11 June 2009

An Update on April Rose

Well, as you can imagine, the past few days have been rough for the three of us (yes, it's Angie, Jennifer and Raechel again). We wanted to make one more statement as a group because we have been a team throughout this whole "Beccah and April Rose" story and we think it is appropriate to update as we feel we have a little more information on the situation. Please know that what we said the other day was written in a cautious spirit and didn't include many details because to be brutally honest, what we were told was"solid truth" disintegrated as the hours passed.

There are a few things that we know are true at this point; the first is that Beccah Rose is a real person who has very, very serious mental problems stemming from a lifetime of difficulty that we knew very little of. We also know that April Rose, Dan, and Kelli were fictitious, and that there was a doll that was passed off as April Rose. Please understand that while all of these things did seem likely to us the other day, we hesitated to mention them because we didn't have solid "proof" until today. It is so much deeper and more tangled than we anticipated that we are just trying to catch our breath. When you are in a position where people read your words, you really want to be sure that what you are sharing is truth, and until we felt that we were sure that was the case, we didn't want to write and possibly further mislead our readers.

There is an issue that all three of us feel needs to be addressed, and that is the fact that we really want you all to know that we are hurting with you. The fact that we want to honor the Lord doesn't mean that we aren't experiencing anger, disappointment, and deep sorrow. Two of us have walked through this journey and lost our babies, and the third came closer than most people can relate to. Raechel has spent the last year ministering to someone who she trusted and wanted to reach out to, Angie spent hours and hours online talking with Beccah, and Jennifer emailed with Beccah and spoke with her on the phone at length one time.

We all believed, and we are all mourning this turn of events.

All of us have received countless emails that we have hesitated to respond to, not for lack of caring, but simply because we didn't have the answers. Please believe that if we had been in contact with Beccah, or had any information that we felt was black and white, we would have presented it. Until today, we didn't feel like we had that information.

In reading your emails, each one of us has experienced deep sorrow over the way that you all reached out to Beccah, the way you prayed for her, sent her gifts, ministered to her, wrote to her, trusted her, and so on. We want you to know that we care. It isn't insignificant to any of us that some of you sent the last bit of money you had, or spent hours sewing gowns for a baby that didn't exist. We have heard from many of you that have lost babies and went to her site as a place of solace, only to be stung by the fact it wasn't real.

We have all been rocked to the core by this, and we know you have too.

We all want some form of closure to this situation that we may or may not ever receive, but we do want to alert you to the fact that Beccah has been in contact with the media, and there will be an article online first thing in the morning which we will direct you to so that you can read her words for yourself. The reporter spoke a little with Raechel and Jennifer, and at length with Beccah, photographed her, and apparently, learned what has driven her to make the decisions she has made. We do not know all of the details she shared, but we have been led to believe that she did tell the truth, and that it will help all of us have a better understanding of the ride we have been on for the past several months.

That won't be easy for you, and it isn't easy for us, either.

Which brings us to what we see as the hardest question floating in our inboxes. And trust us when we say that there have been many versions we have all had to read and process from the other side of the computer.

Why would a Christian act this way?

Those of us who have chosen to walk with the Lord know that we do not instantly become infallible, nor do we shed our sin nature, and we recognize that we live in a fallen world. This is not an excuse for her actions, but rather what we believe is truth.

What comes with that truth is the fact the she is accountable to the Lord for her choices, so our response as believers need not be focused on retaliation or the desire for retribution. Our Lord is sovereign, and we submit to His knowledge of what is best for her and her healing.

For those of us who have put our trust in Christ, we are calling on Him tonight to have mercy on her, and to help her cope as she comes to understand what she has done. We sincerely believe that she is mentally ill, and are collectively relieved that she is in the care of psychiatrists who are working to bring her to a healthy place. We are praying that the grace given to all of us freely will extend to the recesses of her pain, and that His love will also bring her to a place of conviction.

There is a lot of negative emotion (and rightfully so), but tonight we are beseeching you to help us show the world the way that the body of Christ responds to this kind of situation...we have an opportunity to show grace and love to someone who needs it desperately. He is the Redeemer of the lost, and the Mender of brokenness. We don't stop being the body of our Lord because we have been slighted, rather, we show them the way we respond with hope and grace.

May we all find rest in that truth and preach the good news through our actions in the coming days...

We are grateful to share life with you~

Angie, Jennifer and Raechel

As soon as we posted this, the article we were referring to was made available...please click HERE to read...

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