“They kept us as slaves”: AP reveals claims against church

washingtion post ^ | July 24, 2017 | Mitch Weiss, Holbrook Mohr and Peter Prengaman | AP

[Morgana]

SPINDALE, N.C. — 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.

[Morgana]

This bunch Word of Faith Fellowship which was founded by Jane Whaley has had troubles in the past. Not surprised in the least they did this.

[Morgana]

Not sure if this bunch falls under the “megachruch” but they are a mega cult with branches in several countries.

[fwdude]

‘Word of Faith’ says it all. THAT is what they worship.

[GOPJ]

They needed labor and we were cheap labor — hell, free labor,” Oliveira said.

No, more like 'slave labor'... and slave labor is against the law.

[Tax-chick]

Under Jane Whaley’s leadership, Word of Faith Fellowship grew from a handful of followers to about 750 congregants in North Carolina and a total of nearly 2,000 members in its churches in Brazil and Ghana and its affiliations in Sweden, Scotland and other countries.

One would get the idea that this is a big church, from the coverage, but those numbers are nothing. We have more congregants at St. Luke's Multipurpose Parochial Facility.

[pharmacopeia]

I can see more small but heavily abusive cults popping up in the void left by the death of mainstream churches. (Several stories come to mind. One about self-labeled Christian reptiloid cult.)

Unfortunately, I don’t really see a way to stop this from happening except for some sort of mass education campaign. And if you need that sort of education to avoid it would the education even work?

[Hugin]

Churches are specifically exempted from having to pay minimum wage or any wage at all.

[GOPJ]

Go to link to see the requirement for a person to be considered an ‘independent contractor’... I can assure you these quasi slaves were NOT independent contractors.

https://churchexecutive.com/archives/legal-realities-3

"All employers — even churches — must be aware that the DOL takes the default position that all employees are nonexempt. This means they are eligible for minimum wage and overtime pay unless the employer can demonstrate that an exemption outlined by the DOL and the Act applies."

[Gamecock]

Nah, I generally don't ping for cults.