Last week a story came out of California about an adoptive family: a large Christian home schooled family who following some advice they'd been given on "Scriptural discipline," beat their 7 year old Liberian daughter to death with a piece of plumbing pipe of some kind or another. They also beat the 11 year old Liberian child as well, but not quite to death. She is on dialysis, in hopes of regaining kidney function. The 6 or 7 other children are in protective foster care; the parents are in jail. http://http//www.crimenews2000.com/news.php?extend.2399 is the link to the whole story. My heart is broken over this situation! HOW could anyone so severly beat a 7 year old ( and the story reports that this beating was over the child mis-pronouncing a word) that she would die?????????????????? Loosing ones "cool" once and beating a child out of anger is inexcusable and absolutely unacceptable, but to plan that this would be how to "Train up a child", to plan it and to do this unthinkable deed? To a 7 year old? I can not fathom this situation, I just can't. That a family who , on the surface , might seem to have quite a bit in common with our family and yet who is accused of this atrocity............that flies up in the face of everything that I hold dear ! The assault on Christianity, adoptive families, adoption, large families and home schooling, this is so much bigger than the headline "CA Family Arrested for beating Child to Death". This is very personal for me. As I ache so deeply to bring our children home from Liberia, as I raise the bio babes and the adopted children we have been blessed with and help raise my grandchildren, I can't wrap my brain around wounding, beating , torturing, or taking the very life from any of my children for ANY reason. When I speak too harshly , I am so convicted that it does not take very long at all for God to move on me to repent and then to ask my child(ren) for their forgiveness. I am quivering thinking of how a Godly parent could act as these parents are accused of acting. And beyond the case in California, WHAT OF THE ADOPTION CASES ALREADY LOCKED UP IN LIBERIA? How might this story affect how the Liberian officials view the current group of adoptive families? Concern over American families disrupting ( essentially a divorce betweent the adoptive family and the adoptive child) a high number of Liberian adoptions was a big factor in the suspension being imposed. Many questions were being asked about why this was happening so often. Add that concern to THIS story and you have the formula for a lot of scared officials feeling justified in maintaining the suspension indefinitely. Of course there are far more great adoption stories than adoptions gone badly.................but bad news sells. Happy endings just don't seem to have the "draw" so this story as awful as it is, looks bigger when offset by not so many of the good stories. I pray the after-shock events for adoptions to come are not awful as well!
The families who are so very close to being allowed to complete their adoptions in Liberia as the year-old + suspension on adoptions continues are drawing in a sharp deep breath and wondering when they will be able to exhale. For us, one step further out than that, the thought, aside from trusting God to make beauty out of a new pile of ashes is "NO! Not something else!"
The wait for our Liberian children has been so long already, so long. Will this have the ripple effect of causing an even longer suspension than what is in progress now?
Adoption service folks in Liberia are issuing a statement to address this tragedy in California.
The Adoption Service Providers of Liberia were stunned and outraged to learn last week of the severe corporeal punishment inflicted on all the Schaltz children which resulted in the death of a seven-year-old Liberian girl who was adopted in 2007. Heartsent Adoptions in California conducted and approved the home study for the family which was subsequently approved by the courts in Liberia. The adoption agency that facilitated her adoption in Liberia has reviewed the family’s home study that was provided to them and found nothing to indicate that the adoptive parents were capable of such atrocities. At this time, the adoptive parents are in jail being held on a $2 million dollar bond and have the potential to each receive two life sentences in prison. The remaining children in the family, 6 biological and 2 adopted, have been placed in safe homes while the case is being investigated. Authorities in the U.S. have made the children’s well-being a top priority.
The Liberian Adoption agency is working with the police in California to ensure that justice is served. The Adoption Service Providers strongly condemn the actions of the adoptive parents and stand with the government and people of Liberia in grieving the loss of this little girl.
Please pray with us for the child who is recovering from her beatings? This dear child, who if she does not know it now, will face soon the news that her sister is dead. Pray for the children of this family who are now in Foster Care, for the older children who were being trained in this family form of teaching, for the Liberian officials who have heard and are hearing this sad sad story: that they will not "knee-jerk" react to this mess with penalties for any of the rest of us? Please join us in prayer that we , the waiting adoptive families will NOT allow a spirit of fear into our hearts but that we would cling to and abide in what God has given us (not "a spirit of fear ) but of POWER , and of LOVE and a SOUND MIND" ? God CAN and I BELIEVE will, make beauty of these ashes. I pray that no one else add actions to the situation which are also nothing more than "ashes." Charlie and I are praying right now about my going to Liberia. We had started talking about it before we first heard about this California story, and have continued to pray for direction. It seems as though my going over to Liberia to advocate for Daniel in person might maybe be the turning point in some people's minds in terms of getting documents from Point A to Point B. MAYBE....................................... I am feeling a strong pull to Junior and Diamoh as well: to go and love on them, remind them that we have not forgotten them or forsaken them, to pour out a large dose of Mamma -love all over them as best I can for as long as I can. PERHAPS at the end of the trip Daniel will be totally paper ready to come home. It seems to be a gamble; I am NOT a gambler, or....................Is it stepping out on faith and I need to make that first step?
