Celebrating Laura Silsby

Laura Silsby neared the three month mark this weekend, and the Central Valley Baptist Church wants to make sure you know it.

Saturday afternoon they threw a We-heart-Laura rally at the Idaho Statehouse. About 100 attended, including her local gang of electric Kool-Aid (minus the acid, we think) testers. A Northwest Cable News-KBTV video of the event is posted at the bottom of this entry. Be sure to watch Nichole Lankford prostrate herself in prayer. Fellow pranksters Paul Thompson and Charisa Coulter are seen or interviewed and more TeamSilsbys were spotted. Coulter, ever loyal to her boss, declared:

She is always on mind. It's a roller coaster. You have highs and lows but our hope is not in government and officials. It is in God.

But so far, God seems perfectly happy to keep Silsby in her own private Haiti Hilton.

"We want people to know that there still is support for her, organizer.'"Randy Jackson said. "If you pay attention to the media, sometimes it seems like there's a lack of support for her. There's still la lot of people who support her and want this whole ordeal to be done and for her to be home with her family. (NOTE TO RANDY: Supporters are not posting many supportive comments in the Statesman.)

Charisa Coulter's best friend and avid Silsby fan Sue Pearce gave us the QOTD:

Laura is a mother. She has three children. She needs to come home and I can't wait to go meet her at the airport when she does."

We have no memory of Silsby evincing concern for her children since her arrest. If she had, she might have come across a tad more sympathetic. Silsby, in fact, didn't show much concern for her children before her arrest either as reflected in her financial and business shenanigans and her dream trip to Haiti.

Speaking of Silsby's children...another Silsby lawyer has thrown in the towel.

The Idaho Statesman reports that Robert Williams, who's been representing her in "child custody issues" filed a motion to withdraw. He joins Gerald Husch, Silsby's Personal Shopper attorney who bolted in March. Williams says he has been unable to communicate with his client. He probably wouldn't have gotten paid anyway.

Silsby's ex-husband Terry Silsby (right) has sued for custody of their two children, living with him since the ex's trip south. She has an adult son who is married.

There are few details, but the Statesman reports that Judge David E. Day ruled on several custody-related issue brought by Terry Silsby. Mr. Silsby asked that the court hold the children's passports out of concern that Laura would take the children out of the country if and when she ever makes it back to Idaho. Day ruled that Mr. Silsby's lawyer Matthew Bohm should hold the passports for now. He also granted Terry authority to register the children for school in his own school district.

More Silsby Drama: Dropped Charges Not Dropped

Mainstream media reported Thursday that charges against nine of ten TeamSilsby members have been dropped. Then the Haitian Attorney General said, hmmm...no, they haven't.

I'm working on other projects and don't have the time to comment. Baby Love Child, though, has. Her Charges not dropped against American Baptist missionaries despite Thursday's reports reviews the latest Silsby (in this case government-media complex) faux pas.

You'd think by now the State Department would figure out its not the arbitrator nor interpreter of Haitan law. Since MSM, does believe State is, however, reporters failed to follow a very basic rule: verify verify verify. And so did TeamSilsby and its legal team who rushed to their keyboards with the great news.

BLC's blog includes a link to Topeka Silsbyite Drew Culberth's 14 minute TV interview made after he got the good news, but before he got the bad news. The interview doesn't reveal anything new about the group's venture in Silsby's heart of darkness, but it is valuable in detailing their jailhouse life.

Culberth still doesn't "get" that the group did anything wrong. They just wanted to give "orphans a better life." Still drinking Silsby's kool-aid, Culbreth says there will be no closure until Miss Laura, who "deserves to have her name cleared" is released.

No regrets. No questions about the note slipped to MSNBC; No opinion about Silsby's stateside "problems." But nobody really asked either.

Laura Silsby: Will God Overcome All This?

I'm in the middle of real Work Hell at the moment and am weeks behind on my Haiti work. I did want to post this recent quote from Silsby, though:

God will release me. I'm confident that God will overcome all of this and ultimately enable me to be released," Silsby said during the interview that was taped several days before Easter.

So what does this do to Silsby's faith if God doesn't "overcome all of this?" Does this mean that Judge Bernard Saint-vil and the Haitian courts, even in shambles, are more powerful than God? Or will she blame it on Voudou?

