Episode
Why Were Americans at Word of Faith Paid While Brazilians Doing the Same Work Were Not?
- Published
- May 21, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 935
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://audioboom.com/posts/8905401
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/true-crime-today-daily-true-crime-news-interviews-568948/episodes/why-were-americans-at-word-of-faith-paid-while-brazilians-doing-the-same-work-were-not/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/true-crime-today-daily-true-crime-news-interviews-568948/why-were-americans-at-word-of-faith-paid-while-brazilians-doing-the-same-work-were-not.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
When Andre Oliveira left his Word of Faith Fellowship congregation in Brazil for the mother church in North Carolina, he expected a spiritual experience. According to his account to the Associated Press, what he found instead was forced labor. His passport was confiscated. He was allegedly made to work fifteen hours a day, usually without pay, cleaning warehouses and working at businesses owned by church ministers. Oliveira was one of sixteen Brazilian former members who told the AP they were exploited. The church maintained two affiliated congregations in Brazil that reportedly served as a recruitment pipeline, sending young people to the Spindale compound on tourist and student visas. Many spoke little English on arrival. Passports were allegedly seized. American workers performing the same jobs were compensated. Brazilian workers, according to multiple accounts, were not. Former member Rebeca Melo called it slave labor. Anti-Slavery International noted that using religion to traffic and exploit people follows established patterns of modern slavery. In 2014, three former members reported the allegations directly to an assistant U.S. attorney. A recording captured the conversation. The prosecutor asked whether the Brazilians were beaten. The former members confirmed it. She promised to look into the situation. According to their accounts, she never followed up. Tony Brueski continues a five-part investigation with the international pipeline former members say was built on stolen passports and stolen labor. Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram…