Nearly 90 children at a children’s church camp in southeast Iowa were removed by local authorities last week, according to the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities took protective custody of 88 children on June 12-13 who were attending the Shekinah Glory Camp in Columbus Junction, Iowa, the sheriff’s office announced in a press release. Sheriff’s deputies said they and several other agencies acted “based upon information and reports regarding child abuse and endangerment.”

The camp is run by the Kingdom Ministry of Rehabilitation and Recreation, which was founded in 2018 to serve Chin Burmese individuals who are struggling with addiction. The Shekinah Glory Camp was set to run from June 8 to June 29, according to the ministry’s website.

More than 40 Iowa Department of Health and Human Services officers were brought in from across the state for the operation with search warrants, The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette reported. Officers also searched another nearby ministry property in Fredonia.

Leaders of the camp have denied any wrongdoing to several local media outlets. The Roys Report (TRR) called numbers listed for the Kingdom Ministry’s ministers David Nuam and James Hei but could not get a response.  

Police have not made any arrests or filed any charges as of Thursday afternoon, Chief Deputy Ed Parker told TRR via a phone call.

“It’s an ongoing, extensive investigation,” was all Parker said. “It may be handled at state level instead of local.”

Authorities have not provided details about what led them to believe the children were in danger and the ages of the children.

The children were then taken to Wapello Methodist Church in Wapello to meet with multiple child protection workers, according to the press release. Some were reunited with their parents while others were placed in temporary foster care.

State Rep. Taylor Collins, who represents Louisa County, stated to KCCI on Monday that all children involved have been reunited with their families. 

Louisa County Sheriff Brandon Marquardt told The Gazette that the claims of “abuse and endangerment of the children” stemmed from the Department of Human Services of Iowa.

He noted that the children were in good health during the warrant execution. Because of the number of children removed, the investigation has been “overwhelming,” he said.

“Everyone is working as fast as they can — local and state,” Marquardt said. “The magnitude of this is pretty extraordinary.”

Marquardt said the sheriff’s office has received calls about the camp in the past, with callers expressing concerns about intoxicated individuals being near to children. 

Ministry leaders say they have never harmed anyone

Victor Bawi, whose father David Nuam leads the ministry, said to KWQC-TV Ch. 6 that no children were ever in danger or harmed at the camp.

Bawi added that a 15-year-old from Texas called authorities because he didn’t want to be at the camp. An unnamed volunteer echoed this sentiment to The Gazette, stating that the allegations of abuse likely stem from this teenager.

“We never harmed that child. We loved him,” Bawi told KWQC. “We bought him like $400 shoes, clothing, everything.”

Bawi shared with WQAD-TV Ch. 8 that the camp aims to take care of “adults and children who are under the influence of drugs, alcohol, nicotine.” He noted that the people under the camp’s care have signed consent or guardian forms.

“The adults and children, we take care of them, we provide food for them,” Bawi said. “The children we separate from the adults. We separate the boys and girls. We care for them; we provide for them. This summer camp was for people around the state so they can change and stop their addiction.”

He described the camp as a Bible study camp where the kids play games such as volleyball and soccer in their free time.  

Although he confessed to being “upset” about the situation, Bawi said, “Hopefully, this can be resolved soon.”

He added that authorities are not going to find anything wrong at the ministry.

“If they want to investigate, they can investigate. We’re innocent.” Bawi said. “Never abused anyone. You can ask the children as well, they were having fun. During the scene where they took away the children, they were crying. One of my sisters, they had to give her oxygen. She wasn’t breathing. She was sad.”

The Kingdom Ministry’s mission is to help Chin Burmese individuals break free from addiction through “God’s Word, offering food and shelter to those in need, and supporting individuals during fasting and prayer,” according to its website.

The ministry’s website also notes that the organization has rented five mobile homes and housed over 60 people in the area. The ministry said its goal is to build a church and “a house for 100 people” in 2025.

Mixed reactions from the community

Local residents told The Gazette there were shocked by the news. One nearby neighbor described the people who live at the camp as “very pleasant” and “good neighbors.”

Another local community member said he thought the operation could be a “huge misunderstanding.”

Fredonia Mayor R. Samuel Braden told The Gazette that another property owned by minister Nuam has brought “heated” contention at local city meetings. 

“The issue was brought up whether to renew the permit for them to continue operating the rehab facility or not because it had grown to more than twice the size that we had approved,” Braden said. “Nothing was said about the camp, but it was the same individuals involved. There were a lot of questions about them as individuals.”

Braden said the ministry’s mission points to a larger issue in the area. He said the local Burmese population has dealt with repeated discrimination and racism. 

“We have struggled with racism directed at the Burmese and that has clouded a lot of discussion here,” Braden said. “There have been legitimate concerns as well in the issues of supervision and maintenance that (Nuam) may have gotten himself in over his head.”

Raid highlights larger issues

Last week’s raid also highlights gaps in support for the Burmese refugee community, experts told The Des Moines Register.

The Burmese, originally from Myanmar, will often turn to “under-resourced ministries” to meet needs typically handled by local public systems, the publication wrote.

Cristina Ortiz, a cultural anthropologist who lived in Columbus Junction, Iowa for several years, told the Register that the people are just trying to meet their needs in “any way that is possible.”

“And when there are no, or very sparse, existing mental health treatment, addiction treatment options, then people are going to look to non-professional, private opportunities to meet those needs,” she said.

Alex Thawng, president of the Iowa Chin Community, told the Register that he thinks the camp is being misunderstood by officials. He said he has assisted staff at the ministry occasionally.

“All I know is the ministry that they are running is a good deed and a good intention and just to help other people,” Thawng said. “Some of them are alcoholics. They teach them how to control themselves and teach them the Gospel and then pray for them. And they keep them at their property so that they cannot go out themselves to buy alcohol and then drink too much or something.”

Liz Lykins is a correspondent covering religion news for The Roys Report, WORLD Magazine, and other publications.