Swedish CPS overreach against a Christian family

This story is wild.  And it’s every parent’s worst nightmare.

A Romanian family, the Samsons, have been living in Sweden for nearly 10 years.  In 2022, the parents had an argument with their then-11-year-old daughter, who wanted to wear make-up and have a cell phone.  In retaliation for their decision, the daughter went to school and accused her parents of abuse.  The state put both girls into separate foster homes…and although the eldest daughter retracted her claim and the state’s investigation found no evidence of abuse – the girls have not been returned to their parents.

A March 10, 2026, press release from ADF International stated the following:

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled a case brought by Christian parents Daniel and Bianca Samson against Sweden as inadmissible. The parents were seeking justice before the court to regain custody of their daughters, claiming a severe violation of their parental rights. The decision of inadmissibility is final and cannot be appealed. ADF International lawyers are now reviewing the decision together with the parents and assessing possible next steps.

The two eldest daughters of the Samson family were taken by the state in December 2022 after the eldest made a false report at school over her parents’ refusal to give her a phone and allow makeup, prompting allegations of “religious extremism,” even though she promptly retracted. The daughters have been separated from their parents, and each other, since December 2022, even though the state found no evidence of abuse.

“We deeply regret the Court’s decision to reject this case, considering that this family has been torn apart for over three years despite a full investigation that cleared Mr. and Mrs. Samson of any abuse and the fact that the Social Services certified their capacity and fitness for parenting after they successfully completed an official training. Families should be free to live according to their convictions without fear of losing their children to the state,” said Guillermo A. Morales Sancho, Legal Counsel for ADF International.

The European Court of Human Rights deemed the case inadmissible on the grounds of failure to exhaust legal remedies in Sweden, despite the legal team’s assessment that there were no further options for domestic recourse.

Specifically, the Court indicated that it did not consider there to be an apparent violation of the right to respect for private life under the European Convention on Human Rights. It further suggested that questions relating to freedom of religion may be raised before national courts, an option the Samsons may now pursue.

The state has cited the family’s regular attendance at church three times a week to corroborate accusations of “religious extremism,” despite the fact that this simply reflects their religious beliefs and is a protected action under international human rights law.

The parents can see each daughter once a month, on a supervised visit.  Both girls are being housed in separate foster homes, located far away from each other.  Both have pleaded with the courts to be reunited with each other and their family.  Both have attempted suicide while in foster care.

You can learn more about this family and their case here: https://adfinternational.org/cases/samson-family

Can you imagine being a parent in this situation?  Feelings of helplessness, worry, anger, and fear…coming in waves that are dashed against the rocks of the court’s latest ruling.

Step into the shoes of the daughters.  Everything seems hopeless.  How heavy is the regret?  How scary does the future seem?

It would be easy to be mad at God in this moment.  How could He let this level of blatant injustice happen to a family that is trying to live their lives according to their belief in Him?

Some may even argue that this latest ruling against the family is proof that God doesn’t exist, or if He does, then He doesn’t care.  Why would He allow such pain to persist?

As I processed this story, empathizing with everyone involved, my thoughts landed on the Biblical character of Joseph.  He was unjustly treated by his brothers, sold as a slave, falsely accused of a heinous crime, and wrongfully imprisoned.  Eventually, he was released from prison to serve in Pharaoh’s court…but from the time he was sold into slavery to the time he was released from prison – 13 years had passed.  That’s a lot of suffering.  That’s a lot of days, wondering why God allowed such blatant injustice to impact his life.  That’s a lot of nights, feeling alone and abandoned.  You can read the full story in Genesis 37-41.

Later, when a severe famine struck the entire region, Joseph’s family came to him for help (even though they didn’t recognize him).  The suffering that had God allowed over those 13 years had become the path that brought Joseph to the position where he could save his family from starvation.  Years later, looking back on the events of his life, Joseph said this to his brothers:

Genesis 50:20
You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result

I am hopeful that the Samson family will find a legal way to reunification.  We can and should pray that God makes a way as soon as possible.  However, if God does not answer our prayers in the way we think their path should go…we can pray that one day, all members of the family will say the same thing Joseph did.

Trusting God isn’t always easy.  But His track record shows that it is our best option.  Even if there is pain, suffering, injustice, and heartache along the way.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

An unusual God-planned meeting

Not to get all mystical on you, but have you ever felt like God was prompting you to do something or say something to someone? 

Maybe it was obvious, to help someone right in front of you.  Perhaps it was just to be somewhere specific.  Either way, how did you respond?  Did you shrug it off, wondering if you’re a little crazy…or did you actually do it?

Let’s take a look at one time God planned a specific meeting for a specific person…but He needed to get someone else to a specific place in order for it to happen:

Acts 8:26-29
An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip: “Get up and go south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is the desert road.)  So he got up and went.  There was an Ethiopian man, a eunuch and high official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of her entire treasury.  He had come to worship in Jerusalem and was sitting in his chariot on his way home, reading the prophet Isaiah aloud.

The Spirit told Philip, “Go and join that chariot.”

This is now the second time we’ve seen God tell Philip to do something.  The first was just to go to a specific area, with no directions beyond that.  While the second direction was a bit more specific, notice that God didn’t tell Philip what to say or how to say it.  Because he acted in both cases, Philip must have recognized that it was God communicating with him.  Philip had such a close relationship with God that he could recognize these promptings.  However, the person Philip found in the chariot might have surprised him.  Not knowing exactly why God sent him here, Philip offers to help the man.

Acts 8:30-35
When Philip ran up to it, he heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?”  So he invited Philip to come up and sit wit him.  Now the Scripture passage he was reading was this:

He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb is silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will describe his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth.

The eunuch said to Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet saying this about – himself or someone else?”  Philip proceeded to tell him the good news about Jesus, beginning with that Scripture.

The eunuch believed in Jesus for eternal life and had Philip baptize him at the next body of water they came to.  At the end of this account, we read that the Ethiopian eunuch went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:39).  We don’t see this man again in Scripture, so we can only guess at what happened when he got home.  I’m certain he told the story of meeting Philip.  A man in his position and influence would have been able to share his experience with many people and…who knows how far into Ethiopia (or even into Africa) the good news about Jesus was spread!  I look forward to hearing the rest of this story when I get to the other side of eternity.

But going back to the start of our story – meeting the Ethiopian man wasn’t part of Philip’s plan for the day.  Since God had to tell him to go to the desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza, it’s safe to say that location wasn’t on Philip’s agenda.  But God desired to reach out to this one man, and by following God’s promptings, Philip was able to partner with God in doing so.

An Ethiopian official worshiping in Jerusalem was not a typical sight – so there must have been others along the way that influenced him so that he was ready to believe in Jesus for eternal life when Philip presented the gospel.  I’m certain there were many people in the Ethiopian’s story that directly or indirectly fueled his curiosity about the one true God.

I hope your relationship with God is as close as Philip’s, so that you can recognize God’s urging in your life.  Maybe you’ll be the one to share the good news about Jesus with someone else.  Maybe you’ll be one of those who helps prepare them to hear the good news at a later time from someone else.  If you’re not sure if you’d recognize God’s promptings like Philip did, then the best way you can develop that is to spend time with God.  Scripture reading and prayer are the two best ways of getting to know God better, a third great way is to hang out with those that know God better than you do.  It's the same approach to getting to know another person – spend time with them and their friends. 

Get to know God better, and you’ll recognize the Holy Spirit’s promptings to meet others where they are.  Who knows whom you’ll meet and how you’ll be able to partner with God?  Well…God does (and that’s kind of the point).

Keep Pressing,
Ken