This article was written by a resident of Naustdal (same county as the Bodnariu family) and published in  the newspaper Firda. Translated by Marianne Skanland. Segments posted with permission:

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“Personally I feel strongly for the [Bodnariu] family and I believe they are being treated very unjustly. It is a strange thing that this is what the rest of the world seems to believe also, just not in Norway and especially locally. I think most Norwegians are over-confident that Barnevernet does everything in the best interest of children. Everybody – government ministers, diplomats, county governors – rise to tell in complimentary words about the theoretically fantastic child protection set-up we have, without entering into the real world. I hope from my heart that this is what causes their behaviour.

But I do not believe it. In this case I believe and I feel that it is not.

By good fortune the larger newspapers have lately covered several child protection cases around the country, giving us shattering stories. On social media there are also links, to loads of terrible accounts by people in Norway who have experienced Barnevernet on its worst behaviour. Naustdal is hardly alone. It seems to me that proper investigation and renovation are needed, of laws, rules and procedures. It is not enough that an arrangement looks fine on paper. One must see to it that it functions in each individual case. I think there may be great variations between different county committees and not least between those working there.

All the secrecy in Norway appears to serve the county committees more than the affected families.

Everybody can go to social media and see authentic recordings from actions with a family, the police and Barnevernet in action. I guarantee it is not a pleasant experience.

Regarding Naustdal, I understand it to have happened without warning. But from what I have heard, taking children away from their parents is supposed to be a last resort after everything else has been tried? Here, obviously, they have started at the wrong end. And where is it to end?

In addition, the parents have been charged and risk a criminal court case, a paragraph running to 6 years of prison being used. Does it take a month-long court case to get the children home? All this is to happen to a young woman who grew up on a farm in a community in Naustdal municipality, a woman who went to Romania to help street children there, met her husband there, came home and by and by had five children. Together with her husband she has lived for 10 years in their own house on the farm of her parents, where they all lived happily in a large family.

People ought to read carefully the desperate cry from the heart of the grandparents in an article in Firda on 10 February 2016.

I have to ask, what has Norway become?

Can such a thing happen only in Naustdal? Are people right abroad? Are these conditions such as we want to live with in Norway?”

photo: wikimedia commons by permission

The Norwegian CPS (Barnevernet) is taking a beating like never before. There are more victims who now have the courage to come public with their stories. There are reports of directors resigning.  There are horrifying reports that children are dying in the system. Some activists are saying that on average 2 children die per week while under CPS care.

The death of a 13-year-old girl has made front page news this week after she was found dead in her bed. Her biological parents are devastated that their concerns about her epilepsy were not addressed.

As the Barnevernet ship appears poised to sink, Barnevernet is waging a propaganda campaign in the media.

Who is coming to their rescue?

Progressive Romanians who live in Norway.

Delight in Truth wrote about pastor Beniamin Ciuciu who defended the CPS in a newspaper interview. Turns out he is affiliated with a Norwegian church and is supporting Barnevernet to maintain that relationship, as his church dwindling.

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Here is another devil’s advocate, to use the English idiom, which in this case may reflect reality not just a mode of linguistic expression. Her name is Adriana Lie (LinkedIn) and she wrote an article for Bergens Tidende here.

She wants to tell us that she is upset with all the international protests and the “demonization of the CPS.”

She is also upset by the fury of anti-CPS posts in social media.

She is also upset with politicians, pastors, athletes, activists and pretty much every other Romanian who dares to question the Norwegian system.

Really? Wow.

Friends, this is a war. It is waged in the media and social media, and it appears that Barnevernet has hired mercenaries to fight against the Bodnarius, the Nans, and other families who are decimated by Barnevernet.

Maybe the mercenaries should look into the statistics of children dying and suffering harm inside Barnevernet. Maybe they should talk to the Romanian families who found scrapes, bruises and burns on their children during visitation.

Some child protection!

Who is the monster here? Who is the demon?

Barnevernet, hence the international demonization of this runaway organization.

photo: tnp.no

In the wake of Barnevernet confiscation of children from families like Bodnariu and Nan, many Romanian families are not taking a chance, and they are leaving the country.

