Brazilians funneled as "slaves" by US church, ex-members say

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Mitch Weiss, Holbrook Mohr and Peter Prengaman, Associated Press

Updated 12:33 am, Monday, July 24, 2017


SPINDALE, N.C. (AP) When Andre Oliveira answered the call to leave his Word of Faith Fellowship congregation in Brazil to move to the mother church in North Carolina at the age of 18, his passport and money were confiscated by church leaders for safekeeping, he said he was told.

Trapped in a foreign land, he said he was forced to work 15 hours a day, usually for no pay, first cleaning warehouses for the secretive evangelical church and later toiling at businesses owned by senior ministers. Any deviation from the rules risked the wrath of church leaders, he said, ranging from beatings to shaming from the pulpit.

"They trafficked us up here. They knew what they were doing. They needed labor and we were cheap labor hell, free labor," Oliveira said.

An Associated Press investigation has found that Word of Faith Fellowship used its two church branches in Latin America's largest nation to siphon a steady flow of young laborers who came on tourist and student visas to its 35-acre compound in rural Spindale.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Brazilians-funneled-as-slaves-by-US-church-11328368.php

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Jane Whaley, church founder, blond hair.

[AllyCat]

1. Freaks. I'm tired of religious freaks who hurt people.

[Judi Lynn]

2. I hate their nasty, stinking bogus holier-than-thou acts, too. They are lying monsters. n/t

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

[SergeStorms]

4. All the best......

christian churches are doing it!

Jesus WANTS these people to be slaves for the "Word of Faith Fellowship". I guess that "word of faith" is "personal slave".
These pious pukes should be jailed for this. That old Whaley crone needs to be sent to a special place, like a jail in Brazil. I'm sure she'd fit in with everyone and have a great time. Just about as much fun as these poor people had being her personal slave.

[trusty elf]

5. Sickening

[JI7]

6. fucking scum

[OldRedneck]

7. I suspect this is more common than anyone thinks

Allow me to tell two LONG stories.

Story number one.
When I was stationed in Taiwan -- 1975-77 -- one of my neighbors was a consular officer at the Embassy. Turns out, he actually was an FBI agent under State Department cover, investigating human trafficking. The FBI and Taiwanese authorities had determined that a "Christian" group operating in the US and Taiwan was moving young women from Taiwan to the US under the guise of helping them enroll in US colleges, or, find jobs in the US.

Upon arrival in the US, the young women became essentially slaves -- servants -- in households of "church" leaders or their friends or relatives. The ring was broken up with a few folks going to jail.



Story number two.
I lived in Bristol, TN, 1996 - 2004. NE TN - SW VA is one of the buckles of the Bible Belt. Literally, in Bristol TN-VA there are some intersections with a church on all four corners.

Huge story broke in 1997. A young woman was taken to the local hospital after a suicide attempt in which she drank antifreeze. She was delirious and said to ambulance crew "Don't hit me!! I'll make the coffee right this time." ER doctors were appalled at her condition . . . body covered with old and new scars, etc.

Turns out she had been "adopted" from a church-run orphanage in Indiana by a local preacher and his wife. The young woman had been kept as a household slave for several years during which time she was whipped, beaten, cut and otherwise abused for every little misstep.

"Preacher" Combs and his wife got a lot of jail time -- 179 years total. Their son was convicted of perjury for lying on the stand to protect his parents. When the jury heard medical testimony and show photos of the scars that covered the young woman, that was the end of the Combses.

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132186&page=1

http://www.sullivan-county.com/nf0/combs/

Turns out, the "orphanage" from which this young woman was "adopted" is associated with the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana -- which has its own background -- which raises the question as to how much of this goes on under the guise of "good christians helping poor little children."
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-2013/Let-Us-Prey-Big-Trouble-at-First-Baptist-Church/

[keithbvadu2]

12. We have Christians in America who teach how to beat babies. These must be some lovely people (sarca

We have Christians in America who teach how to beat babies.

These must be some lovely people (sarcasm).

Beating Babies in the Name of Jesus? The Shady World of Right-Wing 'Discipline' Guides

http://www.alternet.org/sto...

They even recommend what type of plumbing tubing to use.

----------------------------

http://www.patheos.com/blog...

This Christian is Selling Child-Beating Sticks (But He Doesn’t Want the Internet to Find Out)

(easily fits in a ...diaper bag).

-------------------------

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2016/08/31/son-had-36-bruises-mom-quoted-bible-defense/88998568/?hootPostID=05bee88b4178c6162714e1226bb770b7

Son had 36 bruises. Mom quoted the Bible as defense.

'Religious freedom' of course

[jpak]

8. Praise the Lard

yup

[obamanut2012]

9. In effing SPINDALE -- anyone else from NC flabbergasted by this?

Not Raleigh, not Greensboro, not Asheville, not Charlotte, not Fayetteville. Not even Hickory or Burlington. SPINDALE.

[HAB911]

10. Just doing God's work

[keithbvadu2]

11. Christian slavery... Selective Bible readings... Suffer the little children... Bible lesson stops

Christian slavery... Selective Bible readings... Suffer the little children... Bible lesson stops

Parts of the Muslim world still have slavery and right wingers have challenged that Christians do not do that.

[dhill926]

13. sick fucks...

[Hieronymus]

14. Using ones' "Christianity" ..

for power or political positions is despicable.

[keithbvadu2]

15. Yep!... Religion and politics use each other for both power and wealth.

Yep!... Religion and politics use each other for both power and wealth.

[TrogL]

16. "Word of Faith" is code for Prosperity Gospel

If it makes you money, it is holy. The more money you have, the holier you are.

Heresy from top to bottom.

[Deuce]

17. These individuals are worst than regular criminals.