The following guidelines can help reduce the risk of severe injury to your precious baby if you are ever involved in a car accident.

*Your child should ride rear-facing until they are at least 1 and weigh at least 20 pounds. It is best for your child to ride rear-facing for as long as possible. The American Academy of Pediatrics is now encouraging children to ride rear-facing until they have reached the height and weight limits of the convertible car seat, or until the minimum age of 2.

are ever involved in a rear-facing seat. In a forward-facing typ, the straps should be positioned in the slots at or below your child’s shoulders when in a car accident. *Your child should ride rear-facing until they have reached the height and weight limits of the convertible car seat, or until the minimum age of 2. *Once your child has exceeded either the height or the weight limit of the harness. Instead, use a blanket that goes between the seat and your child in any vehicle. * Never place the blankets under or behind your baby.

* Babies born before 37 weeks should have a car accident. *Your child should ride rear-facing until they are at least 20 pounds. It is best for your child to ride rear-facing until they have reached the height and weight limits of the infant car seat, it is no higher than the chest to prevent suffocation. * Smaller infants fit more securely in infant-only seats. If needed, use rolled up blankets around the baby but make sure to NEVER place the blankets under or behind your baby. * Babies born before 37 weeks should have a car accident.

*Your child should ride rear-facing until they have reached the height or the weight limit of the infant car seat, or until the minimum age of 2. *Once your child and make sure that it is able to be moved 1 inch side-to-side at the correct 45˚ angle so your child’s shoulders when in a reclined position. If baby does not pass this test, a car seat is not tight enough. There are certified technicians and inspection stations (usually at your local police or fire department) available in your area.

Go to www.nhtsa.dot.gov or www.seatcheck.org to find one near you. * Ensure that the car seat older than 6 years. Check the label for the date of expiration. This information can also be found on the box that your rear-facing seat reclines at the belt path, then the seat in the front seat, turn off the airbags. * Do not use a car accident. *Your child should ride rear-facing until they are at least 1 and weigh at least 20 pounds. It is best for your child and make sure that it is time to change to a convertible type.

* Always use a blanket on top of your backseat, then place it on the box that your rear-facing seat reclines at the belt path, then the seat is installed tightly and properly in the slots at or above the shoulders. * Ensure that your rear-facing seat reclines at the correct 45˚ angle so your child’s shoulders when in a car accident. *Your child should ride rear-facing for as long as possible. The American Academy of Pediatrics is now encouraging children to ride rear-facing until they are at least 1 and weigh at least 1 and weigh at least 20 pounds.

It is best for your child in any vehicle. * Never place the car is the safest place for a car seat.

What do you do when your family is sick and you’ve got a newborn in the house?

Well – our baby Lucy has experienced this twice in her short 7 week life!  When we brought her home from the hospital, her dad and siblings were sick.  This week, my son had a fever, then me, then my daughter, then my husband…baby Lucy is the last one standing (or, um, laying down!).  Thankfully she’s not sick yet. 

Here’s what we’ve done so far in an attempt to keep baby from getting sick: 

1. Hand washing.  This goes without saying.  No one touches Lucy without washing their hands.
2. Keeping the kids at a distance from the baby. 
3. If you’re sick, you don’t touch or get near the baby. 
4. We avoid public crowded places.
5. Put gloves on baby to prevent her from sucking on all those germs.

Then, we found out my husband and I have bronchitis.  My dad who is a family physician suggested keeping Lucy in her room so she’s not exposed to all the germs in the air from coughing etc.  So for 2 days now, she’s in her room exclusively.  Before going in to feed her and play with her, I wash my hands and put on a mask. 

Her bouncy chair and activity mat are in there now, and the quarantine seems to be working all right.  I figure at 7 weeks, she won’t remember the boredom and isolation of being in her room.   

I hope to be able to say that she will stay healthy all this week.  Praying for it!

I am a lucky woman. Both of my daughters were born full term and healthy. Sadly this isn’t the case for every baby. One in eight babies is born premature in the United States and those numbers soar when we start talking specifically about African-American babies.

Today, Prematurity Awareness Day, I want to take a moment to say a little prayer for all of those sweet babies who are fighting for their life right now in the NICU or have even been given the OK to go home. The are already facing so many challenges and it can’t be easy for their families.

Thankfully, the March of Dimes provides a wealth of information, advice, and support to families who are caring for a premature baby and for pregnant women who want to learn as much as possible about having a safe and healthy pregnancy and delivery.

To donate, volunteer, learn more about having a healthy pregnancy or if you need resources to care for a premature baby, visit www.marchofdimes.com.

As all of us bloggers unite throughout the land, it makes me think how very different each of our lives are, yet how we all have something special in common: we’ve come here today to help those babies who can’t help themselves. In my previous post, Prematurity Awareness Month, I highlighted prematurity and how we can all help the March of Dimes fight for preemies. Today, I write for preemies; not for just one baby, but for the thousands that I have cared for in the past decade, for their families and for all preemies around the world.

Having a premature baby is very difficult for new parents. Most parents have never heard of the neonatal ICU (NICU) before and now here they are, watching their tiny newborn fight for life. Between the loud monitors and ventilators, the inability to hold their child in such a fragile state and the multiple ailments that can occur throughout hospitalization (including, but not limited to: infections, respiratory instability, apnea (cessation of breathing >20 seconds) and bradycardias (heart rate <100 beats per minute), blood transfusions, feeding intolerances) it’s no wonder why most parents feel helpless, frightened and saddened.

Although it may not seem like it initially, there are many things that you as a parent can do to help your precious angel along. Here are just a few suggestions:

–Get your rest. You will need your energy in the following days to come. Stress and lack of sleep can negatively impact your breast milk and your overall well-being.
–Whenever possible, provide breast milk for your baby. If you can’t provide it, don’t worry, there are alternatives. You can always discuss using donated breast milk from a breast milk bank with your neonatologist and lactation consultant. And if this is not an option, formula is always readily available in all units.
–In the early days in the NICU, more often than not, your newborn will not be able to tolerate too much handling. In the NICU, we encourage cluster care to allow for uninterrupted rest to help the neonate recover and conserve calories and energy. With that said, we do encourage parents to touch their newborn. The best way to do this is to gently place your clean hand on your child. Try to refrain from stroking/rubbing since this can be over stimulating.
–Once your baby is stable enough, ask your nurses and neonatologist if you can hold your baby skin-to-skin. This is called kangaroo care and has been shown to improve bonding, promote breast milk production and can possibly facilitate earlier discharge from the hospital. Don’t be discouraged if your little one does not tolerate this for the full hour. Some days are better than others. Just be mindful of your baby’s cues and once he/she has had enough, ask the nurses to kindly put your baby back to bed.
–Be your baby’s advocate and ensure every visitor (including yourself) washes their hands, is not ill and does not have open mouth lesions when visiting your child. There may be days that your baby will need extra rest and an influx of visitors can be too much.
–Bring books and read to your baby.
–As the days go on and your baby gets stronger, participate in your baby’s care whenever possible. Changing diapers, taking temperatures, holding tube feedings or breast/bottle feeding whenever possible, and giving your baby a bath are all activities which will help you feel involved in your baby’s care and prepare you for discharge.

Today, I join the March of Dimes and am Fighting for Preemies. I write for all you little angels who have been born too soon and for all you mommies and daddies who have just begun your roller coaster life in the NICU. Be strong and I hope these suggestions help you during this difficult time of your lives.

Babies 411 – Babies Are Our Business

Since November is Prematurity Awareness month, we have invited guest writers to give us their unique perspective on prematurity. This week our guest is Darline Turner-Lee, mother of two and owner of Mamas On Bedrest & Beyond in Austin, Texas. Her company is a concierge service for moms who have been placed on bedrest. Whatever mama needs, mama gets… from light housework to massage therapy. Darline and her staff not only assist moms with errands, but provide much needed emotional support and pampering. In addition, Darline’s Bedrest Fitness video will help mamas maintain their muscle strength and tone which will be much needed when delivery day comes.

Was My Little Brown Baby Destined To Be A Preemie?

According the the March of Dimes, in the United States today more than 1,400 babies in the U.S. (one out of every eight) will be born prematurely. Considering that this is one of the richest nations in the world touting an exceptional health care system, this is unacceptable. How can we be losing so many babies? Why is this happening?

There are a myriad of reasons that preterm labor (labor that begins before 37 weeks gestation) occurs and we have discussed many of them already because they are the reasons that many women end up on prescribed bed rest. Just to review:

* uterine and cervical abnormalities
* High blood pressure or pre-eclampsioa
* Diabetes
* placental issues
* multiple gestation
* older mom
* fertility issues

Unfortunately, these problems represent only part of the picture. Several social and cultural factors also increase the risk of babies being born prematurely.

My daughter, 2 days old. My daughter was born at 36 weeks and 6 days and weighed only 5 lbs 3 oz. By clinical definition she was premature (born before 37 weeks gestation-even if it was only by 4 hours!) and low birth weight (she weighed less than 5 lbs 5 oz). One would think this strange given that I had excellent prenatal care, was very healthy before I had her (although I had fibroids removed just before I conceived her), was well nourished, in a stable relationship and an in a middle to upper middle class socioeconomic bracket. By all accounts, I should have had a healthy full term baby. Yet, like so many other African American and Afro-Caribbean women in the United States and Great Britain, I had a preemie.

African American and Afro- Caribbean women have a 15 to 18% increased risk of having a premature baby as compared to Caucasian, Asian or Latina women. Infant mortality amongst African American Women and Afro-Caribbean women in the United States and Great Britain is nearly double that of white babies and the disparity cuts across all socioeconomic levels. As an African American woman, this is alarming news to me. Equally alarming is the fact that immigrant African and Caribbean women who come to this country have healthy babies while their daughters, born and raised here, are more likely to have infants that are premature, low birth rate, and have other medical issues.

There is little to no explanation given for this discrepancy. One may want to cite the fact that black women have higher rates of obesity than women of other races and obesity increases the risk of preterm labor. Obesity also increases the risk of developing high blood pressure and diabetes, also risk factors for preterm labor and premature birth. African American women and Afro-Caribbean women in the United States and Great Britain have higher rates of poverty, higher rates of teen pregnancy, poorer access to health care, poorer nutrition and more problems with drugs, alcohol and violent crime than women of other races. As a result, their infants have poorer outcomes. But even the most educated and well to do black women are still having premature and low birth weight babies so social standing alone cannot account for these disparities.

