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A Haitian judge said on Thursday he had ruled in favor of the release of 10 U.S. missionaries accused of kidnapping 33 children and trying to take them out of the earthquake-stricken country. "I just signed the request for the release of the 10 Americans submitted by the lawyers and I have sent it to the prosecutor's office," Judge Bernard Sainvil said. Under Haitian law, the prosecutor can formally comment on the judge's decision but he cannot overrule it. Sainvil earlier told Reuters that once the prosecutor had given his opinion, he could formally issue a release order. "They can...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The Haitian judge deciding whether 10 U.S. missionaries should face trial on charges of trying to take a busload of children out of the country says he will recommend that they be released. Judge Bernard Saint-Vil finished questioning the Americans on Wednesday. He now must send his recommendation to the prosecutor, who may agree or object. But the judge has the final authority to decide whether they stay in custody or go free. Saint-Vil told The Associated Press he will recommend that all ten be released. He would not elaborate, and it was not clear whether that...

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - A Haitian judge has decided to release 10 U.S. missionaries accused of kidnapping 33 children and trying to spirit them out of the earthquake- stricken country, a judicial source said on Wednesday. The source said the missionaries, who have been in jail since they were stopped at Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic on January 29, could be released as early as Thursday. "The order will be to release them," the source, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. The decision has not yet been made public.

Brett Baier just announced that a Hatian Judge ruled that the American Missionaries had no criminals intenetions when they took the children. The Americans are expected home soon.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Parents of some of the children who 10 U.S. missionaries tried to take out of Haiti after its catastrophic earthquake told a judge Tuesday that they freely handed over their kids, the Americans' lawyer said. The parents' testimony means no law was broken and "we can't talk any more about trafficking of human beings," attorney Aviol Fleurant told reporters.

Has anyone heard any news of the State Department working to free the American Baptist Missionaries from prison in Haiti? AOL reports that 8 of the Americans being held signed a note that was slipped out which states that they fear for their lives. This worries me greatly, given the history of Haiti.

Haiti's voodoo high priest has claimed believers have been discriminated against by evangelical Christians who are monopolising aid sent to the earthquake-stricken country.... Max Beauvoir, Haiti's "supreme master" of voodoo, alleged his faith's opponents had deliberately prevented much-needed help from reaching followers of the religion, which blends the traditional beliefs of West African slaves with Roman Catholicism. "The evangelicals are in control and they take everything for themselves," he claimed. "They have the advantage that they control the airport where everything is stuck. They take everything they get to their own people and that's a shame Christians have also been...

MERIDIAN, Idaho (BP)--Members of two Southern Baptist churches in Idaho are awaiting word on what a Haitian judge will decide Feb. 1 when he hears the case of 10 Americans accused of unlawfully trying to remove 33 children from Haiti. Five of the 10 are members of Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho, and three are from Eastside Baptist Church in Twin Falls, including Eastside's pastor, Paul Thompson. Two others are believed to be from other states.

Houses where they lived have become piles of rubble. People they loved are bleeding and crying for help. For former LDS missionaries who served in Haiti, last week's massive earthquake demolished more than just a place on the map. It crushed a country that, for two years, they called home. "When you serve a mission, you get to know people, and care about them a lot, in a different way than otherwise," said David Cope, who served in Haiti from 1989 to 1991 and visited again in 1995. Cope, a general contractor by trade, is desperately trying to find...

These are not the observations of paid strangers venturing into Haiti only for so long as the earthquake and the loss of human life garner the label, newsworthy. These are the observations of those living in Haiti who have been called there by God to serve the Haitian people in His name. These missionaries were in Haiti long before the earthquake and will remain there long after the news crews leave. These missionaries experience the poverty and tragedy and joy of Haiti on a daily basis and now they need your help.

During the quake, our three-year-old grandson told his mom that he thought a train was coming through their house. Our son’s reaction was that he knew something bad had happened but not until Wednesday morning did they know that something REALLY BAD had happened. Indeed, something REALLY BAD had happened. Having served on many mission trips to Haiti the area of the REALLY BAD was a very familiar place. I have walked on those streets, shopped in the stores and visited the Compassion country office that was right in the midst of the devastation. I could mentally picture these houses...

