Ecclesiastes
4:1 says, "I saw the tears of the
oppressed - and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors - and they have no comforter.
Paul and
Zabeth Bayne are friends of mine, Christians, at home with their three
children, two small boys and a 7-week old daughter and that was when their odyssey
of horror began. It was the autumn of 2007. Two small boys chasing one another
in the house and the toddler fell on the infant girl who lay on a blanket on
the living room floor as mom and dad did supper tasks. In the following hours the
baby lost her appetite and slept a lot so the parents took her to the hospital.
After a couple of days of examination, the clinical default diagnosis for her triad
of symptoms was 'shaken baby.' The term itself has intimations. Authorities did
not believe the parents story of a mishap. Reports between medical personnel,
and police, and child protection agency workers resulted in all three children
being removed from them even though there were no criminal charges against the
parents. "I saw the tears of the
oppressed." The Baynes' efforts to recover their family cost them the
mom's grand piano (she a concert pianist), and cost them their home. They began
working night shifts to be available for all the daytime visits and court
appearances. One year, two years, three years passed. The Baynes had an army of
supporters and advocates. A former child protection social worker critical of
some Ministry mistakes advised the Baynes' lawyer Doug Christie, who donated
his time and admirably argued their case. Nevertheless, during the fourth year,
a fourth child was born to them and within hours that child was also removed
from them. "I saw the tears of the
oppressed." They waited and prayed and worked for four years before
they heard a judge's order to return the four children to them (August 2011).
That was an astounding and unforgettable day. Today they are a happy family
living far from the trauma of those years. And the children are thriving and
growing taller and older and smarter and loving.
I wrote this
today, because I remember. For those years, Zabeth and I were in almost daily
contact as I wrote blogs in our concerted campaign to make the public
aware. News networks and newspapers and
finally CBC the Fifth Estate picked up their ongoing story.