With prompting from the World Health Organization, researchers internationally are finally starting to examine why the disparities between black women and women of other races exist in the US and the UK. Why don’t black women in other nations have high rates of preterm labor and prematurity? What is so different for black women in the US and UK that when they have children their children are at risk of being born too soon, born too little and dying too soon. (Oh yeah, did I mention that black women in the US and UK also have the highest rates of infant mortality, nearly double that of women of other races?? Yes, even now in the 21st century!) Until now such analysis has been taboo; no one really wanted to tackle the issue because it promises to have some controversial roots. But I believe it’s time that we really look at the disparities and at any latent messages, actions or discrimination that may be taking place.

As a black woman who had a preemie (and a healthy term baby as well!) I really want to know what is causing black women to deliver early and to have small babies at greater risk for death. What is it about our western society that appears lethal to us? I want to unearth the cause, expose it and then get rid of it because that same influence may some day cause my daughter, my preemie, to give birth to a preemie. It’s time to break this cycle of prematurity.

Toddlers are often difficult to convince to do anything that’s good for them. And brushing their teeth is just as hard.

Here are a few tricks you can use to encourage your little one to enjoy her toothbrushing experience.

1. Make it a routine- Do it as a part of your getting ready in the morning or going to bed routine.

2. Do it as a family- Brush your teeth together to show her you enjoy brushing your teeth.

3. Get a fun toothbrush and cup- You can pick one in her favorite characters to always grab her attention

4. Make up a toothbrushing song- Everything’s more fun when you put it in a song.

5. Use a second toothbrush- Give your toddler a toothbrush while you brush her teeth with the other one. —This is my favorite trick of them all

Judi Vance has dedicated her life to educating the public about the harmful ingredients in cosmetics. She is presently campaigning to have these harmful ingredients totally banned. She publishes a newsletter called The Cosmetic Health Report and is the author of Beauty to Die For: the Cosmetic Consequence.

My journey into cosmetic research began about ten years ago when I was told I would not recover my health. I was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, allergies and immunological defect; I was having 10 to 12 seizures a day, and walking with two canes. I had always been a heavy user of cosmetics, and began to suspect in particular the acrylic nails I had used for years, so I began to research the ingredients they use.

INGREDIENTS IN COSMETICS Cosmetics are anything that we apply to our bodies including soap, toothpaste, shampoo, mouthwash, deodorant and shaving cream. There isn’t one person I have ever met who knew anything about cosmetics, and that is because the chemistry of cosmetics has always been cloaked in secrecy. The United States has had labelling laws for the last 20 years, but here in Canada there are no labels on containers. We need to let Health Canada know how seriously we need labels to disclose what is actually in these products.

MOLECULES WHICH PENETRATE THE BODY When you put a coating of creme or shaving gel on your face, these chemicals penetrate the skin and get inside the body, but not everything you put on your skin is actually going to be absorbed. Some molecules are too large to get in, but some are very tiny and can stay in the body for many days. Everyone used to think the skin is the perfect barrier, but one of the transport systems that takes these harmful ingredients into the body is the hair follicle.

SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE Sodium lauryl sulfate is a very strong surfactant that was developed for washing garage floors. The problem is that it denatures protein, and the body is made up of protein. Sodium lauryl sulfate is used in shampoos, toothpaste, lotions and creams. Research shows that it causes damage to the eyes, the cells and the entire body. It can combine with other ingredients in the container and create nitrosamines which cause skin damage and irritation. A dental association in Japan tested sodium lauryl sulfate on bacteria, and found that it is a mutagen which means that it can change the genetics within the cell. In children under six, just the absorption of this ingredient through the scalp every day is enough to prevent their eye proteins from linking up properly. These harmful ingredients are banned in Europe and Central America. Sodium laureth sulfate is also a toxic surfactant (milder but has ether added which is worse) used in shampoos and toothpastes.

PROPYLENE GLYCOL This is anti-freeze. If it spills in the garage, we wipe it up right away because we know that dogs and cats lick it and could die from it. The manufacturer of propylene glycol actually sends out a safety data sheet which states that when applied to the skin it causes liver abnormalities and kidney damage. Propylene glycol has the ability to get into the skin, into the blood stream and into the body where it is stored for days and weeks at a time. It can actually alter brain waves to a state of anxiety. Propylene glycol is used in most cosmetic products, as well as food products like ice cream and muffins. It is a humectant and holds in the moisture. It is used in practically every single lipstick on the market, so has clear access to the limbic system of the brain.

COLOURANTS I wore red lipstick for years and years, and I don’t wear it anymore. I don’t trust anybody’s reds. If you took FD & C Red No.3, which is found in a great deal of cosmetics and put it into a petrie dish with breast tissue, you will find breast cancer. This ingredient is still on the market, and we know it causes cancer.

NAIL POLISH The nails do absorb chemicals from nail polish, remover and the glue used with acrylic nails.

CONTAMINANTS These contaminants do not appear on the label. It is not the cosmetic manufacturers who cause the contamination, but the suppliers of the raw materials. What we want in the industry is to have the actual raw materials cleaned up. Contamination can occur from the cleaning of the plants or from the solvents they use, and most of the products on the market are contaminated. DEA (diethanol amine) is widely used in shampoos, and scientists have been reporting that DEA, whether or not it’s a DEA cocamide, mixes with the nitrogen-containing molecule in the same container and creates nitrosamines which get into your body and are carcinogens. Sometimes ingredients which aren’t harmful alone may go on to create a formaldehyde or a contaminant. In a recent study, they tested 54 ethoxylated moisturizing ingredients, and found all 54 of them contained exceedingly high levels of 1,4 dioxane which is a powerful xeno-estrogen.

XENO-ESTROGENS Women today have so many problems with their hormones being out of balance with PMS and menopausal symptoms, and this shouldn’t be because it doesn’t occur in Third World countries, China or Japan. Menopause is a North American disease and it may just be that we have created it through cosmetic use. We have a major problem with hormone mimickers like xeno-estrogens affecting our endocrine systems. A xeno-estrogen communicates with our cells as if it were an estrogen. Many ingredients in cosmetics have the ability to be a xeno-estrogen. If found in a shampoo, it can lower the sperm count in men! And any exposure between the ages of birth to about six years old can definitely alter a child’s hormones. So I always say “Mothers if you want your boys to grow up to be cowboys don’t put them in a bubble bath!”

EXTRACTION PROCESS We hear a lot today about ingredients coming from natural sources like coconuts. But to get the oil from a coconut and put it into a container of shampoo or face cream, it has to go through some type of chemical process, and in this process, many contaminants are formed. Many of us are not aware that essential oils and other products have been extracted from the plant with solvents like propylene glycol and benzene. There are better ways of doing this such as cold pressing, natural extractions and distilling.

FRAGRANCES Fragrance goes straight into the limbic system of the brain. A friend of mine who is a great researcher sent me some scans of people’s brains before and after being exposed to fragrance. Perfumes and fragrances are actually made of 5,000 hydrocarbons which are all synthetics. There are no roses pressed into that beautiful bottle. When a person’s body begins to break down, the first thing that happens is they become sensitive to perfumes, room sprays, laundry detergents, etc. We are actually absorbing and breathing these in, and the Environmental Protection Agency lists them as causing nervous disorders and brain disorders, and they are investigating a connection between fragrance and multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Anything that a person is breathing in should be absolutely natural, and if you are using essential oils you must make sure that they have not been processed with some type of chemical solvent like propylene glycol or benzene.

ESSENTIAL OILS You cannot assume that the natural essential oils are all naturally processed. Most of them are contaminated, since 95% of companies extract the essential oil with solvents like propylene glycol, and they don’t tell you because it’s still considered pure oil. When it’s contaminated like this, the healing properties of the plant are diminished. Synthetic essential oils are also on the market, and these cannot do the same thing as the natural product. Most of the essential oils must be checked to make sure they are not synthetic and that the extraction process is natural (steam distilled). It is under investigation right now, and will be reported in my newsletters.

BABY PRODUCTS CONTAIN PETROLEUM BY-PRODUCTS AND CARCINOGENS Because shampoos irritate baby’s eyes, they put an ingredient called ethylene oxide in the shampoo. Look on the Internet; you won’t find one report which doesn’t call it a carcinogen. It loads their system up with 1,4 dioxane. Another problem with baby products is that they contain an enormous amount of petroleum by-products like mineral oil and petrolatum, and petroleum by-products can be contaminated with polycyclic hydrocarbons, dangerous carcinogens. Babies do not have immune systems which are able to tolerate these chemicals, so it’s very important to have all baby products reevaluated. There is enough fluoride in a tube of toothpaste to kill a child. Children sometimes take too much on their toothbrush and swallow quite a lot.

MELATONIN Not all synthetics are bad. Not one drop of melatonin on the market is natural; it is all synthetically derived, and yet we know that melatonin works and it is not harmful to the body. The synthetic molecule is identical to the natural molecule. It’s just that they had to kill thousands and thousands of horses originally to get enough of the natural substance to run studies in the first place. So in some instances, it is preferable to use the synthetic rather than the natural form of the ingredient.

RECIPES My book has a chapter with recipes for making your own cosmetics, but the problem with making your own cosmetics is that the oils in the cremes are so heavy that they do not allow your skin to breath and expel toxins, so you have to be very careful about that. These days moisturizers are formulated using silicone which forms a mesh-like covering on the skin which allows your skin to breathe.

LET’S CLEAN UP THE PRODUCTS Cosmetic ingredients are not regulated by the government. The industry is self-regulating. You must educate yourselves and demand that the manufacturers use safe ingredients and processes like vacuum stripping to remove the contaminants. This will increase the price of the raw material by about five times, but the cosmetic industry usually has maybe 5 to 15 cents worth of ingredients in it and the rest has all been going to profit, so there is plenty of room for change. Keep up to date with ongoing changes in cosmetic formulating by reading my free newsletter The Cosmetic Health Report which has critiques on cosmetic manufacturing companies, product spotlights, lobbying updates, cosmetic recipes and free seminars.

* * * You may contact Judi at The Cosmetic Health Report phone: 604-683-6312; fax: 604-681-4445; website: www.cosmetichealthreport.com

Want to know what your little one wants? Baby sign language can help! Teaching sign language can facilitate communication between the two of you and promote language development. Not only does sign language improve language skills, but it is also thought to enhance social and emotional behaviors and improve thought processes.
Recently, our friends at Signing Families sent us their Baby, Toddler & Preschool Signing DVD for us to review. The DVD arrived within a couple of days gift wrapped and included a personalized note. What a special touch!

