever kidnapped the children and left the country to sell them as slaves than the Prime Minister of Haitian and the Haitian Government officials wouldn't even mention the kidnapping and treat it as just another petty crime and wouldn't even try to get the children back.
But when Americans who try to help the starving kids then do what is right by helping them live without the intention of kidnapping them then I believe The U.S. President Obama should tell the dumba$$ prime minister that the American were only doing it for humitarian cause but because the haitian government official hate-ism toward USA, they seem to want the CRIME as in the same classification with the Nazi when they genocide the jewish!..man, talking about helping someone and they want your head instead..

[jankebenzone]

We don't know the facts of this story yet, but I highly doubt that these people had malicious intensions in mind for the children. Even before the quake, Hatians lived in sordid and extreme poverty sticken conditions,never mind the orphans, bringing them here would be a huge improvement for them. Baptists and other christians are not known to exploit and abuse people esp. children, the same cannot be said for the anti christian folk.

[slownewsday______]

"Baptists and other christians are not known to exploit and abuse people esp. children, the same cannot be said for the anti christian folk."

Gee, I dunno - aren't all of those Catholic priests Christians?

Doesn't sound like you have a very strong argument, there, thumper.

[troutfishyman]

Rot in jail, then.

[sethw76]

oh sky cake, why do you have to be so delicious?

[oldarkie]

I question the motives. The children could well have been raised to be house servants, or to fill other subservient postions, and no one would ever know. Brainwashing in the name of religion is not unknown. If the motives of the missionaries were truly pure, then why not bring food to the families of those children, rather than have the children forever separated from their families? Could it possibly be -- surely not!! -- that the missionaries somehow think they are superior in God's eyes??? I think true Christians need to listen carefully to the message in this that God is trying to tell us.

[naturaltwo]

And people wonder why this country is in the mess it is in. LOL

God and religion had nothing to do with why the revolutionary war was fought.

The Republicans had twelve years to economically cripple this country during a time of war.

Traitors, every last one of them.

[Empire-George-]

by RedWings_ninety_one February 4, 2010 11:48 AM EST

He didn't seem to get what I was biting at, that the US Debt ceiling is as good as non-existant. But that's in the past.
_________________

So basically, you believe as I probably do, that there really is no ceiling on this debt, no end in sight...right ?

However, there is no way that Democrats can claim they aren't engaged in massive spending, while they are in the process of raising the debt level, in preperation for the spending to come....do you agree ?

However, there is a point in which foreign countries will/can't no longer purchase our debt. (china), and we will be forced to devalue the dollar by printing more currency....this is a very bad point.

It's high time, in my own opinion, that we get some Freshman Conservative (Republicans preferrably) into this government to put the breaks on this runaway train.....you ever hear the song, "Locamotive Breath ? they lost the handle and the train won't stop going"

[RedWings_ninety_one]

Yes, Yes, and No...I've heard of Runaway Train though...Anyway, I'm saying that congress needs to quit voting to increase the Debt ceiling or face even worse inflation.