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I’m sure many of the people involved in this thought it was legitimate. They all seemed to have learned about it from the websites and other official materials of two (or maybe more) churches that are genuinely affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, and would reasonably have trusted that their church leaders would have made sure it was legitimate before posting the information, which was soliciting money as well as volunteers. The people who volunteered and have ended up in a Haitian jail certainly got the worst of it, but I expect a whole lot of members of these churches wrote checks too, and somehow I doubt anybody but Silsby knows exactly how much money was collected.

Now it turns out that no property has ever been purchased in the Dominican Republic, and while Silsby claims to have rented a hotel that she was planning to take the children to, I don’t think there’s any evidence that the hotel has actually received any money yet. I doubt any of the donors will ever see their money again, as it’s probably all been spent on the travel, and on Silsby’s and Coulter’s personal expenses, and now on lawyers to try to get the group out of jail (though Silsby has stiffed at least one lawyer before — the largest outstanding judgement against her back in Idaho is for an unpaid bill to a law firm).

An official from the Southern Baptist Convention gave an interview yesterday, spelling out why they have clear procedures for things like this, and that neither these churches nor Silsby’s “non-profit” organization had followed the recommended procedures.