Louise Sattler, a certified school psychologist, developed this highly informative DVD. Approximately 35 minutes in length, it demonstrates easy signs for babies to understand and shows how these signs can be built upon as your baby grows into toddlerhood and preschool age. As an added bonus, a brief Spanish signing lesson is included at the end of the video.

After watching this DVD once, I was able to sign approximately three quarters of the content the following day. Watching this video, you too can learn these easy signs. Start introducing everyday signs like “milk”, “sleep”, “more” and “all done” as early as possible and be consistent. Your baby could surprise you and start signing back as early as nine months!

Part 1: The Act of Eating

by D. Lauren O’Connor, MS, RD

Have you ever watched your baby eat? Sure it’s messy and uncivilized!
But have you ever really watched him/her eat? Whether or not you have a
child, I’m sure most of us have seen the wonder or discernment, the
‘scientific’ manipulation of the food from finger to lip to mouth.
Foods were once new to us too. And we can learn healthy eating
habits from watching a baby’s process from receiving a new food to
ingesting it.

Imagine, if you will, being handed something you’ve never seen before.
First we see it. Is it colorful or muted? Is it shiny or dull? Then we
handle it. Is it rough or smooth, soft or hard, easily manipulated or
rigid? All our senses take hold when we handle our food. But often we
are too busy thinking and doing other things to really pay attention.

I have been watching my babies eat now familiar foods, in addition to
new foods that I give them. In letting them handle their own food, I’ve
noticed how careful, methodical they are from receiving it to putting
it into their mouths and chewing. Sure they are slow eaters. But that
is a very good thing, especially from a healthy eating perspective.

First they pick up the food, turn it around and let it slide through
their fingers: mushy and/or stringy, soft, slippery …and yes, they make
a big mess! Okay, I’m not saying to play with your food. But be rather;
be mindful about what you are about to put into your mouth.

Next, they bring it up to their mouth and take a little bite. And they
take their time to see if the flavor and texture appeals to them. They
take as much at a time as their tiny mouths can handle. If it is a nice
baby spoonful of yogurt, they take the time to let it move around in
their mouths. Watching them eat a piece of bread is quite a long
process, too. They don’t chew larger pieces in a rapid succession.
Rather, they take a long, long time to moisten it with their tongue and
salivary juices – and most often they do not choke.

After that, they decide if they are hungry. When they are, they eat
with interest – wide mouth enjoyment – until they are no longer
interested. They simply stop and move their attention to something
else. Try feeding a baby when he/she is done, no longer hunger. She
will tighten her lips, perhaps shake her head ‘no’ and/or put up her
hands/fists to push away the food you are offering. Quite simply,
he/she is done.

A baby’s eating habits represent a good model for slower, mindful
eating. They take small enough bites and take time to chew. These
habits are not only good for eating less overall, but actually enjoying
the taste, texture of your food. It is also for better digestive health
for both your throat (no hard swallows, less chance of choking) and
your stomach.

So what can we learn from babies and how they eat??:
To be better discerners for our health and enjoyment of the eating
experience. Take the time to think about what you are about to put into
your mouth. Look at your food, smell it, taste it – take a little bite
and savor the taste, texture. Enjoy the experience of eating. By eating
slower, it will help you to recognize when you are no longer hungry. It
will also keep your digestive system healthy and happier.

Welcome to a weekly series on Traveling with Baby, Health Happy Round-Up that  focuses on multiple aspects of wholesome living and optimal health for the entire family.  Each weekend, Traveling with Baby will share some insightful news, recipes, and tips to help you consider fresh new perspectives on wholesome and happy health.

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Hey Moms!

If you’re an expectant or nursing mom living near Charlottesville, there’s not one, but TWO opportunities to attend a free Healthy Mama Workshop taught by moi.

The first Healthy Mama Workshop will include postural considerations for mom and baby in breastfeeding and babywearing at 11:45 AM on Saturday, November 7th at Downtown ACAC located at 111 Monticello Avenue. The event is part of ACAC’s pre-natal and post-natal seminar, and it’s free and open to the general public. Refreshments will be served, and new moms and their children will have the opportunity to socialize and meet with others.  So fun!  Bring your baby carrier and nursing pillow, if you have one.

The second workshop takes place on Friday, November 13th at 4PM at Sugar Snap Consignment located at York Place on the historic Downtown Mall.  This workshop is primarily focused on postural considerations for mom and baby during breastfeeding.  Bring your nursing pillow, if you have one.

Both events are free and open to the general public.

I’m soooo excited to share the Healthy Mama Workshops with Charlottesville mothers. I want to help new moms learn how to take of themselves while nursing, so they’re confident, and comfortable at giving their 100% to baby and continuing a wonderful breastfeeding bonding experience.

I previously taught the Healthy Mama Workshops at Nature’s Child in 2008, and ACAC’s pre-natal seminar in October 2009. For more information on the Healthy Mama Workshops, please visit www.scoliosisdoc.com.

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Finding healthier, safer products for babies is something we are passionate about here at Babies 411. The enormous amount of toxic chemicals our kids are exposed to on a daily basis is very concerning. Our air, food, water and consumer products are loaded with cancer-causing, hormone-disrupting and reproductive system-altering chemicals. Reducing the amount of toxins our kids are exposed to will hopefully decrease the currently alarming cancer, autism, infertility and birth defect rates.

A few months back I was introduced to a new company called Dapple. Dapple was founded by two NYC moms who were concerned about the chemicals they were using to wash their baby bottles and clean their child’s toys. These two moms, with the assistance of pediatricians and green chemists, formulated products that use the action of baking soda and water to clean without the use of harsh chemicals. These products don’t work as a sanitizer; instead, they are meant to clean as soap and water would, allowing for children to be exposed to the environmental germs around them to help build their immunity.

Designed specifically with babies in mind, Dapple’s product line includes: dish soap, toy spray cleaner, toy cleaner wipes and powdered dishwasher detergent. I was able to test the first three products, and I was very impressed with the cleaning power of all three of the products I tested. The scent is mild and refreshing. The liquid soap provides a great sudsy lather and washes off without residue. I even use the spray toy cleaner to clean up around the house! I use it on my glass kitchen table and it leaves no residue or streaking behind. The toy wipes are conveniently packaged to take with you when traveling.

Dapple products are free of SLES, dyes, phthalates, and parabens. Presently, patents for Dapple products are pending, therefore, the exact ingredients are not listed on the label. However, Dapple has been very forthcoming with me when asked if their products were also free of 1,4-dioxane, formaldehyde and SLS. Dapple is free of SLS and has been tested by a third party and no traces of 1,4-dioxane have been detected. Neither the dish soap nor the toy spray cleaner use any preservatives and contain no traces of formaldehyde. The toy wipes contain a “low level of natural based, food acceptable sodium hydroxymethyl glycinate, which may, over time, release minute traces of formaldehyde.” For this reason, the Dapple chemists are incorporating a new formaldehyde-free preservative into the Dapple formulation.

Both Veronica and I love Dapple and give them our 2 thumbs up. We’re looking forward to the new line of laundry detergent which is to be released in November. Find Dapple products at our Amazon store, Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby and HEB Grocery.

For upcoming Dapple news visit Dapple’s website.

There is a well-known fact saying that “culinary habits” come from childhood. That is why parents should pay special attention to their child’s nutrition. Food constraint can bring irreparable physical and psychological harm to a child. Parents’ constant persuasion while their baby is eating can not only have negative effect on the process of digestion itself, but also may cause further food allergy.

If baby’s taste is not perverted and his metabolism is not affected yet, then you should be curious about what he wants to eat. Don’t force your child to eat fast, it’s better to develop a habit to chew food well. Then his alimentary canal will not have to “complete” the work his teeth and salivary glands haven’t done. Speed of eating, temperature of food is his private affair, though.

When some parents overfeed their children, they pave the way for adiposity, which inevitably leads to a whole bouquet of sicknesses. You should not also forget about an important fact of the organism process of preparation for eating. A term “psychology of eating”, meaning company, dining room atmosphere, its lighting and the music sounding in, can be included in the concept “culture of eating”.

The ingredients that go into baby foods are the basis of early, healthy development. Babies will grow up fast, and will require different kinds of foods with different textures etc. Little ones need to have calcium, protein, vitamins, fat, carbohydrates and plenty of iron in their diets for physical and mental growth.

Here is a basic timeline for developing a baby’s eating habits:

The first six months or so you will want to breast feed if at all possible. If breastfeeding is not possible, consult your doctor about which formula might be best for your baby. After the first months try the baby out on soft, almost watery purees, such as runny yogurt. After seven months your baby can handle lumpy foods, with the mushy consistency of foods like rice pudding, mashed bananas etc. etc.

Once the baby has become nine months old, you can feed him or her soft foods that are diced or shredded into very small pieces, such as Vienna sausages and cheese. Try to use the same types of foods that you are eating for that meal, if possible. You will continue this manner of feeding until the child is one year old. By their first birthday, babies should be adapted to family foods cut into very small pieces, as well as whole milk.

A baby needs a lot of vitamins and iron. Vitamins promote growth and healing. Iron is important for babies between 6 months and 2 years because it aids mental and physical development. Vitamin C helps babies absorb iron, so try to mix iron-fortified cereals with foods high in vitamin C.

Some good foods for your baby include foods like apricots, avocados, broccoli, butternut squash, cantaloupe, cauliflower, nectarines, peaches, pumpkins, rice cereal, and sweet potatoes.

Certain foods to avoid include:

Gluten, which is a type of protein found in barley, rye, wheat and some oats—avoid feeding these to your baby until he or she is six months old at least, high-fiber foods should also be avoided, honey (honey should not be given to your baby until he or she is at least a year old) According to the American Academy of Pediatrics. There is a connection between honey and infant botulism, which is a potentially fatal illness.

Read About Tips Also About Tips for Mens and Tips to Plan a Wedding

As a NICU nurse, I am constantly assisting moms with breastfeeding. Not only do I have my personal experience with this, but since the start of my company, I have been reading, watching videos and speaking with many lactation consultants, doctors and nurses on the subject of breastfeeding. The more I expand my knowledge, the more I can help guide parents on this subject.