Barnevernet in certain counties is in full damage-control mode. They have had town hall meetings to try to educate Romanians living in Norway about their Child Protective Services. They are concerned that families are leaving from towns like Skjervøy where a sizable population of Romanians are doing farm work.

Two large Norwegian newspapers have reported on this issue. Bergens Tidende (here) and Vart Land (here) have each written articles hinting that Norway may experience an exodus of Romanian labor force.

The BT article presents an interesting spin on the situation. They interviewed pastor Beniamin Ciuciu who pastors a Romanian congregation of about 40 members in Rogaland. Ciuciu does not support the protests against Barnevernet and is critical of the work activists like Delight in Truth are doing on Facebook. He says that his congregation membership dropped to half because families have either moved back to Romania, or they are leaving his church because he renounced action against Barnevernet.

Ciuciu blames the friends of these families who post dramatic stories of child confiscation on Facebook.

Are you kidding me? A 13-year-old child has just died in Barnevernet custody (here)! 

Beniamin Ciuciu is now used by the Norwegian media which is Barnevernet-friendly as a puppet to tell the world that everything is fine in Norway, and that the shocking stories of child confiscation are not what they seem.

Maybe Ciuciu should try talking to the victims of the system like the Nans and the Bodnarius.

What we have here is just another case of Barnevernet blaming everyone but themselves. They blame the international media. They blame the activists. They blame the international uproar. They claim that the Eastern Europeans are not educated enough about their progressive system.

They blame the victims for posting their stories on Facebook, and the people sharing them!

Barnevernet keeps saying that we just don’t understand.

We do understand. The perfectly healthy Bodnariu and Nan children were found to have bruises and injuries on them during visitation! This is evidence of improper care and neglect within Barnevernet!

Children are dying in their custody!

photo: Delight in Truth

With sadness and indignation Delight in Truth brings you the story of Cecilie and the injustice done to her by Barnevernet. This is the story of her mixed Romanian-Norwegian daughter who was abusively confiscated and placed in foster care in England. The world needs to know about these cases and rise up in protest against the Norwegian CPS for destroying families.

Cecilie Bedsvaag:

“I can testify that everything said [about CPS] is how it is in Norway today. Barnevernet is an evil organization which removes children permanently from good parents.

It has been eleven years since the first time I came in contact with this demonic institution. On February 21, 2005 my mother reported me to Vinderen barneverntjeneste. It was her birthday. Only a few days before I had given her a portrait of my beautiful daughter, 5 months old, as birthday present. She betrayed me, and in the meeting with the social workers told the most disgusting lies.

I got a telephone call the next day. The social workers were on their way to my house. They were coming in a taxicab. I was devastated, and when they read me the notice of concern aloud I started to cry. Of course, this was taken as proof of mental instability by the two imbeciles from barnevernet. My case was finally dismissed eight months later that year after I had endured two so-called investigations.

Barnevernet left my family alone for almost two years when my mother decided to report me for sexually abusing my daughter. This time my daughter was taken to an emergency shelter where she stayed for two months. I won in the County Board (fylkesnemnda) and got her back.

Barnevernet persevered and a new trial was scheduled in January 2008. Again I won. However I was pressured into having my daughter examined which I did. Nothing was wrong with her. She had an intelligence well above average. But barnevernet were not satisfied. My mother continued sending false notices of concern, and in October that year I lost 2-3 in fylkesnemnda.

Next I was threatened by the judge to have a psychological examination. One clinical psychologist and one psychiatrist were appointed. I did not accept the psychologist who was infamous for always siding with barnevernet. She was biased. The psychiatrist was a communist who had bought himself surrogate twins from India. He was going to raise the children alone, without a mother.

The judge tricked me into coming to Oslo after she had disclosed the report to barnevernet, and my daughter was confiscated without a court decision. The trial lasted four days and took place behind closed doors. I was not represented by a lawyer. Barnevernet’s witnsses were mostly anonymous. Their identity was not disclosed to me. During the trial the judge kept laughing. It was a trivial case for her, “en sånn barnevernsak” she said first time I met her.

It was only three weeks since my daughter had been taken away from me, and I was in psychological pain. Still they expected me to shake hands with the social worker who had taken my daughter. I did not, and the visitation was reduced from 4 to 2 hours every second month. I saw my daughter six times. Then all visitation rights were denied.

