-♪ (GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
KELSEY NIELSEN: You guys,
I actually had a dream last night
that we went to the, like, supreme court in Virginia
and were, like, demanding them to investigate Renee.
(LAUGHS)
Oh, my God!
Yes, we do the work online, we call out behavior,
but it needs something beyond that.
We want Renee to be held accountable
in the courts of law.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
KELSEY: You've never seen a White person go to jail
here, right? There's never been.
Maybe this is where, like, the tides turn.
OLIVIA ALASO: If we don't get justice,
who knows someone else is going to come
in the face of Renee and do the same thing.
Renee Bach, wherever you are, you can't stop me
because I am trying to find justice
for the innocent Ugandan children
who were killed.
♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪
-♪ (THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
MISSIONARY 1: Um, it was the clearest
I've ever heard God speak to me in my entire life.
-♪ Let Jesus lead me... ♪ -(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
MISSIONARY 1: I heard His voice, like,
audibly inside my body.
MISSIONARY 2: I just surrendered my life.
The Lord told me, "That's where you're going."
MISSIONARY 3: He really did call me...
MISSIONARY 4: God really put on my heart...
MISSIONARY 5: This is what the Lord has been saying.
We're supposed to go to Africa.
♪ Earth to heaven... ♪
RENEE BACH: My name is Renee Bach.
I came to Uganda for the first time in 2007,
and the Lord just really
grabbed my heart for the people of Uganda.
And I started a nonprofit called Serving His Children.
OLIVIA: It started way back.
These organizations believe that they're heaven-sent.
KELSEY: It's like the God card is pulled out
-whenever you need it... -OLIVIA: Oh, yeah.
KELSEY: ...and you can use it to justify anything.
♪ (THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
-(BIRDS CHIRPING) -♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(CAR ENGINE RUMBLING)
RENEE: When we first came back to the U.S.,
it was kind of this, like, tough transition.
And it was, kind of, hard to have that mental change,
going from, "Oh, we're just here for a visit,"
to, "Oh, we live here now."
For a while, I hid out and hibernated.
Even Zoriah, you know, when I adopted her,
I didn't put anything on social media
to the point where people would contact my family members
and be like, "We know Renee was gonna adopt,
but, like, did it fall through
'cause we haven't seen anything?"
But I didn't feel comfortable, like, posting it.
All right, you got all your stuff, girly?
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
RENEE: I feel, like, Selah lost her entire identity
as a Ugandan citizen.
And I think one of the hardest parts for her is that
we live in a staunchly,
straight-up, White Southern community.
Her whole life, she's just wanted to fit in
and, like, she can't really do that as easily here.
LAURI BACH: I'm doing what I can
to keep Serving His Children functioning.
You know, it costs money to operate
and after No White Saviors came on the scene,
donations dropped about 50 percent.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
(CELL PHONE RINGING)
-LAURI: Hi Emma! -Hey! Hey, how are you?
-LAURI: Good! -Hey, Emma.
How are ya? (CLEARS THROAT)
EMMA GAHIMA:
-LAURI: Yeah -It's hard, right? 'Cause I know
that you're the one there on the ground.
And, as you know, that's like a big issue.
So we're not able to fundraise publicly.
So it's hard to commit to provide
more nutritional services if we don't have the...
the income coming here to send there.
EMMA:
RENEE: Yeah, they'll ruin everyone's crops.
As far as Serving His Children, honestly, I feel like
my legs have really been, like, cut off.
And so, like, the irony is, is that
Kelsey and her band of No White Savior followers
feel like they're saving Uganda
from just unthinkable harm and damage.
But who's serving these kids now?
Like, is it Kelsey?
Like, she hasn't posted about it online,
so I'm pretty sure it's not happening.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PODCAST HOST: Today, we've got Kelsey Nielsen
from No White Saviors.
KELSEY: This case with Renee Bach,
we've done everything in our power with our platform
and with the work that we're doing.
And so, we just ended up meeting with some lawyers in Uganda.
(PHONE RINGING)
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
PRIMAH KWAGALA:
She was not an EMT, not a nurse, not a doctor.