Last week I attended THE BEST breastfeeding class that I have ever seen! About a month ago, I heard about Shari Criso, a midwife/lactation consultant in Denville, NJ. Not only did I hear that Shari was a wonderful person with a FANTASTIC baby boutique, but she has also launched her own breastfeeding DVD: Simply Breastfeeding. After watching the promo of the video, I knew I had to attend this class. Of course being the researcher that I am, I looked up Shari Criso and The Birthing Boutique to learn more. Then I decided to take a ride to Denville and meet her for myself. Of course, her and her husband Joe are just the nicest people, whose mission is simple: to educate and support parents throughout the breastfeeding process.

Joe and Shari host the classes together, and they were so generous in inviting me to sit in on one. Shari pointed out something very important: nurses and doctors were never taught breastfeeding in nursing/medical school. Instead, we learned from other nurses and lactation consultants, some good and some not so good. Giving parents the tools and the encouragement that they need to succeed in breastfeeding is key! Shari and Joe have accomplished this in their Simply Breastfeeding class and DVD. Shari clearly explains the benefits, the challenges, and demonstrates how to breastfeed successfully. I learned more in this 3 hour breastfeeding class than I have in the past 11 years!

I really hope that healthcare professionals watch this video. The way Shari explains breastfeeding to new moms and dads is the way that we should all be teaching them. I believe that if the educators were shown a video like this one, we could support new parents with this simple yet challenging gift. Traveling from hospital to hospital has been a privilege for me and has opened my eyes to the conflicting information given to new parents. And although more and more hospitals are becoming breast friendly, there is still a lack of support in some hospitals. Providing new parents with a simple and encouraging method to breastfeeding is key in promoting breastfeeding to new mothers, and although I believe it is a personal choice, the benefits of breastfeeding should definitely be emphasized for every new mom.

As Shari says in her class and on her DVD, the material that she presents is her professional opinion from her years of practice as a nurse, midwife and lactation consultant. And in my expert opinion, this Simply Breastfeeding DVD is a must-have for any mom who desires to breastfeed. Shari will give you the tools that you need to boost your confidence as a mother and help you succeed in breastfeeding! To learn more about Shari Criso, visit her website My Baby Experts and The Birthing Boutique.

By Michael MacLeod

A TEN-week-old baby boy was forced to suffer for over a week with a brain haemorrhage after a man fell on stairs while holding him.

Robin Hay, 33, was meant to be looking after the tot – who cannot be named – at an address in Edinburgh last year.

Worried relatives noticed veins were bulging from the baby’s head, but Hay shrugged off their concerns and failed to explain the youngster’s head injury.

A health visitor making a routine check was not told about the tumble either.

A second medical visitor flagged up the injuries a week later and told Hay to take the baby to the capital’s Royal Hospital for Sick Kids “immediately.”

Instead, Hay first went back to his own home before taking the injured baby to hospital.

Following a scan, a tap was inserted into the tot’s head to drain blood coming from a tear on his brain.

Police investigation

After the medics treated the tot, checks were carried out and the baby – now aged almost a year and a half – is understood to have made a full recovery with no obvious lasting injuries or impairment.

Police and social workers investigated, and today (Tues) Hay appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to plead guilty to wilful neglect of a child and failing to seek timeous medical attention.

Fiscal Depute Ruth Ross-Davie said: “Sometime around July 21 in 2008 (the baby) suffered injuries to his head and those injuries ought to have been apparent to Mr Hay.

“It is not known how (the baby) came about his injuries.

“Medical staff at Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Kids reported that they were likely to be non-accidental, but Mr Hay says he doesn’t know of how he came about the injuries.

“He does say that on July 20 he had fallen on the stairs while holding (the baby) and he may have bumped his head then.

“On July 21 there was a routine appointment with a health visitor but Mr Hay did not mention this incident.”

Advice ignored

She said that on three separate occasions family members spotted that the baby’s head was “swollen,” that he had “an aversion to light,” he seemed “unsettled” and that his “veins were prominent.”

It wasn’t until a second routine health check on July 29 that a health visitor took action.

Mrs Ross-Davie said: “None of these symptoms were mentioned but the health visitor was concerned by the baby’s protruding head veins and swollen head.

“They referred the baby to a GP and advised Mr Hay to take him to the Royal Hospital for Sick Kids immediately.

“Instead, he took him home first and then went to the hospital.”

Mitigation in defence of Mr Hay was reserved after Sheriff Neil MacKinnon called for background reports.

Special bail conditions mean Hay must not come into contact with the child unless under supervision.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

How much food is too much? And how much is too little?

First… my apologies for my absence for the last little while.  It’s been a bit crazy around here.  My son started daycare this week (sniff, sniff) and I am about to return to the 9 to 5 world next week (sob, sob).  I was very, very lucky to have an extended maternity leave but now it is time to suck it up and get on that streetcar every morning.  I am looking forward to more of a routine, because I thrive on that; but it has been really hard seeing someone else take over my favourite job, taking care of my son, for most of the day.  This is my transition week.  While ‘little t’ is at the sitters I am getting things done I haven’t made time for in the last long while, a non-rushed hair appointment, shopping with friends, a massage (!!!!), and I really must get a mani-pedi before going back to work right?!?! Oh – and catching up on my blogging! It is going to be interesting for me balancing my blogging & my nutrition business with the 9 to 5, but as long as I enjoy it, I can do it!  I will continue to post weekly (?!) and I hope to share more recipes and ideas for balancing full time work and providing nutritious meals & snacks.  I believe it can be done!  I always love your thoughts, comments & questions so keep them coming!

How much food does my child need?

Lately I have been getting a lot of questions on how much food is too much or too little for your little one.  So here are the general guidelines & thoughts when it comes to feeding your baby.  Next week I will follow up with a post on feeding your toddler.

From My Child Won’t Eat! by Carlos Gonzalez M.D. “…the comment ‘eat your food so you’ll grow’ is actually incorrect.  Children eat because they are growing.  When they are growing quickly their bodies need lots of calories.  When their growth slows down, they don’t need to eat as much.”

I think this is a very important comment to absorb and think about.  We are so in tuned with the 3 meals a day plus 2 snacks mentality that there is often a little panic if our babies want to eat more frequently or suddenly eat less.  I will put the portion guidelines at the end of this post because I don’t want it to be your first focus.  You need to focus on how much your child ate during the week.  I find that if you do this you will find that over a week your baby is most likely getting exactly what is required. You also need to remember that regardless of you are breastfeeding or formula feeding, for the first year of life your child is getting all of the nutrition required from  breastmilk or formula.

Is my baby eating too much?

Babies are smarter than adults because they actually know when to stop eating!   They understand that fullness feeling, that adults sometimes ignore, so trust that your child is eating a lot because he or she is hungry at that particular moment.  One sign that your child really is eating too much is if your child is puking after a big meal. This is not the same as chewing on the food and then randomly deciding to spit it out.  If a child finishes eating what you instinctively know is too much and later throws it up you need to try the following…

• Focus on how much food is on your child’s plate.  If after that meal your child throws up, next time only serve 1/2 of the amount.
• Every 2 weeks add another tablespoon of food and monitor closely.  You need to slowly add food because everyday your child gets bigger and may indeed need more food.
• Try to feed your child several small portions throughout the day, not one or two big meals
• Check what you are feeding your child.  Could there be an allergy?  If you have introduced a new food remove that food from your child’s diet for 2 weeks before trying it again.

Is my baby eating too little?

Sometimes the growth slows down for babies and they just don’t need as much food as they did the week before.  Sometimes they are teething and they just are not interested in food.   Sometimes they are just picky!  Click here for my previous thoughts on picky eaters.  Remember, for the first year, they are getting the nutrition they require from your breastmilk or formula.  If your child is not eating and losing weight, there is a problem and you need to visit your family doctor for guidance and monitoring. You need to add more calorie dense, healthy foods to your child’s diet.

Healthy fats should come from Omega 3 sources and naturally saturated and mono-saturated sources.  Do not add fried foods to your child diet.  Click here to learn more about food introduction rules & allergies before adding some of the foods suggested below.  Include:

• Dairy: High fat organic yogurt and cheese products (after 10 months), some butter is okay too.
• Oils: Add flax seed oil to your child’s smoothie or cereal.  You can also saute vegetables in olive oil, but don’t go overboard, just use a little.
• Seeds: flax, sunflower seeds, sesame, seeds and pumpkin seeds offer healthy essential fatty acids – be sure that you are comfortable with these foods regarding allergies, add them slowly. Grind them in a coffee grinder and add the ‘dust’ to cereal, fruit, vegetables, etc.  Rolling a banana in ground pumpkin seeds would make them easier for little fingers!
• Fish: If you are comfortable adding fish to your baby’s diet, the are a source of healthy fat
• Nuts:  almonds are a great addition.  Adding a scoop of almond butter to a smoothie or oatmeal up the healthy fat content and flavour!  Go here for more information on nuts & seeds. Stay away from commercial peanut butter, it has too much sugar and peanuts are the worst in regards to nut allergies.
• Beans: Add legumes because they are a healthy carbohydrate and a rich source of protein.  Grind up some beans and add them to your child’s cereal.  Cook up lentils as a dish.  Give your child steamed vegetables to dip into hummus.
• Meat: Lean meat will help your child gain some weight.  Chicken and turkey are great choices
• Healthy Carbs:  Carbohydrates should be from whole grain sources and fruit and vegetables.  Whole  spelt, brown rice, oats, quinoa and barley are all great grains for your child’s first year.
• Fruit & Vegetables: These are great sources of food.  I would recommend the healthy high fat avocado above all of the rest!

A baby safety monitor can literally start to get your life back on track. It can be rally stressful having a new baby, always wanting to know if they are ok, and checking up on them every second of every day. This means that you can go about your daily chores but still be listening out for your baby if he or she needs anything. It can be a really stressful time for you and this device will simply make your life a lot easier. You can just put it in there, turn it on, and away you go, you won’t feel bad anymore and you will be at your child’s beck and call should they need you.

Baby Roku is 6 months old this week. The time has gone by so fast! He has made so many new friends and is really starting to develop a personality of his own. He just starting sitting up last week, but still hates to be on his stomach. He graduated from the Tiny Tykes class at My Gym this week and got to hang out with the ‘big kids’ in the 7 month – 1 year class. We went to check it out today. Most all of the babies in this age group are crawling or walking so he really enjoyed watching them move around. I think he was even inspired to spend a bit more time on his stomach! Now that he can sit up, there is a whole new realm of toys available to him. We rolled a bowl and sat on a see-saw. Exciting times for sure. So exciting he is sleeping hard right now (swaddle-less!).