Today my daughter lives in England with a surrogate family. The address has been secret for seven years and we are not allowed any direct contact. I send letters and gifts every month and barnevernet reads my letters and open the packages. My daughter is doing well in school and she is fine. She wrote me a letter telling me that she would like to speak with me. Barnevernet will not let us meet until she is 18 years old.

They have also threatened me with forced adoption. I am treated like a criminal. The leader of barnevernet keeps telling everyone that I have battered her. When I go to London on shopping trip barnevernet alerts the UK police. All the female passengers on my flight on October 22, 2015 from Rygge in Norway had to show their passport to two waiting police officers at Stansted Airport because of barnevernet’s paranoia of kidnapping.

This is my story so far. I give my full support to the Bodnarius. I am not broken but fit for fight, and I will continue to use my pen, not sword, in the fair war against this tyranny.

So help me God.”

Video credit: Credo TV

I am here first of all as a Christian but also as a husband, a father and a physician to join you in protesting against the great injustice done by the Norwegian Child Protective Services (Barnevernet) to the Bodnariu family.

We are here to sound a world-wide alarm that the five Bodnariu children were abusively removed from their home without due process, without a social investigation, and without warning.

Imagine your children not returning home from school one day.  Imagine CPS and law enforcement walking into your house and grabbing two more children. Imagine agents coming in and snatching a nursing infant off his mother’s breast.

Many of you grew up under a brutal communist regime, but you have never seen such a crime against an infant. The early months in an infant’s life are formative in his relationship with his mother, and this has been brutally disconnected.

History and expert testimony by Norwegian lawyers shows that there is a greater than 90% chance children removed by Barnevernet will not be returned to their parents.

This is what is happening to the Bodnariu family. All based on a teacher’s ideological whim, a teacher who was not happy that the children were raised in a godly home, under biblical principles, singing Christian songs and expressing their faith.

Senator Ben Oni Ardelean was correct when he said this case has elements of religious persecution.

The Norwegian society is quietly approving of such actions. They have grown over the years to accept that it is OK for children to be permanently removed from their families for TRIVIAL reasons.

Norway, this is not normal!

Norway, this is not acceptable!

We are calling on the good people of Norway to open their eyes and see the human rights violations happening in their communities.

Here are some details of this case. Listen and be shocked

• Barnevernet is waging psychological warfare against the Bodnariu children: The CPS has told the older girls that they will live apart from their parents until they are adults. Hence the heartbreaking letter from the girl where she wrote to her parents: “I thought you were going to die.” 

• The CPS has tried to get the parents to testify false information against each other. They tried to get Marius and Ruth to divorce. People inside Norway who are familiar with these cases have confirmed that this is standard operating procedure in Barnevernet. 
• This is the institution that “FORGOT” to bring the children with them for parental visitation.
• CPS has used biased investigators in the case. It is reported that one of the social workers knows Ruth, and moreover may harbor jealousy towards her since they attending nursing school together. This was a biased investigation from the start.
• Then came threats from CPS that the children are being put up for adoption. This is before any kind of psychological evaluation of the parents or any kind of final court orders. This is an oppressive tactic meant to destroy the parents.
• Barnevernet is a business. A massive business. It is one of the largest sectors of Norwegian government with tens of thousands of employees and surrogate parents. The govt pays 50,000 Euros per child per year for a “wanna be” parent. No wonder there is such an incentive in Norwegian society to keep this demonic business going.

I have a baby at home the same age as baby Ezekiel and I cannot imagine the trauma he has experienced.

We have to go back to the time of Pharaoh in Egypt and the infanticide of King Herod for any kind of reference in this case.

That’s right, you heard me right: Pharaoh, Herod and Barnevernet. Confiscating children and destroying families.

We are here as Christians to protest this great injustice, and it is biblical to do what we are doing. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ was executed without a fair trial, without due process, and without evidence of wrongdoing. The prophet Isaiah said about Christ: “By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?”

We are witnesses to the oppression and unfair judgment against the Bodnariu family, but our generation will not be quiet about it.

We will not give up, we will not tire and we will not stop until the Bodnariu children are returned home and Barnevernet is reformed!

Thank you for coming

God bless you all

Delight in Truth is going to San Francisco to attend this weekend’s pro-family/anti-Barnevernet protest supporting Bodnariu, Nan and other families devastated by the Norwegian CPS.