Clueless in Boise: Charisa Coulter Still Doesn't Get It

The last few days, I've been having difficulty writing about TeamSilsby. The subject has grown cumbersome, and any subset soon takes on a life of its own, then collapses in its own immensity. As a result. I've got several disjointed pieces that go together in some way, but have no logical transition, and grow more complex each time I try to de-complex them. It's enough to give me writer's block.

So, I'll take the easy way out for now and just throw some thoughts out. I'm still working on Part 2 of Haiti Earthquake Glorifies God; Also a piece on the Pickett family. But for now, here's a bit on Charisa Coulter's return.

Charissa Coulter has returned to Boise (via Miami) tearful and Jesused-up. According to news reports she was met by about 30 adoring fans at the airport, including five of her six Idaho cellies (Paul Thompson went missing). Central Baptists and friends after a brief prayer huddle burst into Amazing Grace upon her arrival. Of course, the real welcome will be for Mrs. Silsby. From the looks of the comments in the Idaho Statesman, though, (any article on TeamSilsby will do), when and if she's released, CVBC will be forced to use more than a choir to fend off locals wielding pitchforks and torches. Curiously, the latest version of the church's webpage makes no mention of its wandering member.

Coulter's statements to the press on her arrival in Boise are disturbing. She showed an incalculable amount of arrogance, ignorance, and selfishness about TeamSilsbly's "orphan" mission, the group's flaunting of Haitian law, and the hideous consequences of their actions. Not to mention how the average person anywhere in the world feels about them. Coulter’s “it’s all about loving children” translated into "it's all about me." But as long as it’s "me" that God is calling, it's OK. I guess.

And what about those 33 + a possible other 40 kids you were busy moving around during your phone calls with The Diety? Any care about them and their families?

Several news videos are up of the homecoming. This KTVB-TV report is the most detailed.



Unfortunately, it replaces an earlier video that captured some "interesting" comments from Coulter that were disappeared in the update. Luckily, I transcribed the most egregious parts of the unsanitized version (some of which remain in the current video) below.

Q: What’s your take on what’s going to happen? Any idea at this point?

CC: No, it’s all in God’s hands. I don’t know. We’re just gonna sit
back and we’re going let him do his job. and when he wills she’ll be back. She’ll be here with us.

Q: Are you worried about the charges at all?

CC: We don’t have to worry. It…it’s, ’s like I said, it’s in God’s hands and he wants us to trust him. We are 10 Christians who obeyed God’s calling. And we went to help the nation of Haiti and their children and for reasons unknown to us, it did not go the way we planned, but we realize that God is in control, and that this was what He wanted. It’s hard to understand there’s so much…there’s so much going on that we can’t see.

Q: Do you have any idea of the timeframe of when Laura will come back.

CC: No. I’m not going to speculate. It’s, their processes is different that ours and so we’re just going to let the judge and all those involved work it out

Repeat: We are 10 Christians who obeyed God’s calling.

Apparently:

*** coercing poor, traumatized and desperate parents--survivors of the worse earthquake in modern history--out of their children with promises of child resettlement to upscale living quarters, a pool, soccer field, and school (none of which exist except in TeamSilsby's head) and parental access to the kids via the Internet (!) ; that is, until the kids are adopted and spirited away by total strangers in the Great White Protestant North.

*** sneaking through back alleys and banging on orphanage doors with an entrepreneurial sociopath who can't even pay her own employees and mortgage;

*** lying to Haitian, Dominican, and US government officials about your activities;

*** collecting money through legally questionable fund raising procedures back home;

***diverting attention and funds from a massive humanitarian crisis to feed your specialness;

***and mucking up genuine material aid and medical treatment for thousands of homeless and injured and dying people

qualifies as "God's calling."

Repeat: And we went to help the nation of Haiti and their children and for reasons unknown to us, it did not go the way we planned...

Incredibly, Coulter told KIVI-TV's's Jackie Orozco that she hopes to return to Haiti to "to help in the future."

Homecoming photo from The Idaho Statesman

An Old VIdeo: TeamSilsby: The Ten Musketeers

KTVB-TV has disappeared one of the videos I embedded in the blog I'm finishing right now. While looking for it, I found this BONUS VIDEO: a February 9 interview with Charisa Coulter's father, Mel and Eric Thompson, husband of detainee Carla Thompson. A serious luv fest for Haiti.