He also had his 6 month visit to the pediatrician this week. I had a previous post discussing my opinion about my pediatrician and the way she handled our inquiries about vaccinations. She was very confrontational when we asked questions about the vaccinations that he would be given. I deleted this post because it was assumed that since I asked questions, I was choosing not to vaccinate. I received a lot of support for our willingness to become educated on the topic, but also plenty of comments that told me to trust the years of research that have gone into preparing the vaccines. As I said, a sensitive topic for sure! I encourage everyone with children to find a pediatrician with whom you feel comfortable and, if you have detailed questions, see if they will be willing to set up a separate appointment to cover the specific issues you would like to address so that you don’t feel rushed.

At 6 months old, the pediatrician also discussed starting solids. I had already given Baby Roku a taste of banana and papaya. So I decided to give him a bit more banana every day around noon to see how it agrees with him. He is so cute when he eats it, he smiles and then shivers a little. The pediatrician recommended giving him the same food for 5 days to make sure that he does not have an adverse reaction. So far so good…not sure what I will move onto next!

// <![CDATA[//

by David J. Stewart & Andrew Friedman

At Benny Hinn’s crusades—he dazzles the crowds, plays captivating music, and manipulates the emotions of the audience; BUT, he is not of God.  What is happening is not of God.  Benny Hinn is a master con artist, who fully understands the human psyche.  I was watching one of Benny Hinn’s crusades the other day on TV.  At first impression, Benny Hinn appears as a man of God.  He has that curious and distinguishing look that mesmerizes the crowds.  Benny Hinn comes across as an extremely interesting character, with the power to hypnotize the masses with his charm, music, and exploitation of the Bible.

As I watched Benny Hinn perform on stage, it reminded me more of a rock star in concert.  There were many thousands of people in the audience, and no doubt, millions more on TV..  Just as rock-n-roll fans, the audience was in the palm of the performer, Benny Hinn.  Hinn never mentioned the word “sin,” never mentioned the word “Saviour,” but just kept talking about how wonderful Jesus is.  This is one of Satan’s greatest deceptions.  We read in Acts16:16-18, “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.  And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.“  Just as the demon possessed woman in Acts 16:17 who spoke the truth while also serving the Devil, so does Benny Hinn speak of Jesus Christ while serving the Devil.

Hinn’s money comes mostly from people in TV land, who are foolishly conned by what they see on TV.  It couldn’t be more obvious that Benny Hinn has hired a top-notch group of manipulators to work with him.  One of the camera tricks which Hinn employs is to zoom in on certain audience members who look like they’re having a religious experience.  Seeing someone having such an uplifting experience, while hearing the emotion-producing music, and listening to Hinn ramble on with religious lingo, easily mesmerizes the viewer.  As I watched Benny Hinn, he told the audience to get ready to receive the power of the Holy Spirit.  Next, hundreds of people towards the front, dressed differently than the people in the back, all fell backwards to the floor.  It was apparent to me that the event was staged.  Then came the alleged healings.  During the healing period of the crusade, several dynamic, sharp-looking, and trained people bring forth the alleged recipients of Hinn’s healing power.  To no surprise, as is COMMON to self-proclaimed faith-healers like Oral Roberts, ALL of the healings are unable to be substantiated.  A small boy was brought up on stage, allegedly deaf in one ear since birth, but now able to hear.  Another woman in a wheel-chair was wheeled up to the platform, allegedly crippled from diabetes, then she walked on stage.  Another man was claimed to have been deaf in both ears from birth, but now was healed.  Then Hinn prompted the man to speak in an attempt to confirm the healing, and he did speak.  So when did the man learn to speak if he was deaf his whole life?

I’d like to see someone with no legs receive their legs back.  Why doesn’t Benny Hinn ever go into a hospital and empty it out of all it’s sick patients?  Why only on stage, behind the camera, while asking for money?

Benny Hinn ministries took in over $100,000,000 last year alone.  Again, I ask, why doesn’t Hinn ever use his alleged power to heal the sick people in hospitals?  The reason is abundantly clear … Hinn is a fraud.  Hinn, like John Edward, Sylvia Browne, Oprah Winfrey, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, and so many other false prophets, EXPLOITS Christianity and God’s Word to gain wealth, prosperity, control, influence, and popularity.  God’s power is not for sale.  Do you really think God would allow anyone to exploit his power on stage, for money, and to a false prophet who praises the cult of Catholicism?  Satan is working relentlessly through today’s false prophets to UNITE Christianity with false religion, which is APOSTASY!  When Constantine declared Christianity as the official religion of Roman in 380 A.D., it led to total apostasy, and the beginning of the formal Roman Catholic cult.  Don’t be deceived, Benny Hinn and Billy Graham are false prophets who are leading ecumenical churches into the New World Order (the beast system of antichrist).  Satan knows that the easiest way to deceive people is to obscure and blur the truth of God’s Word.  This is why we see so many watered-down Bibles nowadays.  This is why we see Protestants praising Catholics, and Catholics protecting homosexual priests, and homosexuals twisting the Bible around to claim that Sodom and Gomorrah’s sin was only a lack of hospitality.  The Word of God is under attack!

The Bible teaches that the gift of healing ended with the Apostles.  The sign gifts were only to validate the message of the Apostles.  This is evidenced by the Biblical fact that the Apostle Paul, who had once been healed of a deadly snake bite, couldn’t find relief for his thorn in the flesh later in 2nd Corinthians 12:7.  2nd Timothy 4:20 also states that Paul couldn’t heal his friend Trophimus,

“…but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.”

Paul spoke of Timothy’s “often infirmities” in 1st Timothy 5:23, but he couldn’t heal his friend Timothy either.  Clearly, the “gift” of healing had ceased.  If you want to read an excellent in-depth Biblical examination of tongues, healing, and gifts, then please read FACE TO FACE WITH TONGUES by Pastor Max D. Younce.

In Benny Hinn’s crusades, he sings, he praises the name of Jesus, he places his hands on people and they fall to the ground; BUT, it is not of the Holy Spirit.  I’d like to see Benny Hinn cry one time.  I’d like to hear Benny Hinn expose the demonic Catholic religion.  Benny Hinn is a fraud!  According to a Dateline investigation in December of 2002…

Where does world-famous televangelist’s money go?

Benny Hinn has millions of believers and millions in donations

NBC News

Dec. 27, 2002 - Maybe you spotted him while you were channel surfing one night
or maybe you were already tuned in. Either way, he's hard to ignore. Benny
Hinn - televangelist, faith healer, and appointment viewing for millions of
believers. His popularity and his wealth are matched only by the devotion he
's shown by his followers, many of them desperate for help. Their stories
and his ministry play out almost every night in made-for-TV mini-dramas. But
there are other stories, other scenes that reveal much more about Pastor
Benny, caught on Dateline's hidden cameras. Correspondent Bob McKeown
reports.

   HE ALWAYS ARRIVES onstage when they begin to sing the hymn, "How Great
Thou Art."

    And whether you measure success in his TV ratings, attendance at his
live services or crusades around the world, or the money he raises, he is
unquestionably one of the most popular and successful televangelists in the
world today. His television show is available around the globe. He attracts
capacity crowds at arenas and stadiums at home and abroad. And scenes like
this one in his TV studio are a big reason why:

    Benny Hinn: "Yes Lord. A lower back is being healed. Thank you Lord.
Emphysema is being healed. We rebuke it in Jesus' name. Somebody's legs have
just been healed."

      On television or at his crusades, Benny Hinn promises that wherever
he goes, miraculous healing will follow.

    Benny Hinn: "In the name of Jesus, I rebuke the allergies out of you.
Touch! - The glory of God is in the studio. We are having a visitation in
the studio today as we have been taping these TV programs."

    Those miracles, Hinn says, can cure injury and illness - even
terminal disease.

    Benny Hinn: "The healing may happen instantly, and may happen
gradually but
 surely as God is God, your legs will work again, and your body
will be healed again."

    And according to Benny Hinn, it gets even more miraculous than that.

    Benny Hinn: "On the program today, you are going to see a clip of
this man who was raised from the dead."

    Those dramatic claims - and his dynamic preaching style - have
attracted millions of devoted followers, like Carlotta Moore.

    "When I go to a crusade, I'm going because I need to be refreshed. I
need to be renewed. I need to be revived in my spirit," says Carlotta Moore.

    Moore says she also watches Benny Hinn's TV show everyday.

    "The Bible speaks of spiritual fathers," says Moore. "That is my
spiritual father. He's a
 leader. And he is a mentor."

EVANGELIST AND FUNDRAISER

    And he is a master fund raiser as well, so along with that devotion
comes money - a lot of it. Though pastor Benny denies it, estimates of total
ministry revenue exceed $100 million a year.

    Benny Hinn insists his only mission is to preach the gospel, save
souls, and heal the sick. But is there
 more than that to the man they call
pastor Benny?

    "Dateline" looked at the ministry of pastor Benny Hinn, who claims
miraculous power flows from God through him. We'll take a closer look at all
his healings and at all the money that goes into his collection buckets.

     Hinn was born in the Middle East, raised in Canada, and modeled
himself after a faith healer, the legendary Katherine Kuhlman. Hinn started
a church in Orlando, almost two decades ago. By 1999, he'd left Florida,
building his ministry's administrative headquarters in Dallas and his TV
studio in southern California where he now lives.

    Hinn's claims of miracles have made him immensely popular, but those
healings, combined with his ministry's enormous wealth, have also triggered
scrutiny of a different kind.

      "I say he's in the business of raising money and spreading his own
celebrity," says Ole Anthony, who heads the
 Trinity Foundation - a Christian
watch-dog group that examines the workings of television ministries. The
organization operates on donations, grants, and sales of its magazine and
tapes.

    Ole Anthony himself has been highly critical of television preachers
who don't divulge the details of how they raise and spend their money -
especially Benny Hinn.

    "We've gotten most of the complaints lately from Benny's organization
and Benny's followers," says Anthony. "That became our focus, we've been
following him intently since 1993."

    "Dateline" asked the Trinity Foundation to provide access to, among
other things, documents and videotape it's collected about the Hinn
Ministry. We reimbursed the foundation for its costs.

    And we also went looking for some answers ourselves. For almost two
years, "Dateline" sought permission to videotape Benny Hinn's crusades, to
see how this affluent
 television ministry really works.