I covet your prayers for God's wisdom, God's direction, that God would show us how to decide on making this trip right now. Liberia is heavy on my heart. I know there is Warfare going on in Heavenly places over the very lives of these children. As I pray that God work and be glorified in the Big Picture, I pray from Psalm 91:1 for the children."that He will give His angels charge over them to keep them in all their ways!"
Just like a little bit of everything goes into a great pot of soup, so God has brought a lot of things and people into our family. He adds and He takes away, but in the process we are being seasoned and poured out, shared and blessed. The ingredients are unique but its a wonderful blend!
13 comments:
My heart aches with yours and will remain in prayer!
Love and blessings,
Jill
I haven't even finished reading your post, I had to stop to hold my tears, but I feel this heavy weight pressing on my heart. No reason could exist to do something like that... If my heart is screaming WHY??? is not really a question is just a painful cry!!
Will pray for the rest of the children
I have tears in my eyes. This hits me on every front....a mommy, an adoptive mom, a home school mom, a bio mom, an adoptive mommy in process....this is unfathomable. How could someone PLAN this, not lose control, but PLAN it? We are praying for your family, the Liberian government to understand that this is isolated and not make rash decisions, and so much for your Liberian babies. Praying, praying, and more praying.....
I hope you don't mind, I've put a link to your blog. This post twisted my heart so much that I had to share on my blog and about your family. PRAYING....
I'm just trying to wrap my mind around this "unbelievable" act still. At a time when I'm praying and wanting a child so badly I can't understand how anyone could justify taking the life of a precious one. I'm struggling to understand why things happen the way they do these days.
Thank you all for your prayers for this family and for our family! I received an update that the 11 year old daughter, Zariah was released from the hospital. PRAISE GOD that she is all right! I will be praying for her emotional and physical healing as well as for the entire Liberian situation!
Yes , you are free to link my post where you'd like. I hope that God puts Liberia and the seriousness of being an adoptive parent on the hearts of many people! When a person believes in and practices anything, they are an ambassador and a beacon for that BELIEF. The light being shone by even a few adoptive families which reflects poorly on the greater number of loving and balanced adoptpive families bodes poorly for all of us, and more importantly, for the millions of children who need the families who are loving and balanced and prepared to parent those precious children.
Linda
I am in tears at what has happend!We were informed we may not be able to leave to bring home our son.We were to leave very soon.My heart aches for all the children involved.I am just stricken with Grief for both those little girls and all the children who were in that home.
This is all just too horrible to even comprehend.
Praying for those sweet children and for all the children in Liberia to come home. Praying God will give you divine wisdom as you plan your days and the blessed peace that He alone can bring.
I think you and others should know that this AOH family, who are Christians too, (who snapped and did this horrible thing) is very much as loved by the same God who loves the rest of us. And we must all keep in mind that the media does not have all the info correctly posted on line.I think more will be known after the autopsy is out. And you must know that the whole truth is not out- there. I knew this family and you would be correct in saying that you probably have alot in common with them. Many families adopting do.
I hope this provides a wake up to all adoption agencies all over to start providing more post adoption help for families instead of telling them they cant help or telling them to send their kids back to Liberia like so many agencies are telling families to do. Bet the MOH is not told that which of course does not help adoptions either.
I agree with you- one case should not determine adoptive families as a whole- there are so many great adoptions that have come out of Liberia. It truly is sad that you and other families are still on hold and this case will add to that. Sad indeed.
Donna,
My prayers are with everyone touched by this tragedy. There is no doubt that God loves these people no less than He did two weeks ago and we do need to remember that. The word "snapped" is a difficult one for me to apply to someone who put two children in the condition they were reported to be in...one dead and one in critical condition. I had a very difficult child. He pushed me to the very outer limits of self control AND grace. At those moments, I would leave the room and pray, cry , and re-group because my little child needed more than an out-of-control mommy. All of my chldren did.I was not a super young or inexperienced mommy by that time and this family are not young new parents either. That is a very troubling point to me. These people were seasoned parents. If an autopsy reveals that this child had some condition aside from being beaten -to -heart failure, my concern is that this is going to be even more huge for everyone involved in adoption. It is beyond sad and my heart remains very broken. Since Daniel is also an AoH child, this is perhaps closer to me than I have even yet imagined. Its a tragedy that is going to be hard for a lot of us to let go of any time soon. I pray that we never forget.
I do so agree and thank you for sharing that- many follow your story of your Daniel and hoping for a home coming for you very soon.
Here is another blog that was sent to me about this case. I liked it because it shared another perspective that I think we must all keep in mind as well.I know I went from sad to anger over and over on this but most of all I want understanding.. I dont know if I or others ever will.
http://lauriemo.blogspot.com/2010/02/in-which-i-speak-of-unspeakable.html
@whenpigsfly
For our website poundpuplegacy.org I collect information about cases like these.
Can you please give me the source of the statement you quoted. I would like to add that statement to our archives.
The published statement was posted by HollyAnn Petree of Addy's Hope and it is my understanidng that other agencies operating in Liberia would be releasing it or something similar . I jsut have nto seen it published elsewhere as of yet.
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