Here are some reasons why I am doing this

1. As a Christian I cannot sit back and watch a great injustice being done in Norway with tacit majority approval from the nordic society. Five children were removed from their family WITHOUT WARNING, WITHOUT INVESTIGATION, AND WITHOUT DUE PROCESS. History and expert testimony shows that there is 96% chance these children will not be returned to their parents! I cannot sit back and watch a family being destroyed by a powerful, state controlled organization. Christians understand this because our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ was executed without a fair trial, without due process, and without evidence of wrongdoing. The prophet Isaiah said about Christ: “By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?” We are witnesses to the oppression and unfair judgement against Bodnariu, but our generation of Christians looks to the Bible and will not be quiet about this injustice. We will protest and we will sound a world-wide alarm.
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2. It takes a family to raise a child. The nordic countries may think that the State is more qualified for the task, but this is clearly not the case. Liberal sociologists have spread their agenda even in government. In the United States we had Hillary Clinton who is trying (but failing) to become president say: “it takes a village to raise a child.” It does not take a village, and it does not take a state to raise a child. It takes a family to raise a child. Foster families in Norway are mercenaries of the state. They are paid 50,000 euros per child, per year to simulate being a parent.  No parental love, no parental care, no parental attachment. This is Barnevernet’s idea of raising a child.
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3. Barnevernet has taken a breastfeeding infant from his mother’s breast at the age of 3 months. Nowhere in the history of the brutal Romanian communism have we heard of such a crime. This is unacceptable in any era, in any society, and in any culture. Sorry, I forgot, with the exception of Pharaoh in ancient Egypt when he took the male Jewish infants and threw them in the Nile. And Herod the Great’s infanticide two years after the birth of Christ, in his attempt to murder baby Jesus. Here you have it: Barnevernet, Pharaoh and Herod. 
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4. The psychological warfare against the Bodnariu children: Barnevernet has hinted to the older girls that they are getting new parents and that their biological parents are dying. Hence the heartbreaking letter from the girl where she wrote to her parents: “I thought you were going to die.” The younger boys are subjected to repeated detachment experience every time their mom leaves them after their brief visits. Psychological theory states that the child will develop aggression toward the mother with this type of visitation method. Barnevernet is doing this on purpose! We will let the world know what they are doing.
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5. Barnevernet is dragging their feet in solving this case. Why? Because the longer the process lingers, the more likely they are to say: “oh wait, the kids forgot about their parents and have reattached to their foster families… it will be traumatic to send them back home.”This is their goal. Drag out the process and ultimately confiscate the children forever. We must expose this draconian technique and inform the world.
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6. Barnevernet is dishonest. They tried to get the parents to divorce. They tried to pit the parents against each other. They tried to get false testimony from the parents against each other. They lied in communication with the parents about visitation rights. They “forgot” to bring the children at visitation. How can we not protest this injustice?
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7. Everything Barnevernet has done was aimed at destroying the Bodnariu family instead of helping them (like their official mission states). No wonder immigrant families are packing their bags and leaving Norway. No wonder CPS is in full damage control. No wonder Solveig Horne (the minister in charge) wants incriminating videos of children begin forcefully confiscated removed from You Tube.
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8. And ultimately we are protesting because we do not want this cancer to spread. This serves notice to the US Child Protective Services who have had their share of abuse, that CPS issues are now under international scrutiny. You certainly are not God, and we certainly are not going to bow to your ideology.

I hope this article motivates readers in the Bay/Sacramento area to come to the protest in San Francisco.

Make this your mission. We are all Bodnariu. Show your children that you can take a stand against injustice, and more than that, bring your children with you.  This will be an experience that will mark them positively for the rest of their lives.

Together we can exercise enough pressure to bring the CPS hostage children home.

The intense international pressure has had a positive effect in the Bodnariu case, as the parents have been allowed to see all children by now. Barnevernet has never experienced this kind of pressure before and are trying maneuvers to appease public opinion. They are scheduling town hall meetings with immigrant families to “help them understand” how the system works, and are doing a blitz campaign in the media accusing the international community of misunderstanding Barnevernet actions.

Well, we understand all too well.  We know their human rights violations, and as a result of increased access to details in the case we know that Barnevernet has been manipulating the children in a horrible way.

