President of the East Caribbean Conference (ECC) of Seventh Day Adventists, Pastor Danforth Francis, has called for members of the church to be pioneers for the protection of children.
He made the comments at a Child Safety Symposium hosted by the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Saturday.
“Our notion, as a church, of the value of children, comes from God himself. He is emphatic, and he is clear about children,” he stated. “God is a defender of children’s right and God expects his church to do the same. So, now is the time to intervene.”
Francis stated that children must be protected in order to ensure positive development.
“Certainly, the old thinking that ‘children are only to be seen, and not to be heard’, must be changed. Certainly, the practice of abusing children in the home, in the school, in the workplace, must be stopped,” he said. “Certainly, we must champion the rights of children, which means that every child has the right to a happy environment, the freedom, and the support to grow to be the person that God wants that child — him or her — to be.”
The pastor referred to the church as having the “most important role” in tackling what he viewed as “symptoms of sin.”
“The government of Dominica, I know, is interested in this matter [child safety] also and we want to join with them. The government agencies and other agencies can play their part, but the most important role, the most important player, on this field is the church,” Francis articulated. “The church claims to be a moral institution, to have moral values. The church’s voice must be heard.”
Meantime, Jemma Azille-Lewis of the Child Abuse Prevention Unit, urged people to unite against what she referred to as a “silent emergency.”
“I consider child sexual abuse to be a silent emergency. Why? Because the extent of child sexual abuse, it often happens behind closed doors. Children remain silent, they are often afraid to talk about it. Also, it remains a taboo issue in society,” she noted. “We still have people who say ‘this is none of my business’, ‘I am not getting involved’, ‘she should be looking after her children’… so, there is a lot of social tolerance, but, I want to inform you that there are no innocent bystanders.”
Azille-Lewis also said that the revise Sexual Offenses Act will include provisions for ‘sexting’.
‘Sexting’ is the sending and receiving of sexually explicit messages, usually through the use of cell phones. ‘Sexting’ is sometimes considered to be a form of foreplay.
The SDA church is equally guilty.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-church-lawsuit-idUSKBN0GR02J20140827
http://www.charismanews.com/us/45172-seventh-day-adventist-church-hit-with-multimillion-dollar-lawsuit
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-sex-abuse-sentencing-20130711-story.html
http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2014/12/03/church-turned-blind-eye-abuse-mission-elders-say
Way to go. Congrats to the SDA Church. Save our children.
So, let me ask Pastor Danforth Francis this question: “Knowing what Adolf Hitler turned out to be, should his parents have aborted him?”
Pastor Frances would most likely agree that Hitler’s parents should have raised Adolf in a church that preached the gospel as it is defined in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, and given him an opportunity to receive Christ as his personal Savior according to John 1:11,12.
Had Adolf been raised in an evangelical atmosphere – had he encountered the risen Christ – and grown in the Christian life I can assure you history would be different.
God does not give us permission to kill a baby because there is a possibility it may grow up to be a war criminal and a mass murderer. Each individual is given the right to choose his (her) way in life. Only God knows the way that person will take.
We should do what we can to prevent crime. But that does not include murdering in advance people who might someday kill others.
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill. Evangelist.
You align with this devious government you and your church will be stained. You said:
“The government of Dominica, I know, is interested in this matter [child safety] also and we want to join with them.” Pastor Francis, how do you know this. Have you consulted the Advocates and NGO`s for advice and to be aware of what’s going?
I however disagree with you on this statement re this government , which we in Dominica know it is not true. The priority for this corrupt government is their continuance abusing this country`s structure with plenty focus on passport scheme which we are not aware of and no debate in parliament. Families are poor and these guys appear to have enriched themselves with frequent visits to the far east with no accountability. There is a lot being said and people have no knowledge of the level of abuse in Dominica. Dominicans are glued to the GIS propaganda machine, for information.
You align with this devious government and you and your church will be stained.
if we do not turn to God in national repentance then some form of judgement will fall on us nationally. the moral decay must be halted . sin is a blight.
Christ said His followers are ”the salt of the earth” and the ”light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13,14)
Salt prevents corruption. Light dispels the darkness.
Because sexual child abuse is one of the greatest evils of our day people have a right to expect any organization that professes to be Christ’s church – HIS redeemed and called out people – to be the nation’s greatest defenders of its children.
I hope the leaders of very denomination will call upon their members to do as Pastor Danforth Francis, the President of the East Caribbean Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, has done by challenging their members to be ”pioneers” in the battle against this evil.
The mandate must first be given to their pastors who should present it to their congregations. However,
conferences ought to appeal collectively to their governments to do more, namely the things they have already been asked to do time and time again!
Sincerely, Rev. Donald Hill…
I noticed that the SDA Pastor claims that the GOVT. is interested in putting an end to the sexual behaviour against children and young women in this country, but I think for heaven sake he should search a little deeper and ask questions concerning that and he may take back his word,
why did they took a concern citizen to the court of injustice for that same thing while it is happening? go and search all u conscience, that is all I have to say for now