U.S. Ministry Group Arrested for Human Trafficking

Ten members of an Idaho-based mission group called New Life Children’s Refuge (NLCR) were arrested on human trafficking charges last Friday, Jan. 29, for “rescuing” a group of Haitian children.

While it is still unclear whether NLCR’s intentions were good, as they claim, their attempt to remove 33 children from their own country was certainly misguided, at best. The group might, in fact, be “dedicated to rescuing, loving and caring for orphaned, abandoned and impoverished Haitan and Dominican children,” but it also might have been helpful if they checked first to see whether or not those children were actually orphaned.

Details, details.

And rules, rules: made to be broken? Perhaps. Our culture loves a good renegade, especially if beneath his disregard for authority lies a heart of gold. But in the case of poverty-stricken, earthquake-decimated Haiti, where adoptions have been temporarily suspended by the government, following the rules is critical.

Looking at the available facts, it is difficult at this point to figure out if the actions of the NLCR group in question were simply naïve, or certifiably creepy. They scrapped their pre-earthquake mission to buy land for a school, church, and orphanage in the Dominican Republic, and instead flew over to Haiti to gather up a busload of kids and drive them across the border to a supposedly better life. However, at least some of the recovered children had living parents. Additionally, the group does acknowledge their lack of proper documentation and legal right to take the children, but claims they were answering to a higher power, saying, “God is the one who called us to come here and we really just believed it was his purpose.”

Now, I won't claim any sort of authority or expertise on spiritual matters, but here’s the thing, NLCR: If you’re going to go ahead and carry out a mission such as this one, I’m pretty sure that God would want you to have the necessary paperwork.

In the wake of all the fuss over NLCR’s alleged human-trafficking violation, the Haitian government is left to clean up yet another mess, on top of the literal mess of their country’s landscape. Thankfully, many American organizations have assisted in the recovery process in ways that follow protocol and will continue to be truly helpful in that regard. In whatever way this particular situation is resolved, it does send a loud and clear message that in order to be productive, aid and activism should be approached thoughtfully. Which means that next time, NLCR should maybe stay home and host a nice bake sale, donating proceeds to an organization with a bit more … savvy.

Photo credit: DVIDSHUB