Over the course of two decades, church leaders of the Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina manipulated and abused congregants from Brazil, according to an investigation by the Associated Press. More than a dozen former members report being told to leave their family in Brazil to join the church in N.C. However, after they arrived they say they were forced into hard labor without pay and physically and emotionally abused.
Reports of abuse at Word of Faith Fellowship don’t end with Brazilian congregants. Earlier this year, the AP issued a report featuring the testimony of 43 former members who said people were regularly punched, slammed to the floor and thrown into walls as a way to cast demons out of victims. Authorities have attempted to investigate the church for its practices, but church leaders have reportedly obstructed such efforts.
Guest host Anita Rao talks withHolbrook Mohr, investigative reporter for the AP, about his reporting on the accusations of abuse against the Word of Faith Fellowship.