No formal medical training.
PRIMAH:
♪ (INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING ON LAPTOP) ♪
RENEE: In the summer of 2009, Serving His Children
planted itself among the people of Masese, Uganda.
Our goal was to provide hope to families
being torn apart by malnutrition...
PRIMAH:
I feel that I get closest to the kids in our ICU
and the kids who are the sickest.
PRIMAH:
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PRIMAH:
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PRIMAH:
(LAUGHS)
(INSECTS CHIRPING)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
-(VILLAGERS LAUGHING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(PHONE RINGING IN DISTANCE)
PRIMAH:
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PRIMAH:
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING) ♪
(MOUSE CLICKS)
PRIMAH:
(PAGES RUSTLING)
PRIMAH:
Okay, let me just refresh it.
♪ (WHIMSICAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
-PRIMAH: Hi. -Hi, guys!
For people who actually want to support our cause,
spread the message out there.
We use our social media to fundraise
for, you know, the Renee Bach case.
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
OLIVIA: Primah said, being pro bono,
"I will need some resources to go and find these people
that lost their children."
So I said, "Okay. Our platform is still young,
but we can fundraise and, you know, support this case.
Let's go!"
(COMPUTER CHIMING)
We're so grateful for all the legal, um, funds
-that you have donated. -(COMPUTER CHIMES)
KELSEY: And we're so thankful for all the times you've shared.
-♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(MOUSE CLICKING)
OLIVIA: And that's how Primah gets to go to the field
and talk to these families.
-(BIRDS CHIRPING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PRIMAH:
-♪ (GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PRIMAH: (IN ENGLISH)
(CHUCKLES)
PRIMAH:
(IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
-(SIGHS, LAUGHS) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
♪ (SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
KAKAI ANNET:
PRIMAH: (IN ENGLISH)
(CHILDREN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(PRIMAH LAUGHS)
KAKAI:
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(BOTH SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
PRIMAH: (IN ENGLISH)
(IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(CHICKENS CLUCKING)
GIMBO ZUBEDA:
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
GIMBO:
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
ZIRIA NAMUTAMBA:
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
PRIMAH:
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
ZIRIA:
PRIMAH:
PRIMAH: (IN ENGLISH)
-(MOUSE CLICKS) -♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PRIMAH:
-(BIRDS CHIRPING) -♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪
WPI EMPLOYEE:
PRIMAH:
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
OLIVIA: Being here right now...
I feel that we've moved a step to justice.
KELSEY: WPI just filed the case
against Serving His Children and Renee Bach.
-(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
KELSEY: It's a big day.
OLIVIA: Yeah, it's a big day for these families.
It's also a big day for us as the No White Savior team.
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
-♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪ -(WINDCHIMES TINKLING)
-(BIRDS CHIRPING) -(BUZZES)
LAURI: We found out through a donor
that we were being sued.
And, of course, No White Saviors posted pictures
of Olivia standing outside the courthouse
holding their like, "We have a 120-page document
proving that Renee Bach is guilty of all these things,
justice is finally gonna be served."
And I can remember pinching the screen on my iPhone
to try to read what the charges were...
because I didn't know.
♪ (GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LAURI: It was not until two days later
when we finally received a copy of the lawsuit.
At first, it was like shock.
You know, it was like-- There's so many wild,
crazy accusations.
We found it kind of interesting
that the human rights statutes that they cited,
they were really written for war crimes.
When they're talking about torture and inhumane treatment,
it's typically war crimes,
not mothers who took their child to a clinic.
RENEE: I was so disappointed and so broken that someone
would say, "Oh, it's your fault that these children died."
-(BIRDS CHIRPING) -(DOG BARKS IN DISTANCE)
RENEE: I mean, I've not denied
being more involved in the medical side
of Serving His Children than I should have.
But the only reason I did that is to help save someone's life.
I did not...
kill children.
SHANNON BREAM: A Christian missionary
is fighting to clear her name tonight
following accusations by two mothers in Uganda
and a group called No White Saviors.