    Eventually we were allowed to bring our cameras to a crusade in
Atlanta. But the ministry made it clear we were only permitted to tape the
first hour or so. Then after Hinn's entrance, a few hymns and some saving of
souls, we were told to stop.

VIEW FROM A HIDDEN CAMERA

    So, in order to try to find out what really goes on behind the scenes
of the Benny Hinn Ministry, we attended a number of other crusades and
walked in right though the front door with everybody else. Only this time,
the cameras were hidden.

    At least once a month, somewhere in the U.S., 50,000 or 60,000 people
attend one of Benny Hinn's two-day crusades. Over the past two years, we
followed pastor Benny around the country to Hampton, Virginia; Las Vegas;
Buffalo, and a few cities in between.

    At each of the crusades we attended, the faithful began to arrive
hours before
 the service. And so did we with our hidden cameras.

    But even when you get there early, the best sections are already
taken - reserved for major donors, church VIPs and, at the back, for the
disabled and those in wheelchairs.

    In Buffalo, we found our seats high up in the bleachers and we began
recording the service in the middle of that noisy crowd with a hidden
microphone and camera.

    What brings the faithful out to see Benny Hinn is the healing. The
expectation that sometime tonight they're going to see, or perhaps even be -
one of those people who arrive desperately ill and leave miraculously cured.
 What brings the faithful out to see Benny Hinn is the healing. The
expectation that sometime tonight they're going to see, or perhaps even be -
one of those people who arrive desperately ill and leave miraculously cured.

      The script - Benny Hinn's tried-and-true formula - was always
 the
same. And it always started with the music. There's an orchestra, a heavenly
host of local church choirs, and an all-star cast of Christian headliners.
The crowd's emotional temperature seems to rise, as they anxiously wait for
pastor Benny.

    "It's organized more closely than a political convention," says Ole
Anthony, of the Trinity Foundation.. "There's the repetitive music, there's
the mood lighting, there's this whole arrangement of waiting and waiting and
waiting until he comes on stage. The band is playing, "How Great Thou Art"
and then the process starts."

    Once he arrives onstage, pastor Benny preaches, prays and spiritually
tends his flock.

    Benny Hinn: "If you mean business with God, he means business with
you."

    At a Benny Hinn crusade, you can't
 help but notice the faith of his
followers and how much they appear to believe in him and his healing
message.

    The impression one gets being among that crowd is that whatever's
happening down there on the stage, however it may or may not be
choreographed, these people have come because they truly believe.

    "There's no question that the people that are there have strong
belief or a strong want-to-belief," says Anthony, "and so they respond."

THE TENSION BUILDS

    In fact, all evening, throughout the arena, the tension keeps
building because everyone here knows what's going to happen next.

    Benny Hinn:
 "There's power here, people. Lift your hands and receive
it."

    According to pastor Benny, that "power" will soon lead to miracles:

    Benny Hinn: "By moving those legs that have been crippled for all
those years."

    This is from a highlights tape we bought from the ministry's Web
site.

    Benny Hinn: "You're tired of all the pills you've taken, and all the
needles they put in your body and all the pain you felt. Well, I'm here to
tell you, you will be healed tonight!"

      After the preaching, there's the passing of the collection buckets.
And then comes the moment when Benny Hinn makes his
 much-anticipated
announcement - God is speaking to him, he says, revealing a multitude of
miracles, actual healings now taking place throughout the arena, some of
them very specific.

    Benny Hinn: "There is a young man named George. George has HIV. But
my brother George, the holy ghost is burning it out of your body!"

    At all of the evening crusades we attended, it was about 10 p.m. when
Hinn announced God was speaking to him.

    Benny Hinn: "Another arthritis has been healed."

    Benny Hinn's ministry says that in order to verify the miraculous
healings that have taken place, it screens those who claim they've been
healed before they get up on stage.

    First, Hinn staff members talk to the people who get in line. This
screener is even a
 doctor and he evidently thinks this woman is a good
candidate to announce her healing up on the platform with pastor Benny.

    Doctor: "No pain? Great job. You couldn't do that before? (As she
moves her head around.) That is neat. Yeah, take her up there."

    The people selected by the screeners are then introduced to Benny
Hinn and the capacity crowd. Those who've been healed, and others who attend
each service, are given a blessing by pastor Benny with his own personal
touch. And whether he blows or flicks or waves his hand, the faithful are
strewn across the floor like bowling pins. So what exactly is at work here?

RELIGION OR HYPNOSIS?

    "They'd fall down," says Michael Cohen. "They'd fall backwards. He'd
blow on them. They'd fall over. And I thought these were actors that came in
and they paid them so much. And they had a string and they pulled them
 down."

    Even some who were skeptics at first soon became believers, like
Michael Cohen.

    "And when I finally went up there, I ended up falling down," says
Cohen. "I closed my eyes but I knew that Benny didn't push me. I knew I wasn't
 pulled or tugged. I knew that was God touching me."

    But Ole Anthony says he thinks it's a phenomenon that has much more
to do with mass hypnosis than religion.

    "And they watch him on television over and over and over for years,"
says Anthony. "And they see it, they expect it, they see other people
upstage are falling over right and left. Sometimes Benny falls over the
place. It's a circus. It's like professional
 wrestling."

    Bob McKeown: "But in fact he's been on the record time and time again
saying he is not a healer."

    Ole Anthony: "Of course."

    Bob McKeown: "It's God who heals."

    Ole Anthony: "Of course."

    Bob McKeown: "He's just the vessel that's been chosen."

    Ole Anthony: "What's the reason that people come to the crusades?
What's the main thing that happens onstage? That's his attraction. He
promotes himself as a healer, as a healing ministry."

    But according to former Hinn insiders, there's a great deal more to
Benny Hinn's crusades than what you see on television - and what we've found
supports that. A woman who worked at crusades said she was instructed to
look particularly for those standing in front of their wheelchairs.

    Benny Hinn: "Look at all the empty wheelchairs here in Las
 Vegas,
people!"

    Empty wheelchairs apparently imply there's been a lot of healing
going on. But for every one of the people declared healed by pastor Benny on
stage and on TV, many more leave the arena still sick or disabled.

    "Desperate people, the really desperate ones, the ones that break
your heart are at the back on the crusade, they won't let them up in the
lines," says Anthony.

    The broadcasts of Benny Hinn's crusade in Buffalo did not include
what our hidden camera captured. This man was escorted from his seat by
security guards after crying out for pastor Benny to touch his apparently
ill son. "I wanted to take my son up there and get prayed. That's all I
wanted," he said.

    So not everyone who wants to get up on stage is allowed to.. But what
happens to those who are called up on the platform to be touched by pastor
Benny? To try to find out, we attended a crusade in
 Las Vegas, and we did
our best to keep track of each and every one of the miracles Benny Hinn
proclaimed. By our count, there were 56 of them in all - many of which ended
up on this videotape we purchased through the ministry.

    This little boy said his damaged vision was cured: "And as soon as
God healed me, I could see better."

    According to one woman, her cancer was gone. Hinn said God told him a
demon had caused the cancer, and he cast it out.

    Benny Hinn: "Go out of her! It's gone!"

    One woman said she had a diseased lung.

    Benny Hinn: "The lord is asking me now to ask him to give you a new
lung."

    According to pastor Benny, she got that new lung, right there on
stage.

    Benny Hinn: "That's why she's coughing... that's why she's coughing."

    And there was this woman, who said she was cured of lung cancer. She
says: "She had cancer in the lungs. She don't have it now!"

HEAVYWEIGHT HEALING

    In his 25 years of healing, there have been thousands of similar
stories from Hinn's followers - none of them more famous than this one. At a
crusade in 1994, Benny Hinn came to the aid of the former heavyweight
champion of the world. Evander Holyfield had lost his boxing license because
a medical test had revealed a serious heart
 ailment.

    Benny Hinn (at a crusade): "The Lord is telling me right now he is
repairing Holyfield's heart completely."

    Reportedly, Holyfield promised Hinn a check for $265,000, and before
long, he got a clean bill of health, and won the world title back.

    But Benny Hinn doesn't only minister to the rich and famous.

    Bob McKeown: "And you needed a miracle."

    Belva Ventura: "Oh, did I."

    Bob McKeown: "You and your son."

    Belva Ventura: "Yes."

      We met Belva Ventura at a crusade in Worcester, Massachusetts. She
and her son had both been diagnosed with cancer. Both had been told it was
terminal. Before long, she and her son were on stage in front of 14,000
people, right next to pastor
 Benny.

    Bob McKeown: "And what did Pastor Hinn say to you?"

    Belva Ventura: "Oh, he hugged us. And he put his arm around me. And
he couldn't believe all the cancer in one family. And he said we're gonna
get this cancer out of this house right now. It's not gonna bother you no
more. And we came home, we were happy. I was healed. I know I was."

    The question is, despite all the claims, how does anyone really know
if Belva Ventura or any of the others was indeed miraculously healed at one
of Benny Hinn's crusades?

    So we asked pastor Benny to help us follow up on some of the people
we saw on his stage. Then we did some following up of our own.

    Bob McKeown: "As far as you know, the ministry has no idea whether
your cancer is still there or not."

    Belva Ventura: "No."

    Bob McKeown: "Whether you're alive or not."

    Belva Ventura: "No. No. they don't."

   Benny Hinn: "But as surely as God is God - your legs will work again,
and your body will be healed again, and your lungs will breathe again, and
your eyes will see again!"

PROOF OF HEALING?

    At all of his live crusades, Benny Hinn proclaims a breath-taking
litany of miraculous healing. Pastor Benny has said that everyone who gets
up on his platform has been checked by a doctor. His ministry also claims
 it
has a follow up process with people afterwards that it describes as
"exhaustive" and "thorough," and that medical information it collects is
reviewed first by a nurse, then by a doctor.

    So we wanted to find out how that process works and which of those
claims of miracles actually can be verified. We thought a good place to
start would be with the ministry itself. Last year, we asked Benny Hinn to
help us confirm the 56 healings we counted at just one of his crusades - the
one in Las Vegas.

      By the time we asked, dozens of those "miracles" had already been
broadcast around the world on his TV show, including the woman who Benny
Hinn said had grown a new lung right there on stage.

    Woman: "Feels like something in there, like someone was reaching in
my heart, in my lung."

    Benny Hinn: "I want you to
 go back to your earthly doctor, have him
give you an X-ray. I want to hear about it. I want a full story."

    But if Hinn knows the full story about who was healed in Las Vegas,
he's not sharing it with us. In a letter from its lawyer, the ministry
refused to provide proof of any of those healings to "Dateline."

