Multiple Mission Generation chaplains began receiving threats from the cartel in June 2016 after exposing a sex trafficking operation working in middle schools.
Treats began when volunteer chaplains working in Bolivia started talking to middle school girls. They were being told that girls in the school were being forced to have sex. School officials working for the cartel were using the girl’s ‘school pictures’ to sell them. These girls along with several boys were also being used as ‘mules’ to traffic drugs.
Once authorities were informed, the chaplains notified the parents that their daughters were victims of sex trafficking. They were shocked to discover the parents were angry the police were now involved… It seemed the parents were cooperating with the cartel to traffic their daughters! Ironically, they were the same parents that had opposed the Chaplain Program at the beginning of the school year.
One school official has been jailed and is being held without a bond pending trial. Several others have been indicted. The investigation is still ongoing. Authorities have discovered evidence that other schools in the district were involved as well. Despite the threats, chaplains continue to work in 288 schools in Bolivia trusting God as their protector.
The Department of the Defense of Children and the Department of Sexual Human Rights have applauded Mission Generation’s Chaplain Program. The Bolivian government recognized the Chaplain Program as a solution to the victimization of school age children and is working with the Chaplain Program to expand operations.