The first Samaritan’s Purse cargo plane arrived in Haiti Wednesday with emergency relief supplies for victims of the massive earthquake that rocked the country on Tuesday. The initial shipment included shelter material, hygiene kits, and water purification kits, as well as members of our disaster response team. Our team is comprised of veterans of many disaster responses, but even they were shocked by what they encountered when they arrived. “The streets are full of people that have no home to go back to,” said Dr. David Gettle, medical advisor. “They’re running out of food, fuel, and water. The situation is...

ELCA Members in Haiti Reported Safe Following Earthquake 10-012-MRC CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) engaged in volunteer work and immersion experiences in Haiti are reported safe following a Jan. 12 earthquake that struck the southern part of the Caribbean nation. The Rev. Douglas A. Hill, Abiding Hope Lutheran Church, Littleton, Colo., and a group of 11 seminary students are in Jacmel, which is located about 40 miles from the earthquake epicenter. The group is safe and has shelter, food and water, but direct communication with the group is not possible at this time,...

The Trinity United Methodist Church in Hackettstown, NJ is praying for 15 missing members who are in Haiti. The missionaries went to Haiti to deliver medical supplies to Grace’s Children Hospital in Port-au-Prince.

Fr. Matteo Ricci Related articles: Paul's Missionary Journeys & Last VoyageThursdayThursdayThursday Venice, Italy, Sep 12, 2009 / 06:13 pm (CNA).- A new documentary on the life of Fr. Matteo Ricci, a pioneering Jesuit missionary to China, was screened at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday. The film is part of a revival of interest in Ricci, whom Pope Benedict XVI has called a model for a “fruitful meeting” between civilizations.The movie, directed by Italian filmmaker Gjon Kolndrekaj, was shot in China and Italy.Political and religious dignitaries from both countries attended the screening, ANSA reports. They included the Patriarch of...

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (GINA) -- Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon at a post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday said that the Mormons are not the only persons who have flouted immigration laws, by overstaying their time in Guyana. He recalled that similar issues had arisen in the past with Hindu and Muslim Missionaries. Guyana's Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon Luncheon asserted that much idle speculations surrounded an action that is taken regularly in every country in the world, once immigration laws are breached. He maintained that “if you flout immigration laws, this course of action will be applied.” He...

Authorities in Guyana grew "uncomfortable" with the presence of Mormon missionaries who have been ordered to leave the South American country, a governing party leader said Thursday.About 40 missionaries were briefly detained Wednesday and told to leave within a month as authorities said their travel documents were out of date.Comments by Donald Ramotar of the governing People's Progressive Party, however, suggested the crackdown went beyond immigration issues.-SNIP-Church spokesman Leslie Sobers also raised the issue, saying he thought the government might have been uneasy over perceived links between the Mormons and the opposition. He said opposition legislator Volda Lawrence traveled...

Utah told it can’t count missionaries in census Bureau says there’s no way to reliably count those overseas in 2010 Aug 16, 2009 SALT LAKE CITY - The U.S. Census Bureau has told Utah's elected leaders it won't count Mormon missionaries serving overseas in the nation's next head count. Census Bureau officials, rejecting Utah's lobbying efforts for the better part of a decade, say there's no way to reliably count the overseas missionaries. Utah leaders say the omission cost the state an extra congressional seat in 2000, when the state fell just 857 people short of receiving the last available...

The leader of Gospel for Asia has gladly welcomed the Indian Central Government’s plans to stand in the way of anti-conversion bills that are currently making their way through different state governments. "It's absolutely encouraging to see the government is upholding the Constitution and its secular values of freedom of choice and liberty for the people," said GFA President Dr. K.P. Yohannan. According to NDTV, India’s largest private TV broadcaster, Home Affairs Minister P. Chidambaram has decided to take a firm stand against anti-conversion bills, which critics fear will be abused to punish Christian missionaries. Christians argue that such bills...

"My assignment tonight is to address the very broad subject of the role of the Holy Ghost in missionary work, with special emphasis on 'teaching by the Spirit,' " said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve, speaking to nearly 600 missionaries in the Provo Missionary Training Center, and another 100 mission presidents and their wives attending the 2009 New Mission Presidents Seminar, June 26. Nearly 600 missionaries at the Provo MTC assemble to hear Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who welcomed them to the "work of angels." "I have entitled these remarks 'The Divine Companionship,' " he...