Ministry News

Were Pastors Wrong for Sheltering Teen?

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Friday, 28 August 2009 13:53

What would you do if someone showed up at your doorstep asking you to protect her from being killed for her faith? For any pastor, the answer would seem to be a no-brainer. But what if that person was a Christian teenager who feared her Muslim parents would murder her as part of a mandated "honor killing" for her conversion?

That's the situation Florida pastors Blake and Beverly Lorenz faced in late July when 17-year-old Rifqa Bary arrived at their house after running away from her home in Ohio. The couple, who had met Bary through an online prayer group, responded by taking her in for three weeks. With the case going to court and making national headlines, their actions are now being scrutinized and could possibly lead to prosecution. Florida law doesn't allow you to shelter an unmarried minor for more than 24 hours without notifying either authorities or the minor's parents or guardians. Now Bary's parents, who deny their daughter's allegations of abuse and multiple threats to kill her, want something done to the Lorenzes.

"The two and a half weeks that Rifqa was missing were a living hell for the parents," said Shayan Elahi, an Orlando lawyer serving as the spokesman for Mohamad and Aysha Bary. "Was she dead? Was she alive? The Lorenzes, under the statute, had the obligation to go to the authorities and they did not. They didn't follow the law."

Blake Lorenz, who with his wife leads Global Revolution Ministries in Orlando, Fla., told the St. Petersburg Times last week, "There was no criminal intent. … This girl came fleeing for her life." Indeed, Bary's attorney, John Stemberger, claims the teen's parents are members of a radical mosque in Ohio with connections to Islamic terrorist groups—which prompted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to investigate not only possible terrorist ties and the alleged abuse and death threats, but also the Lorenzes involvement with Bary.

"At this point, we're not going to be in a position to say if what the pastor did was breaking the law or not," said FDLE spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha on Friday. "We might be able to comment later."

For now, Bary will stay in Florida with a foster family until the next court hearing on Sept. 3. [tampabay.com, 8/28/09; charismamag.com, 8/21/09]