I have never represented myself as a medical professional
or a health worker of any type.
It's very sad when a missionary
or humanitarian wants to go into a third world,
or a health crisis somewhere like in Uganda
and they come under these attacks
with no way to really defend yourself effectively.
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
DAVID GIBBS: This vehicle really is, kind of,
a rolling litigation and legal help machine.
This case had some significance for a couple of reasons.
Number one, she didn't do anything wrong.
But number two, missionaries are under attack.
If the anti-missionary rhetoric in today's world
reaches the point where anyone
that wants to go into a foreign country
is perceived as somehow colonial or racist,
it might shut down world missions.
The lawsuit in Uganda was a civil case,
so if we lose, nobody's going to jail.
As I read the lawsuit, I felt, like,
this was very much activist litigation.
And these are sad situations.
I mean, these were desperately sick children who had died,
and so there's no question
that, you know, this is a horrific loss.
But there was not the link between Renee's alleged actions
and the death of the children.
And so, I really believe that if we could talk directly
to the mothers, that there would be
some opportunity to see it resolved at mediation.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PRIMAH:
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
DAVID: We pray for this mediation, Lord.
We just pray now that we would properly represent You,
these organizations, Renee,
as her testimony and reputation is literally on trial,
that, uh, they would hear the truth of her heart
this morning in Christ's name.
-Amen. -RENEE'S PARENTS: Amen.
RENEE: So, firstly, I'd like to say
that I'm very sorry for the loss of these two children,
and my heart hurts for their families.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LAURI: Kakai Annet brought her child
to Serving His Children to ask for treatment.
She got a ride in the car with Renee and our staff
as they were making their daily trip out to Kigandalo.
The child was assessed by Constance, our nurse,
and determined that his primary condition
was tuberculosis, not malnutrition,
and they weren't able to admit him.
RENEE: He was never under the care of any
Serving His Children personnel.
And so, I'm not sure how anyone could place blame
on Serving His Children, and certainly me personally.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(IN ENGLISH) On the side of Twalali...
I'm sorry to say that I don't know his mom
or his grandmother,
but I can see in his file
that the staff of Serving His Children,
did everything in their power
to try to save the life of Twalali.
LAURI: Twalali was a child who did pass away
at Serving His Children.
He'd been sick for quite some time
and was in pretty severe condition
when he arrived.
RENEE: I'm confident that he got good care while he was there.
He saw multiple physicians,
but I don't have a lot to comment on it
because I wasn't there and I never saw him.
I was in the United States...
I was doing fundraising, and I actually left the country
the day that Twalali was admitted.
It's possible that Mama Twalali or Jaja Twalali
saw another mzungu there, but it was not me.
Maybe she needs to change her statement.
LAWYER:
KAKAI: (IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
-(SOBS) -♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PRIMAH: (IN ENGLISH)
♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
RENEE: Oh! Are you splashing in the water?
I think just like hearing these two moms
and the emotional hurt that they've gone through...
She's not crying.
...I hope, um, that they felt, like, heard.
You wanna get in here too, Seh?
Because we don't have any, like, ill will towards them
or, you know, like, we are so devastated for your loss
and, like, my heart hurts for you.
But while saying that, like, Serving His Children
and myself are not responsible for those deaths, and I, like,
need you to understand that and hear that.
You ready to go night-night?
And even if they were to say,
"Hey, we just want this small amount of money
and we can make this all go away,"
um, I don't think that we would feel comfortable
agreeing to that.
(CHICKENS CLUCKING)
♪ (SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
KAKAI: (IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PRIMAH: (IN ENGLISH)
♪ (SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JANE AMALI: (IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(WATER BURBLING)
JANE:
DOCTOR: Patricia!
JANE:
PRIMAH: (IN ENGLISH)
JANE: (IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)
PRIMAH: (IN ENGLISH)
-(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS) -PRIMAH:
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)
PRIMAH:
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)
(IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
PRIMAH: (IN ENGLISH)
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)
JANE: (IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)
PRIMAH: (IN ENGLISH)
-♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
We are gonna be doing a push for, like, an update
-for the Renee Bach case. -Yes.
OLIVIA: We want to trust our judicial system,
but it takes a lot of time, and...
we are not lawyers,
-we are activists. -(COMPUTER CHIMES)
OLIVIA: I will not sit here and tell you that
these children died while Renee was praying for them.
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
OLIVIA: She was working on them.
She was not qualified to do this.
-♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
OLIVIA: Our biggest fear is
if we don't create this awareness,
if we don't push these photos out there,
are we going to wake up to the shock of our lives that...
all charges dropped on this woman?
How did an American missionary conduct medical work in Uganda
without any qualifications?
This woman turned the Ugandan children
into bodies to experiment on.
(MOUSE CLICKING)
OLIVIA: This is a woman who is sitting freely
in the United States
after committing such things on our children.
♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
RENEE: We were supposed to go to court on March 12th, 2019,
and court got pushed.
And we, like, kept getting pushed back, pushed back,
and then coronavirus shut everything down in Uganda.
And I felt like, all of a sudden,
my life was, like, on display for everybody.
(KEYBOARD CLACKING)
RENEE: When I go into a store I'm like
really thankful that everyone wears masks. (LAUGHS)
-Hi, how are you? -CASHIER: Good.
RENEE: I think that Kelsey 100 percent believes
that we were just having an experimental lab every day
and just living footloose and fancy free.
Like, no.
For example, that one classic photo
of me, like, putting an IV catheter
into a child's head...
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
RENEE: ...that's like been used to completely crucify me.
There was two nurses and a doctor
present in that room.
And are like, "Hey, this kid needs an IV really bad."
And like, "We've been trying and trying and trying
and cannot put in an IV. Like, can you help us?"
But, you know, never let the truth
get in the way of a good story.
(CHILDREN CRYING)
-(CRICKETS CHIRPING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(CRICKETS CHIRPING) -(DOG BARKS)
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PRIMAH:
(MOUSE CLICKS)
PRIMAH:
No White Saviors has been out here
doing the damn thing since 2018.
You ladies are amazing, thank you so much.
I want to give you, like, a round of applause.
PRIMAH:
♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
WENDY LUBEGA: I'll just call Kelsey. Oh.
-KELSEY: Hello. -OLIVIA: Hi, Kelsey.
KELSEY: How can we strategize on what to do?
Because we're not gonna just give up on this.
There's power in numbers.
♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
KELSEY: And the people who have the power
are the ones that decide
who gets held accountable and who doesn't.
There is the possibility that charges could be brought
against Renee and Serving His Children
in the U.S.
Maybe mobilize organizations within her state
to put pressure on agencies that are responsible
-to bring her to account. -KELSEY: Yeah.
At this point, it would have to be
the FBI office in Lynchburg, Virginia.
OLIVIA: Yeah.
KELSEY: Can we work on a post about that?
-Oh, please! Yes! -Oh, yeah!
(MOUSE CLICKING)
KELSEY: The money has been coming in, which is good,
because the funds to be able to, like, exhume bodies
because that's, honestly,
when you're looking at a criminal investigation,
that's when, like, tangible, like, evidence, like, the bodies
of these children would have to be considered.
I think it's dishonest to communicate that, like,
Renee set out to hurt children.
Don't believe that.
But the continued lying, the continued--
Like, there's just no accountability there.
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
KELSEY: Because she has lost none of her freedom.
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
KELSEY: She's able to live a free life,
she has custody of her children.
Things will not change until people know
there's a consequence.
Okay. Bye, guys!
ROBERT OKOT:
(LAUGHS) Bye, colonizer!
-(CHUCKLES) -OLIVIA: Mm!
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
RENEE: There's a lot of just online threats
about them pursuing legal action here in the U.S.
DAVID: Um, as best we can tell,
they wouldn't have standing really to--
to sue or bring anything forward.
I would say at this point litigation's a pretty low risk.
♪ (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PASTOR: I love what C.S. Lewis says,
"No man knows how bad he is
until he has tried very hard to be good."
Isn't that true?
You know, Kelsey's made some pretty strong statements
about not stopping
until I'm held accountable, and I think in her mind
what that looks like is me going to prison.
Ugandan prison, American prison,
you know, anything will suffice.
PASTOR: I need a God
who can transform me, can give me rest, can give me...
RENEE: I wanna be like, "Renee,
it's just a world of social media."
PASTOR: Sometimes you ever feel beaten down...
RENEE: And then I get another wave
of, like, all these death threats.
And there's a very small grouping of people...
that probably would do something really ridiculous and stupid.
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
(MOUSE CLICKING)
RENEE: Does it hurt? (CHUCKLES)
HAIRDRESSER: Oh, I'm sorry.
RENEE: It would take me four days to put all those braids
in her hair, which is why I don't do it.
SELAH BACH: Yeah, it took like eight hours
and then it only stayed for like a week and a half.
HAIRDRESSER: Mm-hmm. (CHUCKLES)
It's kind of like, "Where to begin?" You know?
(READS PROMPT)
I am currently raising
my children, both of them,
in rural Virginia.
But the reason my 11-year-old Ugandan daughter
spent months and months
crying herself to sleep every night
and asking why she couldn't go back
to her home country
is because she's not safe to go home
because of No White Saviors.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
(SNORTS)
RENEE: It's very clear that it's
not going to be easy to get to court.
(GROANS)
It could be five years, it could be five months.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
RENEE: Like, the weight of the case
and, honestly, it was like the social media component
that really just kind of broke me.
Because you always want to protect your kids.
DAVID: I think a judge could look at your case
and the judge may just dismiss it out.
I mean, the vast majority
of the children that came into the clinic were helped,
and there was, you know, great success.
But No White Saviors, they can't let it go
because you have become the golden goose for them.
If you look at the old Bible proverb,
"When there is no wood, the fire goes out."
And these are parents who have lost their children.
For us to just
prove that they died of other horrific things
isn't really in their interest either.
♪ (MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
RENEE: I wanted so badly to be cleared
as not guilty.
And I wanted a judge to say to me,
and everyone involved in the backing of this case,
like, "No, you are not responsible
for the deaths of these children."
So it was hard, it was hard to say those words,
like, "Okay let's settle."
♪ (MELANCHOLY MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
WPI EMPLOYEE:
PRIMAH:
WPI EMPLOYEE:
PRIMAH:
(IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(IN ENGLISH)
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PRIMAH:
♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
PRODUCER:
WENDY:
Yes!
We might never see Renee held legally responsible
in a way that is gonna satisfy people.
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
RENEE: But the fact that they're closed
and the mothers getting some restitution
is a step in the right direction of accountability.
As well as communicating to the larger
missionary community, "Hey, this is not okay."
WENDY: We talked about a mural.
KELSEY: Oh! It was very simple,
and it was just in black bold font
that said, "Coffee," plus "Books,"
plus "Liberation." That was our idea.
And I think that people would want their Instagram photos
next to that. That's what people are coming here for.
We have played a very important role
in seeing that these mothers get justice.
They were sitting at the same table with Renee,
negotiating.
And we are the power behind that negotiation.
Hello. Layla, how are you?
It's our advocacy, it's our fundraising
causing the change.
At the moment we have 783,000 people
following us around the world.
Sometimes, it's scary.
The more you grow, the more famous you become.
And when you become famous,
people tend to forget the real goal of the work.
♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
KELSEY: Why do you care so much about money?
KELSEY: No. I don't need this money.
KELSEY: Babe, I don't need this money. I need-- Do you think I...
KELSEY: I know the internet doesn't actually care
about evidence, we care about reactions.
And I was part of it! Do you know what sucks?
It's like The Boy Who Cried Wolf
when, um, people ruin accountability culture
with, uh, something this messy.
Because there's real evil people
that need this type of accountability to happen.
OLIVIA: Hello, everyone.
As of now Kelsey is no longer part
of the No White Savior team as she resigned.
This transition process will see No White Saviors
being fully run by a Black team.