Professor Marianne Skanland has been closely watching their techniques over the years and is shedding some light on how the girls responded when they saw their parents:

“One of the really vicious things to my mind is that it appears that the CPS have led the girls to think that their parents were dying. At least, this is the way it is expressed in Daniela Maris interesting article (here):

“One of the girls declared [in a letter]: “I thought you were going to die.” I am not in the least surprised. The most likely reason for the daughter thinking such a cruel thing would be that the CPS had said to them, “You are going to get new parents.” There are certainly report of the CPS saying that to children…”

Along the same lines, Dr Maris writes:

“With the two boys, ages five and two, Matei and Ioan, the situation is even more inhumane. According to the attachment theory this is the age when repeated breakups will have an effect similar to that of mourning, as in mourning after a person has died. As a result, Ruth was permitted to see her sons periodically, so that they could develop aggression toward her. The end goal? In the end they won’t want to see her anymore. This is what the theory is telling us should happen. This is the reason why one of the boys asked “Did daddy truly say he misses me?”

The Norwegian CPS is under the microscope and we are finding a well-financed, brutal, dishonest and inhumane system at work.  We will not let these details slip by. Please let the world know.

«NORWAY, STOP CHILD KIDNAPPING!»

This is the title of the front page story that spans 15 pages in Bergens Tidende, one of the largest Norwegian newspapers. The article is also available by subscription online and hundreds of thousands of Norwegians are subscribed.

Delight in Truth read the coverage, and while it is not overly friendly to the Bodnariu family whose 5 kids were confiscated by CPS (Barnevernet), it attempts to maintain an objective tone with representation from multiple sides in the saga.

Reporters were present on scene at large demonstrations in Romania. Interviews were taken with demonstrators, Ioan Brie (pastor and dean of Pentecostal Theological Institute in Bucharest), Senator Titus Corlatean, and Norwegian officials in the local Barnevernet. It gives an accurate portrayal of the demonstrators’ concerns.

“I do not get it. I can not imagine anything worse than losing my children,” says one demonstrator. 

The article covers key aspects of the case in favor of Bodnariu family

1. The children were removed without investigation and without warning (a hint of violation of due process without actually mentioning due process)
2. Children are separated in three homes across counties and unable to see each other
3. The children were spanked only lightly by padding on the bottom or pulling of the ear, and article mentions that they were not injured
4. The parents interview at Antena 3 TV program, along with the outrage of the discussion panel was presented
5. The Social Media presence to support Bodnariu is also discussed (FB groups, blogs, etc)
6. Romanian Parliamentary delegation to Norway was highlighted

The article also injects the Barnevernet side of things

1. County Governor Anne Karin Hamre: “There has been a misconception that this is about religion, but we have stressed that religion is never the cause.”
2. “County Governor has considered instituting supervision [of the local CPS] by the municipality on the basis of this case and concluded that it was not necessary.”
3. It covers the breach of privacy of Barnevernet employees by activists who published their pictures and contact information

There is also this

“Parents are initially charged with violence against all five children, but the charge may be changed, says Kleiven. After that BT know both parents have recognized the use of mild violence as part of their upbringing to some of the older children, but none of the youngest. The investigation is almost finished. The case will be sent to the public prosecutor in a short time. There is good correlation between what children have told and what the parents have acknowledged, says Kleiven.

What kind of violence are we talking about? I will not go into while the case is being investigated, but it is not a case of physical injury to children, says Kleiven.”

It is interesting to see what is happening at the local municipality who confiscated the children. According to Councilman Øyvind Bang-Olsen in Naustdal the international response has been overwhelming

“It has taken our breath away. We have never experienced so much pressure, it rang and rang. Hundreds phone [calls].” he said. 

The above picture is a large pile of paper mail they have received in support of the Bodnarius.

The Romanian Evangelical movement throughout the world has united like never before and responded with tons of emails, traditional mail, and phone calls in addition to protests.  It led to this unprecedented coverage and exposure in the mainstream media, even though it took 2 months.

This is a positive development. 

The population of Norway is slowly becoming aware of the overreaching response of Barnevernet. We must press on to make them aware of human rights violations inside this governmental agency.

photo: Bergens Tidende