A Norwegian Christian family has been living that nightmare for over a month, after the Barnevernet (the child protective services agency of Norway) confiscated the five children of Marius and Ruth Bodnariu.



The Barnevernet was alerted by one of the children's teachers, according to a Christian Post report. "Radical" Christian "indoctrination" was cited as a reason to take the Bodnariu's children from their parents.



There was reportedly no documented abuse of any kind pertaining to this family, merely their Christian faith.



Not only have the Bodnariu children been separated from their mother and father, but also from each other, as the agency has placed them in three different foster homes.



To add salt to the wound, Marius and Ruth Bodnariu were reportedly told by the Barnevernet that "your children don't miss you," and other highly inappropriate comments. They were also warned not to make the case public or things would get worse for them. (Photo via Facebook)



Many have joined with the Bodnariu family in protesting this grave injustice, and a petition to see the children returned has far exceeded its goal of 25,000 signatures—to date the petition carries over 43,500.



There is a Facebook page dedicated to the situation, which gives information concerning peaceful protests in support of the Bodnariu family.



A protest has been scheduled to take place in Washington, DC outside the Norwegian Embassy from 9am to noon on January 8th, and the family has asked that supporters send handwritten Christmas cards to Norwegian diplomats asking them to help reunite the Bodnariu children with their parents. Click here for more information.



A message on the Facebook support page states: "We pray that God blesses our efforts! As the walls of Jericho were destroyed, we believe that God can destroy the strong walls behind which abuses are made in the name of a law; law that should protect children and not destroy families." (Photo via Facebook)



"We thank God and you, those who are fighting with us for the protection of families and children against abuse!"



A letter from Peter Costea, PhD—President of Alliance of Romania's Families—which was sent to the Norway Embassy, states in part:



In recent weeks we have learned, with great concern, about the gross violation of the parental rights of Marius and Ruth Bodnariu. We have been in daily contact with the Bodnariu Family, attorneys, and other persons with direct knowledge of relevant facts and are very much disturbed by what we conclude is a de facto confiscation by the Norwegian authorities of the Bodnariu Family's five (5) children. The children are small, from three (3) months old to seven (7) years. We are also aware of the recent decision of a Norwegian court to affirm the confiscation of the children and to severely restrict the biological parents' access to them. It appears that the biological parents are only allowed to see the youngest of the children twice a week for two (2) hours.



Dissociating a three-month old baby from his natural, biological and permanent bond with his biological mother is harmful to the child beyond measure and extremely traumatic to the parents, especially the mother. In this situation, the best interest of the child is not served, but the state has inflicted upon him grievous emotional harm. This, in our opinion, is a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.



The court also decreed that the mother can only see her boys, of whom one is nearly five (5) and the other is two (2), once a week. To our knowledge, neither parent is currently allowed to see the oldest of the children.



The children have been placed, we have been told, in foster care with other families. Our organization does not believe in, and in fact rejects, social parenting and psychological parenting. We believe in biological parenting except in the most extreme of circumstances. We promote the primacy of biological parenting. We promote the right of biological parents to raise their biological children without state intervention...



Click here to visit the Facebook page in support of the Bodnariu family, and please keep this situation in your prayers.