The Shekinah Glory camp, located in Columbus Junction in Louisa County, was searched by officers on Thursday and Friday (June 12 and 13). This came after a 15-year-old boy from Texas reportedly reached out to authorities and said he didn’t want to be there anymore.
After his call, all 88 children at the camp were taken to meet with child protection officials. They were brought to Wapello Methodist Church, which is about a 15-minute drive east of the camp in the small Iowa town of Wapello, near the Illinois border.
Louisa County Sheriff Brandon Marquardt spoke on Tuesday (June 17), saying that no one had been arrested yet. He also added that law enforcement couldn’t share many details due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
The camp is run by the Kingdom Ministry of Rehabilitation and Recreation, a Christian nonprofit organization. According to their website, the ministry lists David Cung Nuam, Sui Hlawn Sang, and James Hei as their leading ministers.
Victor Bawi, whose father is one of the ministers involved with the camp, has publicly denied any mistreatment of the teenager. He also claimed that the parents of the children removed from the camp still want their kids to return.
“We never harmed that child. We loved him. We bought him like $400 shoes, clothing, everything.” he told KWQC during an interview.
“If they want to investigate, they can investigate. We’re innocent. They’re not going to find anything. We never abused anyone.”
“We hope that the children are well and they can come back. We talked to the children and their parents. They want to come back. They want to send their children back.”
The pastor at Wapello Methodist Church, where the children were brought, later explained that most of them didn’t stay overnight. By Monday, none of the children were at the church anymore, even though around 80 to 88 of them had been there initially.
“The adults and children, we take care of them, we provide food for them. The children we separate from the adults. We separate the boys and girls. We care for them, we provide for them. This summer camp.”