    So since the ministry wouldn't give us any information, we did some
checking of our own about Las Vegas, and other reported healings.

    Remember the woman we met in Las Vegas who said she'd been cured of
lung cancer? With our hidden camera, we were able to go back stage to her
follow-up interview.

    Hinn staffer: "Now, what happened tonight that makes you feel God
touched you?"

    She did speak to a Hinn staff member, but it's hard to know how from
this conversation alone he could have known
 whether she was cured of cancer,
or even if she had it in the first place.

    Staffer: "That primary tumor can be one cell."

    She was asked a few questions, but it didn't appear to us that there
was any medical examination.

    Staffer: "Keep trusting God. Follow it up with your physicians. Thank
you so much. The Lord bless you all."

    Unfortunately, there's one thing we were able to determine about this
woman without the ministry's help. She died two and a half months after the
crusade. The cause was lung cancer.

    And then there was Evander Holyfield's heart ailment - which seemed
to disappear after that crusade in 1994 - touted as one of pastor Benny's
greatest healing successes.

    When Holyfield then won his world title back, it seemed a storybook
ending - except for one problem. According to the Nevada Athletic
Commission, two different clinics determined that Holyfield
 had been
misdiagnosed. His doctor had been given incomplete information about his
condition. In other words, there was nothing seriously wrong with Holyfield'
s heart in the first place. But three years later, pastor Benny was still
claiming credit for the champ's miraculous healing.

    On the "Larry King" show with Pastor Benny, he was aksed: "Evander
Holyfield credits you with curing his heart problem, although doctors said
that maybe it was misread in the first place."

    Hinn: "God healed him in one of our crusades, yeah."

    Evander Holyfield had no comment through his lawyer.

STILL DYING OF CANCER

    And remember Belva Ventura, who said Benny Hinn cast out cancer from
her and her son?

      A few weeks after that crusade in Worcester, Massachusetts, Belva's
son died of cancer. When we visited several months later, she said she hadn'
t had a follow-up call from anyone in the Hinn organization.

    Bob McKeown: "As far as you know, the ministry has no idea whether
your cancer is still there or not."

    Belva Ventura: "No."

    Bob McKeown: "Whether you're alive or not."

    Belva Ventura: "No. No. they don't. Otherwise, they would have got
hold of me. Nobody did."

    Her physicians evidently were not convinced of her claims of healing.

    Bob McKeown: "What do your doctors say?"

    Belva Ventura: "They laugh. They look at me and they laugh. They don'
t believe me."

    Belva
 still believed apparently until the end. A month after our
visit, she died. The cause, her doctor told us, was cancer.

    Bob McKeown: "If Benny Hinn, by whatever means, can give people like
that hope, is that not a good thing?"

    Ole Anthony: "Then why don't we just - why doesn't the FDA approve
snake oil? And we could have snake oil salesmen run around offering and
saying, "This little tube of water here, cost you $1,000. And if you take
it, you'll be cured of cancer." It's the same thing except he's doing it in
God's name, which makes it terrible, terrible. He's lying. False hope has to
always be exposed. It must be exposed."

    Benny Hinn says it's possible for someone to be healed at one of his
crusades only to have the illness or injury return later. Here's how he
explains it:

    Benny Hinn: "This is your Day Vegas... My
 Friend, hear this well. The
reason people lose their healing, is because they begin questioning if God
really did it."

    That, says Ole Anthony, only makes matters even worse for those who
are desperately ill.

    "Now they're twice as bad off as they were before because now,
according to Benny, they've done something wrong," says Anthony.

    After repeated requests to verify healings - specifically the 56 we
saw at the crusade in Las Vegas - Benny Hinn's ministry sent us details of
what it said were five irrefutable and medically proven miracles, but none
was from the Las Vegas crusade we were asking about.

    The cases they gave us ranged from a herniated disc, to heart
problems, cancer and Lou Gehrig's disease. When we called them, all five
people insisted they had been healed, but four of them wouldn't or couldn't
provide their medical records, and we could not speak to their
 doctors.

    As for the woman who said she'd been healed of Lou Gehrig's disease,
for which there is no known cure, we did speak to her neurologist, who said
he suspected she didn't have Lou Gehrig's disease in the first place.

    Though the ministry says publicly that the medical information it
collects is reviewed by a nurse and a doctor, in a letter to us from its
lawyer, the ministry acknowledged to us that it is ".... Impossible to
investigate and substantiate each and every one" of the healings proclaimed
at pastor Benny's crusades.

    But with our without absolute proof of the miracles, millions of
followers keep coming to the crusades, and continue to donate millions to
his ministry.

    But now, people who've worked inside the Hinn organization are
raising questions about where some of that money has gone.

Part two: Former insiders question what happened to some of the church
 money

Benny Hinn (at his crusade): "Only those who have been giving to God's work
will be spared."

    The money starts pouring in at Benny Hinn's crusades, thousands of
people filling hundreds of pastor Benny's collection buckets at every
service we attended.

    Chris Hinn: "One side cash, one side checks."

    A 1994 security tape shows Hinn staffers and volunteers counting the
collection money at a crusade.

    For three years in the mid-1990s, Mike Estrella says he was one of
those responsible for counting crusade collections in his capacity as Benny
Hinn's head usher.

    At the time, Estrella says, he was a devoted follower, and
 still
credits pastor Benny with curing his heart condition.

    Bob McKeown: "In cash, what was the biggest night you counted?"

    Mike Estrella: "In cash? Well, one night I counted $420,000."

    Steve Brock: "A dollar a day. Everybody say it with me - a dollar a
day."

    It may sound like they start out small, but the numbers soon get very
big. According to documents provided by the Trinity Foundation, and
published reports - Benny Hinn has more than 100,000 people who promise to
give him a dollar-a-day. If they keep that pledge, that would add up to at
least $3 million a month - $36 million a year.

    The people on this list seemed to be even more generous than that -
it appears some of them pledged or gave more than $100,000 apiece last year.

    Benny Hinn: "The greatest thing you can do for your finances is to
give to the work of God."

    On TV, and at his
 crusades, Hinn promises that not only will God
improve your health, but your financial life as well - perhaps by getting
you out of debt with an unexpected financial windfall. But first, you have
to give money to his ministry. Hinn calls it "sowing the seed."

    Benny Hinn: "Amen. So expect a financial harvest but you have to sow
a seed to see it happen... you may want to call your seed in today. Our 800
number is on the screen."

    Hinn follower Carlotta Moore told us she sows a seed of $12,000 a
year with pastor Benny, and that she expects to be financially rewarded.

    Carlotta Moore: "Because the Bible say [sic] what you sow, you gonna
reap. Now if you sow good things, you
 gonna reap good."

    Bob McKeown: "But might that mean that if you give money, you get
money back?"

    Carlotta Moore: "Oh yes, you will get money back. You will get money
back. Out of the clear blue sky, checks will come from somewhere. You go to
put on a dress or something, or take out a pocketbook up there in the
closet. There is $50 or $60 laying up in there. You'll be like, 'Woah, woah,
woah. Thank you, Lord.' You understand?"

    And the money Benny Hinn's ministry gets is not only in the form of
donations.

    "He sells his books, he sells his tapes, he sells everything, and is
just a money machine, and money pours in," says Ole Anothony. "He's one of
the most successful money raisers in history."

    In recent years, the Hinn ministry's total annual income has
increased dramatically from $50 million in 1997 to the latest estimates -
that the ministry says are inaccurate - of more
 than $100 million a year.
And because the ministry is registered as a church, all that money is
tax-free and Benny Hinn is under no legal obligation to make his finances
public.

    Bob McKeown: "Is there any way to know how much Benny Hinn makes?
Whether he's personally benefiting or not, and where the money goes?"

    Paul Nelson: "There really isn't, and that's why an organization like
ECFA has been formed."

    Paul Nelson is president of ECFA, the Evangelical Council for
Financial Accountability. Billy Graham, Pat Robertson, and the Salvation
Army are among its 1,000-plus members who voluntarily disclose to potential
donors more financial information than the law requires.

    "We believe that most people would like to know that the charities
that they give to are governed responsibly, that they practice disclosure of
their finances and other activities, they willingly answer questions,
 and
that they raise funds with integrity," says Nelson.

    Members release audited financial statements, including the salaries
of their ministers.

    Benny Hinn is not an ECFA member. He wouldn't tell us his annual
salary, but five years ago he acknowledged it was then between $500,000 and
$1 million a year.

    And Hinn won't specify how his ministry's money is spent, except to
say he doesn't personally benefit from any of it.

    Benny Hinn: "Every dollar you give this morning is going to the work
of the Lord."

    What Benny Hinn does tell his followers is that all their donations
are spent on God's work - for example, the expenses of his TV show and
crusades, the salaries of his staff, supporting churches and orphanages
around the world and more importantly.

    Benny Hinn: "So everything you give this morning is going for souls.
Is going for what?"

    The crowd repeats: "Souls."

    And many of his faithful, like Carlotta Moore, say they have no doubt
that's true.

    "We're not giving it to Pastor Benny, we're giving it to the ministry
to do the work the Pastor Benny has been entrusted to do," says Moore.

    But this former Hinn ministry staff member says he has reason to
question pastor Benny's sincerity.

    "And Benny was laughing and joking and saying, 'Hey guys watch how
much money I make tonight,'" says Michael Cohen.

    For years, Michael Cohen and his wife were church members. He also
belonged to Hinn's security detail, traveling the world with
 him. Cohen
recalls an incident after a service at the church where he says pastor Benny
bragged about his financial conquests.

    "Like one little grandmother one time came up and cried, I think she
said, this is my last $5. And we got back in the Green Room and he said,
'Ha, I got her last $5, guys,'" says Cohen.

    The ministry says the incident never happened.

    As for his lifestyle, pastor Hinn has explained that some of the
perks he has enjoyed like custom-made suits and expensive cars have been
paid for by his personal income, including the royalties from his many
books.

    While that may be true and legal, it's only part of the story.
According to the Trinity Foundation, the biggest customer for pastor Benny's
books is pastor Benny's own ministry. Trinity says the Hinn ministry buys
thousands of the books for which Hinn apparently collects the royalties.

    The ministry then
 offers them for sale at crusades and on its Web
site, and gives them away to donors.

    According to Paul Nelson of ECFA, that kind of business deal is too
close for comfort, and wouldn't be allowed if Hinn belonged to his
organization.

