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He's an
Eagle Scout. She was a missionary in India and
Nepal. Now this college educated couple is charged with kidnapping
their own children. Here's what they don't want you to know about |
Brian Edward Christine was born and raised in Greenfield, Indiana, a small town 20 miles east of Indianapolis, and attended church from childhood. He grew up in a house in the country where he enjoyed the outdoors and got a lot of exercise. From an early age Brian showed an interest in protecting the environment and "being involved in general improvement". Always very active in Boy Scouts, where his skills of leadership and family values were honed, he attained the highest rank in scouting of Eagle Scout. He also participated in 4-H for the 10 year limit, winning numerous First and Grand prize awards and attaining the Tenure award.
Brian held a volunteer position at the World’s Largest Children’s Museum in Indianapolis working with small children teaching them about nature and science. He worked as a volunteer at a Christian summer camp for small children, and actively was involved in Bible Summer Camps, as well as the year-round Youth group at his church. He achieved above average scores throughout 18 years of school and higher education, and graduated from New Palestine High School in 1991. In 1996 he earned a BA in Communications/Photography from Purdue University, where numerous courses were taken including a child development course where Brian worked with small children, aiding them in their learning process. He was also an active member of Navigators throughout college (a college Christian fellowship group). Brian participated in the 1997 Family Promise Keepers Washington DC march, demonstrating support for moral family strength in America.
Throughout his career, Brian held jobs with Purdue University Entomology/Research Department, Frito Lay, and he was a Kitty Hawk Kites Hang Gliding Instructor. He created and ran private family businesses, including "Land of Milk and Honey" Handcrafted Soaps. He owned a house which he sublet to needy students. He's worked with homeless both in the US and abroad. While traveling through Europe numerous times, Brian studied abroad at the University of Kent of Canterbury, England. He was an active member of the Christian Union on the college campus, an active member of the 18-25 youth/prayer group, and an active member of the Anglican church of St. Mary Bredin in Canterbury, England. He completed a dissertation on "Truth and the Image" while studying at Kent. This is also where Brian met his beautiful wife, Ruth.
Ruth grew up on a farm in Cornwall, England. She loved nature and the outdoors, and even as a small child she longed to travel and help others. Growing up, she worked as a volunteer for several years at a vacation camp for disabled children. When she was 19 years old, she traveled to Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka, where she did volunteer work teaching English at a Tibetan refugee camp in Nepal. She also volunteered at a day program for children with disabilities, and at a Mother Theresa home for children and adults with disabilities, after which she returned to England and began attending college at the University of Kent in Canterbury. She majored in Sociology and Anthropology.
After Ruth's graduation in the famous Cathedral of Canterbury, seat of the Archbishop, the couple had their first baby, Bethany Christine in 1995. The couple was married in Coads Green, a tiny hamlet in the county of Cornwall, Southwestern England. They returned to Indiana so that Brian could complete his education at Purdue University.
They had two more daughters, Lydia and Miriam, and then
decided it was time to go out and see America. They bought a bus and
converted it into a rolling home. Brian gutted and insulated the bus, and the
couple spent hours sanding the floor and building cabinets. This was a
true home, with a kitchen, bathroom, running water, and electricity. They
began traveling America for a year, taking their daughters to Disney World and
to the Atlantic Ocean. They saw the petrified forest, Carlsbad Caverns, the
Grand Canyon, deserts and forests, Yosemite National Park and the Pacific
Ocean. They loved to travel and wanted their daughters to see and
experience new things.
The girls in particular enjoyed the Northern California coast and its wildlife,
especially the bright colored starfish, sea lions, and sea otters. They loved
playing outdoors most of all. While in Oregon the search began for a community
where the girls might have other children with like minded parents and children
to live and play with. The family strongly believes in sharing, working
together and living as close to nature as possible.
Then, on July 31, 2000, the unthinkable happened.
Oregon Services for Children and Families received a phone call from someone at
a public library who claimed that one of the girls "looked
dehydrated". Ruth Christine says,
"Our nightmare began when our three precious daughters were taken by Oregon
Children's Services. We were devastated; our children meant everything to us.
One day they were there, and the next they were gone. We didn't see them again
for eight months."
Click on the link below to find out about the government misconduct and the subsequent kidnapping that would follow.
The Christine Family: Torn Apart by Oregon Services to Children and Families
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