Ten former members of the Word of Faith Fellowship church say they have been contacted by U.S. federal and state authorities investigating allegations of abuse, forced labor and visa fraud after a series of Associated Press stories about the North Carolina-based evangelical sect, which has branches in Brazil and Ghana and affiliations in other countries.
In Brazil, the federal police told AP the justice department has asked for a 2012 inquiry to be reopened into complaints that Word of Faith Fellowship’s two churches in the country were illegally sending minors to the United States. The country’s foreign ministry said it was contacting the U.S. consulates in Brazil and U.S. law enforcement agencies for more information, and added that its embassy in Washington, D.C., was trying to reach Brazilians who came to the U.S. via the church.
In February, the AP published its initial story about Word of Faith Fellowship in which 43 former members said congregants were regularly punched and choked in an effort to “purify” sinners by beating out devils. This week, AP revealed how Word of Faith Fellowship took over two congregations in Brazil and created a pipeline of young laborers who say they were brought to the U.S. and forced to work for little or no pay.
Neither church founder Jane Whaley nor the pastors at the Word of Faith Fellowship branches in the Brazilian cities of Sao Joaquim de Bicas and Franco da Rocha responded to repeated requests for comment.
The latest AP stories quoted 16 Brazilians who said they were brought to the U.S. on tourist and student visas and forced to work at the church’s rural compound in Spindale, North Carolina, or at businesses owned by senior church leaders – a violation of the visas’ stipulations.