Thank you for being part of history
as we break the chains of Whiteness.
(COMPUTER CHIMES)
(MOUSE CLICKS)
-(BIRDS CHIRPING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
♪ (GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
CONSTANCE ALONYO:
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
-DOCTOR: -CONSTANCE: Yeah.
(SIGHS) Gone.
RENEE: These are photos
from the Serving His Children center in Masese.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
RENEE: This is the first time I've seen them in a long time.
It was hard, like, giving up on Serving His Children
and saying, like,
"It wasn't worth fighting for," or something.
Because I do believe that Serving His Children
saved lives for many, many years.
Hundreds and hundreds of them.
And I'm being told that, like, I should be ashamed
of Serving His Children and my life in Uganda.
And, honestly,
you hear these things enough times,
like people saying that you're a murderer
and that you did things to kill kids and, like,
you start to believe them.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
-Whee! -(RENEE CHUCKLES)
(ZORIAH BACH EXCLAIMING)
-You're a silly girl, Zo. -(ZORIAH SCREAMS)
RENEE: At least when Serving His Children
was still operating,
even on the hardest days
where you feel like everyone in the world
thinks that you're this terrible person,
like, I was able to look back and be, like,
"But you know what? Right now,
there are kids that are getting services
that they wouldn't otherwise have
if it weren't for Serving His Children."
And I can't do that now.
And that's tough because I feel like...
I'm also the reason that those services
aren't being carried out.
♪ (PENSIVE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
RENEE: I feel angry, I feel hurt,
I feel betrayed because...
LAURI: This is Renee. Can you wave to Renee?
RENEE: ...I think from childhood,
God gave me the gift
of desiring to serve other people.
But now I'm caused to question, like,
is my desire to help people selfish?
Is it wanting to be a savior?
Or is it genuine and selfless?
And I don't want to believe that these things
are a result of my service to God...
but, like, that's something that I'm still, like,
kind of sorting through.
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
♪ (MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JACKIE KRAMLICH: This experience at Serving His Children
completely dismantled the way that I kind of believed...
Christianity to function.
And I think... because of that...
there's a really deep grieving process that you have
for kind of your faith and your-- you know,
the way you view God.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JACKIE: Because seeing the machine for what it is...
you just really are beside yourself
with how to view the world.
MISSIONARY: I'm gonna pass you a sticker and a card.
JACKIE: I don't like to break this all down to money...
The reason we're there is to spread the gospel.
JACKIE: ...but to achieve spiritual goals,
you need money right?
MISSIONARY: Thank you, guys, thank you!
JACKIE: So, the business of missions
is getting your attention, just like any marketing.
The spiel...
We serve orphans in a very remote part of...
Morocco, Libya, Tunisia...
We will go anywhere that God is sending us,
and we want you to be a part of that.
And exciting stories sell better
than stories that aren't exciting.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUD)
JACKIE: And so I have empathy for Renee...
because she was definitely applauded
for going down that path.
But I will say no matter what the pressures were,
she ultimately continued on with her behavior.
But that's what I think speaks to something so deep,
and is a bit more malicious than I even care
to frequently harp on, is that it would have been
so easy to stop doing this...
and she couldn't do it.
PRODUCER:
(SCOFFS) This is like-- This is a complicated topic because...
you know, kind of aid work and mission work,
and, in fact, every industry
that relies upon the attention of the public
suffers from the same thing.
Media's the same thing,
Missions is the same thing.
♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
JACKIE: That there's a line that's crossed
that, yeah, organizations are now profiting
from how upset you can make people feel,
or how guilty you can make people feel.
That's not to negate all the good things
that also those places do.
So, I think it's complicated. It's not all or nothing.
I think that it's just so important for the donors,
like, to just be aware when they pick the organization,
what's their code of conduct?
What is their ethics and like guidelines?
-(INDISTINCT SHOUTING) -♪ (MUSIC INTENSIFIES) ♪
JACKIE: And that's not to strip away
all the amazing things that people do with aid work.
But I don't think that that puts them,
um, above accountability.
♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
♪ (THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
♪ (THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