Born to Believe

Church members had faith that God would heal their children. But often faith wasn't enough.

A A A Comments By Eileen Welsome Thursday, Oct 12 2000

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Swan is convinced that if the law is made clear enough, all parents will obey and child deaths will decrease. But members of the First Born Church say they answer to a higher law. "We believe in man's law 100 percent," says one, "except when it interferes with God's law."

Anthony Camera

The Pea Green cemetery holds the graves of many infants.Mike Stern, Montrose County DA, was one of the first to file charges against First Born parents.Mesa County DA Frank Daniels says his mandate is to protect children.Coroner Rob Kurtzman believes the deceased children could have lived with proper medical care.

The Pea Green cemetery holds the graves of many infants.

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"You know, God didn't say he was going to heal everybody. Not everybody is going to get healed. But there are medicines that don't heal, either," says Helen Berger, who lives in a large farmhouse outside Olathe that is surrounded by corn fields and bean fields.

Helen is the grandmother of Ishmael Berger Belebbas, the full-term infant who died at birth. Her face is a study in contrasts: uncanny blue eyes that make her look younger than her years and the gap-toothed smile of a rigorous adherent to the First Born tenets. Although she is sad about losing her grandson, her faith remains unshaken. "The best mommas lose their babies," she says. "They are portrayed as neglectful parents when really, they were awful good parents. It was just their lot in life."

Later, she adds, "Once in a while a child dies. It's not because of anything that could have been done. It was simply their time."