Deputies raided an Iowa church and removed 88 children from a Bible study camp as part of a massive human trafficking investigation, police said Monday.
According to police and local reports, the children have been taken into protective custody by local agencies after being removed from the Kingdom Ministry of Rehab and Recreation’s Shekinah Glory Camp.
Deputies executing search warrants removed the children over the weekend and transported them to the nearby Wapello Methodist Church to meet with child protection workers, according to KWQC.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services placed the children in temporary foster care until they could be reunited with their parents or guardians, deputies said.
The summer camp was hosted by the Kingdom Ministry of Rehabilitation and Recreation, which was founded in 2018. It ran from June 8 to 29.
According to WQAD8, the family behind the ministry that runs the Columbus Junction camp has denied the allegations.
“What we try to do is, we take care of adults and children who are under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or nicotine,” Victor Bawi, the ministry’s parents, told the outlet.
“We care for and feed the adults and children. We separate the children from the adults. We separate boys and girls. We care for and provide for them.”
Bawi told KWQC that a teen from Texas contacted authorities because he did not want to attend camp.
Bawi stated that no children were ever in danger or harmed.
“We have never harmed that child. “We loved him,” he stated. We spent about $400 on his shoes, clothing, and everything else.
The camp attracts Christian teenagers from all over the country, he explained.
Bawi told WQAD8 that when the kids are not studying the Bible, they enjoy playing volleyball, soccer, and other outdoor activities.
Deputies executed search warrants in several locations, including Columbus Junction, where the camp was taking place, and Fredonia, less than two miles away, where the church helps people find housing.
According to WQAD8, the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office coordinated the operation with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Columbus Junction Police Department. The investigation is ongoing.
Two Burmese pastors run the church. They are members of the Chin ethnic minority, according to an Iowa cultural organisation. Iowa has resettled thousands of refugees fleeing the world’s longest civil war.
Iowa has one of the largest Burmese populations in the Midwest, and Columbus Junction had a large number of them. Many of the refugees are poor and work at Tyson’s Food Inc.’s meat packing plant, which has on-site translators. The plant is responsible for 2% of the hogs slaughtered each year in the country.
Burma, also known as Myanmar, was added to the controversial list of countries banned from entering the United States by the State Department on June 16.