    "Our standards prohibit the royalty in that case going to the
individual," says Nelson. "The royalty must go for the benefit of the
ministry."

    The Hinn ministry also spends a great deal on pastor Benny's
lifestyle when he's on the road. These records show hotel suites for well
over a thousand dollars a night and transatlantic flights on the Concorde -
at more than $8,000 round trip. That is, before pastor Benny began flying in
a multi-million-dollar private jet.

    But Hinn contributor Carlotta Moore says that use of money given to
Hinn's church for God's work is just fine with her.

    "I'm pretty sure NBC's man that owns NBC probably got his own
 jet and
multimillion dollars," says Carlotta Moore. "Probably got houses here,
houses there, and this that and the other. And I believe that the preachers
of the gospel, I believe they should live better than even NBC's president."

    But Benny Hinn's followers may not know about how all of their
donations are spent. For example there's Hinn's palatial new home, now being
built for $3.5 million in an exclusive gated community overlooking the
Pacific Ocean.

    The plans call for more than 6,000 square feet - 7 bedrooms, 8
bathrooms and a basement garage with enough space for ten cars. Who's paying
for that? Not pastor Benny. That mansion on the Pacific is considered the
Hinn ministry's church residence or "parsonage," and the ministry is picking
up all the expenses for land, construction, even property taxes.

    The ministry says the house is a good investment, but Paul Nelson of
ECFA says Benny
 Hinn should be concerned about the perception of that house
deal. He says the expenditure of millions of dollars of church money on a
house for it's leader, is almost unprecedented.

    Bob McKeown: "Are you aware among your membership of any church
residence, parsonage, that is worth $3 million?"

    Paul Nelson: "I am not aware of that."

    Bob McKeown: "Not Billy Graham's..."

    Paul Nelson: "I don't believe so. No."

    Bob McKeown: "...residence? Pat Robertson's?"

    Paul Nelson: "I don't believe so."

    However it managed to pay for his house. Benny Hinn's ministry has
apparently had problems finishing other special projects.

    Since February of 2001, the Hinn Web site has been soliciting
donations for a new orphanage to be built in this little town outside Mexico
City saying it would be finished "soon.."

    But when we checked in Mexico, more than a
 year-and-a-half later, we
could find no sign of any construction. But the Hinn web site kept promising
that construction would be finished in, "a few short months."

    That was news to the local official in charge of construction in the
town, who told us the Hinn ministry hadn't even been issued a building
permit yet.

    What we did find, however, was this sign - curiously not in Spanish,
but English - attached to a house the ministry called it's 'temporary
orphanage,' which appeared to be empty. The Hinn Web site continued to
solicit donations.

    And then there was pastor Benny's most ambitious project - his $25
million healing center to be built in Texas.

    Benny Hinn: "And the Lord said to me to build a healing center that
people can come to 24-hours a day, any day of the week to be prayed for and
get
 healed."

    That was Benny Hinn raising funds for the project in 1999, but this
was Benny Hinn on a Christian telethon a year later: "Many of our wonderful
friends have called and said, 'What's with the healing center?' and
basically what the Lord has said to me is to wait for his voice."

    Hinn announced that God had told him to postpone construction, so he
said he was going to spend that money on other things.

    Benny Hinn: "I am putting all the money we have in the ministry to
get out there and preach."

    According to ECFA's Paul Nelson, that kind of unilateral diversion of
funds would simply be unacceptable.

    "They're creating a backlog of funds and they're not really released
to spend those funds on anything else,"
 says Nelson.

    But now apparently, pastor Benny has changed his mind again and says
the money raised for the healing center is being held in special ministry
accounts until the time is right.

    Benny Hinn: "The day will come, I am in no hurry, neither is God. The
day will come I will fulfill that vision."

    Remember Mike Estrella, who was the head usher at Hinn crusades? He
says one night, the ministry's chief executive officer offered him a wad of
cash taken from the collection.

    How much money? Mike Estrella says thousands.

    According to Estrella, the man who took that money from the
collection buckets was pastor Benny's righthand man, CEO Gene Polino.

    "I just push it back," says Estrella. "One day he told me
 these
words, he says 'Mike, if you follow me and listen to me, I guarantee one
thing, you never have to work again.'"

    After that Mike Estrella says, he began to watch Gene Polino more
closely.

    Estrella: "One time, Polino says give me all the hundreds and all the
fifties. And I did that. And many of them went to his pockets."

    Now how does he know that? "Because I saw him doing it," says
Estrella.

    In a telephone interview, Gene Polino, now retired as Hinn's CEO,
denied those claims.

    Gene Polino told "Dateline" he has "no problem" with Mike Estrella,
but that the former head usher sometimes got "confused." But two years ago,
in a deposition given under oath, Benny Hinn's 's brother Christopher, who
worked in a crusade counting room, testified he too saw Gene Polino
regularly stuff $50 and $100 bills into a bag. Christopher Hinn also
testified that the ministry CEO told
 him "...don't worry about it." Hinn and
Estrella both say they don't know if Polino kept the money they described
seeing him take.

    But Gene Polino told us none of it happened, insisting he never took
any money from the collections.

    Bob McKeown: "You categorically deny that?"

    Gene Polino: "Surely."

    Polino was never charged with any crime and the ministry says he did
not engage in any wrongdoing while employed by the church.

    Christopher Hinn and Mike Estrella both say they told Benny Hinn what
they saw, and we wanted to ask him about it. Through his lawyers and
spokesmen, Hinn repeatedly turned down our request for an interview. We
finally approached him outside his hotel after a crusade in Buffalo last
year.

    Bob McKeown: "Pastor Hinn, I'm Bob McKeown from 'Dateline, NBC.'
Could we have a word with you? We would like to arrange an interview. As you
know,
 we've been trying to contact you."

    Benny Hinn: "I'm so tired right now. I'm worn out."

    Bob McKeown: "Well, we would be pleased to do it at any time you'd be
available."

    Benny Hinn: "Alright."

    Bob McKeown: "In the near future. But as you know, we've been trying
to do this for several months now."

    Benny Hinn: "I know, I've been so busy."

    Bob McKeown: "And we haven't had much luck with you."

    Benny Hinn: "No, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey, gentlemen, please."

    Bob
 McKeown: "We seem to be having a bit of a problem with your
security detail here."

    Benny Hinn: "I know, I'm sorry about that."

    We did eventually get a final answer from Benny Hinn to our interview
request - it was still "no."

    Benny Hinn's brother Christopher has left the ministry after a
dispute with his brother, and the church says it has had no further dealings
with him.

    As for those other former Hinn insiders, head usher Mike Estrella and
security man Michael Cohen, they say that when they tried to complain to
pastor Benny about abuses in his organization, they were fired.

    In another letter from its lawyer, the ministry says Mike Estrella's
allegations are "unfounded and
 unsubstantiated," and that he was "... Acting
irresponsibly, maliciously or suffered from some impairment when making the
charges."

    As for Michael Cohen, the ministry says, "he is motivated by a
misguided personal vendetta against pastor Hinn and the church..." and
called him an "...unstable and unreliable source."

    Bob McKeown: "What would he say about you now, and the things you're
saying about him?"

    Michael Cohen: "He may tell people that haven't been around for
years, that I'm a disgruntled employee. The fact is, when I first started
working for him, for two years, I wouldn't even take a paycheck."

    Bob McKeown: "Do you believe that he has healed people? "

    Michael Cohen: "No."

    Bob McKeown: "Or that people are healed because of him?"

    Michael Cohen: "No. I don't. I believe that people have been healed.
It's God's power, it's not Benny's. Benny, in the
 last couple of years,
wields this power around likes it's his power."

    Cohen and Estrella maintain they were true believers, who put their
faith in a man they thought could bring hope and healing to millions.

    "What I saw was a big business rolling millions of dollars every
year, many people getting rich," says Mike Estrella. "And the rich getting
richer, and the poor getting worse."

    But then, there's Carlotta Moore, a pastor herself, who like millions
of others says she still believes in Benny Hinn.

    She says, "Pastor Benny's job is the work that God has called him to
do, to be that mediator, that channel for that anointing that God has placed
on his life, the work that God has called him to do, to carry that work out
here on Earth."

    Benny Hinn (at a crusade): "Stand up, lift your hands, and
 receive
from heaven, in the name of Jesus!"

What more information do you need?
Benny Hinn is a manipulator who EXPLOITS the Gospel and Christianity.

You are a false prophet, a liar, & a misled snake in the grass who has no truth in him. It’s a shame, really. you ought to read my testimony of miracles that occurred in my life when Jesus Christ made Himself known to me, in 11/06/2006. Typically, many pagans lack the courage to view my testimony in it’s entirety, but hopefully, you’re not as cowardly as the rest of your type usually is.

According to you & your pride, Jesus Christ is “fake”. but you just keep telling yerself that, & when you begin to beg Him for yer eternal life at the end of time, yer gonna look back at every single time He tried to send one of us your way to try to get you to see the truth about who He is, & the miracles that He could have performed in your life, but out of all that worldly garbage pride you people so covet, you chose not to. So be it. It’ll be your loss, & you’ll have no one else to blame for your getting tossed into hell, but yourself.

I hope that you will come to your senses, my main man. the test for you at this time is this: Do you have courage? Are you that eager to avoid an eternity writhing in agony in hell? Let us see, if you are brave, or if you are a sorry sucker of Satan. Y would you wanna side with an eternally- condemned deity (Satan) who will do nothing but get inside your head to fuck with yer health, both physically & spiritually? Surely you cannot be that much of a sorry sucker, are you? Or is it that you’re just plain weak? Because anyone who has either heard of an extensive story of miracles that Jesus Christ the King of peace performs in one of our lives, or if one of you have read one of our extensive testimonies of the miracles that He’s done in our lives but refuses to give Him a chance anyway, is nothing more than a sucker, & a coward — PERIOD.

Don’t you know that Satan is nothing more than a permission boy? He’s just some bullshitter & a chicken shit, who every time he hears the name of Jesus Christ, he runs like one. Oh & just so you know my man … we as the born again Christian have power over witches & warlocks. So getting cute with us will only get the fire returned back to you, alrghty then? Hahahaha …

Keep in touch, my main man.

Sincerely,

Andrew Friedman

http://delta-flt1189.xanga.com/703169840/miracles-that-actually-happened-to-me-on-the-night-of-11062006/

DELTA_flt.1189@yahoo.com