The Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in America and the world, along with the Atlanta Dream Center and multiple related organizations whose mission includes fighting human trafficking, have been accused in a federal lawsuit of trafficking hundreds of young adults seeking to become missionaries and pastors.
“This case reveals a sophisticated human trafficking and forced labor operation disguised as a religious ministry. Young, vulnerable individuals, including the Plaintiff, were recruited nationwide with promises of missionary training, only to be systematically isolated, manipulated, and coerced into providing unpaid labor at sporting events, conventions, and corporate gatherings across the country,” the 86-page lawsuit filed last Monday in a federal court in Georgia and reviewed by The Christian Post, alleges.
In addition to the AOG and the Atlanta Dream Center, the lawsuit also names as defendants: the Atlanta Dream Center Church, Inc., and related operations the Atlanta School of Ministry, Frontline Response International, Inc., Assemblies of God, Georgia District Council Assemblies of God, Inc., MC Foundation, Inc. doing business as Mission Movement Corps., and John Does 1-50. They are collectively called the ADC Defendants in the lawsuit.
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The plaintiff in the case is listed as Jane Doe K.D., who alleges that, among other things, she was sexually assaulted by Atlanta School of Ministry founder and former AOG minister Daniel “Dan” Palmer. She asserts that from 2014-2015, while attending the Atlanta School of Ministry, Palmer subjected her and other victims to systematic abuse and trafficking under the guise of the school he founded in 2013. The school operates under the umbrella of the Atlanta Dream Center, which is a part of the AOG-supported Dream Center network.
The Dream Center began in 1994 as a home missions project of the Southern California District of the Assemblies of God and claims to transform lives through Christ by “addressing needs such as homelessness, hunger, poverty, addiction, education, and human trafficking,” according to the organization’s website.
It is alleged that although both the Georgia District and AOG knew or should have known of Palmer’s abuses years earlier and should have terminated his ability to lead and operate an AOG-affiliated organization, his ministerial credentials were not revoked until 2021.
The decision followed “nearly two decades during which Daniel Palmer and the ADC Defendants neglected, abused, trafficked, and exploited hundreds of young adults for financial gain,” the lawsuit alleges.
Asked about the allegations in the lawsuit, the Assemblies of God deferred to a response from the Georgia District Council Assemblies of God.
“We are aware of the lawsuit that has been filed and want to express our deep concern over the allegations being brought forward. While we are limited in what we can say due to the ongoing legal process, we want to be clear that we take these matters very seriously,” District Superintendent John Dougherty said in a statement to CP. “We are praying for everyone impacted and are trusting that healing and peace will come.”
The lawsuit alleges that certain representatives of the school and church targeted devout Pentecostal teenagers and young adults from impoverished areas around the country who had dreams of becoming missionaries and pastors. They were promised free housing, food and academic training in exchange for doing volunteer work “spreading the gospel at corporate and sporting events.”
“Upon arrival, the students soon learned the promises were inaccurate and misleading. Students were subjected to abhorrent living conditions, including being crammed into overcrowded rooms and forced to sleep on cold floors or in vans in dangerous, crime-ridden areas of Atlanta and other major cities,” the lawsuit claims.
“They were forced to perform chores at the church for 12 to 14 hours a day, typically six days a week, with minimal time scheduled for their promised ministerial education. The food the school and church provided was often expired, moldy, or infested with maggots,” it adds.
The complaint alleges that basic healthcare was “non-existent” while “injuries were woefully neglected.”
“Any concerns or questions as to the conditions were immediately dismissed by the school and church as questioning God’s will, labeling the Plaintiff and other students as ungrateful,” the complaint alleges. “Plaintiff and other students were exhausted, malnourished, and emotionally distressed and had no outlet to raise concern or opportunity for corrective measures.”
Without naming the company, the lawsuit said the plaintiff and other ministry students were forced to work as “volunteer” waiters, bartenders and concession attendants “for a major restaurant conglomerate” in a scheme that generates “billions in annual revenue.”
“Despite this immense wealth, they refused to pay the trafficking victims for their extensive labor or to offer them habitable living conditions or food while Plaintiff and others worked their events,” the lawsuit alleges.
“Instead, the restaurant entities made tax deductible ‘donations’ to various 501(c)(3) pass-through entities created by the church defendants, deriving dual financial benefits from both drastically reduced labor costs and substantial tax advantages.”
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