Citipointe's offer of money to Chanti and Chhok on receipt of the letter I wrote to the church earlier today

Dear Leigh

Further to my letter of earlier in the day:

http://citipointechurch.blogspot.com/2013/12/citipointes-legal-choices-1-fight-tooth.htm

Shortly after I sent it to you Chanti received a phone call from Citipointe offering her $800 to build a toilet for the family home. This is the first time in five and a half years that Citipointe has  made an offer of this kind. For five and a half years you have steadfastly refused to provide any assistance at all to the family.

As it happens, I have already given Chanti and Chhork $800 to buy a badly needed toilet. When Chanti informed Citipointe of this your church then offered to buy a generator and to have a well dug in their yard to provide them with clean water.

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that these offers of money, coming after five and a half years on no help at all, are directly related to Citipointe now having to deal with the court documents delivered to you yesterday.

Chanti and Chhork arrived in Phnom Penh half an hour ago and I have conducted an interview with them, with a competent translator. Both Chanti and Chhork made it quite apparent, in their interviews, that they were not interested in the money being offered to them by Citipointe; that they simply wanted their daughters returned to them. Rosa and Chita are not for sale to anyone – including Citipointe church – for any price.

As you know, Leigh, because I told you when first we met, Chanti turned down $10,000 that had been offered to her a decade or so ago to effectively sell Rosa. As with all things, you completely underestimate Chanti. No matter how much money you offer her she will turn it down and insist, as she has this past five years, that her daughters be returned to her.

Whether Citipointe’s decision to start throwing money at Chanti and Chhork is in the hope that they will drop their court case or whether it is because you hope that there is a sum that they will not be able to say no to, and so retain custody of Rosa and Chita, remains to be seen.

The behaviour of your church continues to be lacking of anything even vaguely approaching the values of the Christian faith you purport to follow. You have broken Cambodian law by illegally removing Rosa and Chita, have broekm Cambodian law by detaining them fir five and a half years against the express wishes of their parents and are now hoping that you can, with money, either save the church from public embarrassment or secure the custody of Rosa and Chita until they are 18 years old.

You are a disgrace, Leigh Ramsay.

best wishes

James Ricketson