Thompson assures us that he loves Haiti--or rather "those people"-- and prays for the government every day to do the right thing by his wife who only wanted to "help children." Nothing about praying for the families his wife helped break up or mention of the illegal activities she engaged in to do it.

Coulter opines that it's "unethical" to separate Silsby/Coulter from the other eight since the lawyers were hired to represent all of them. They went in "ten as one" and they need to come out as one. Gee, funny how Jim Allen claims those lawyers never represented him. And he got out "as one" while the rest of them were left to stew.

Reporter Ysabel Bilbao closed her report saying the men believe that "the country is better because of the group."

I've played the tape several times and don't hear them say that, but it sounds like something they'd say. Or maybe Bilbao was getting her own snark in. If anyone wonders how the Haiti earthquake could have been made any worse than it was, the answer isn't far way.

Laura Silsby to Remain in Haiti Jail at Least Until May?

Looks like Laura Silsby won't be coming some soon. No details yet, but according to the Associated Press:

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil says Laura Silsby has been charged for a newly discovered, alleged attempt to bus child earthquake survivors to the Dominican Republic on Jan. 26.

She already could face trial on kidnapping and criminal-association charges from her group's attempt to take 33 children across the border without permission three days later.

Saint-Vil has added the new charge of "organization of irregular trips," from a 1980 law restricting travel out of Haiti that was signed by then-dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier.

Could this be the 40 kids who went missing on the earlier aborted attempt?

Or were there other attempts we don't know about yet?

How much you wanna bet CVBC and its minions play this: God has placed Mrs. Silsby in her cell of affliction as a witness of His love for the Haitian people, to harvest their souls for His glory. Or this: she's taking Haiti's sin on to herself; Haiti's suffering is her suffering. Or some variation.

Addenda: Baby Love Child has posted a detailed commentary on this new event with background on the gone-missing 40. , Haiti: New charge brought against Laura Silsby Organization on Irregular Trips

Haiti Earthquake Glorifies God: Part 1: Laura Silsby

Slaps forehead!

I should have looked for this earlier. TeamSilsby's friends have established a Facebook support page: Bring Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter Home!

This is taken from the page information:

A little administrative note: those who join this group with their own personal axes to grind will not be accepted. Those who post strong negative comments will have their comments removed. This goes against the mission purpose of this group...a positive prayerful supportive group for Laura, Charisa, and their families. There are plenty of opinions surrounding this case. The negative opinions and statements don't belong here. By joining this group you are agreeing to abide by the above statements. Thank you.

That means most of the world isn't welcome to their Kaffeeskltsch (or is that Tea Party?) As of this writing, they've gathered only 129 Friends. One dropped off while I was writing this.

FB Friends include former detainee Paul Thompson (private page), his wife Renee Culberth Thompson (private page) and a few people who might be relatives. Also Silsby's sister and fellow New Life Children's Refuge incorporator, Kim Barton (private page).

All comments are valentines to Miss Laura or ponderous scripture. Here, for example, is the latest posting from page creator Esther Hardman, in which she frames Silsby's incarceration as a sacrificial conversion technique (my emphasis):

Lord, we don't know what's going on in Haiti the last couple of days, but you do. Please care for Laura, send her encouragement. Help expedite the court proceedings. Please move in the officials' hearts. Help Laura and the other native Christians around her use this opportunity to glorify your Name. Please send her comfort, food, healing,wisdom, and encouragement today. Help Charisa, and both Laura's and Charisa's families today as they await further developments in this case. Encourage them as well, help them to feel your love in a special way today. In Jesus Name Amen.

Another FB Friend, not doing irony too well, posted:

"He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun." Psalm 37:6- Father God, I pray this over Laura.

No prayers yet for the children and families TeamSilsby exploited and coerced, the chaos the group created with legitimate relief efforts (including the possible deaths that resulted from their bad behavior) , the PersonalShopper.com employees and creditors Silsby stiffed, and her own left-behind children.

Another FB page: Pray for the 10 Americans in Haiti was set up a few days after the arrests. It has 533 members. No one has posted on its wall since February 19 when all but Coulter and Silsby were released. Go to the Friends List and you'll find many of the detainees with links to their FB pages. Do the comparative membership numbers between the two pages indicate suspicion or mistrust of Coulter and Silsby amongst a majority of Team Silsby FB supporters? Do they care?

NOTE: I'll be posting a second part to this shortly. It didn't mesh well, so I've separated them.