Lauran Bethell | |
---|---|
Church | American Baptist Churches USA |
Title | The Reverend Doctor |
Lauran Bethell is an American Baptist missionary [1] and human rights advocate residing in Eastern Europe. [2] She is one of the founders of Chiang Mai, Thailand's New Life Center, in which former prostitutes or sex trafficking victims are provided with a Christian-based education aimed at making them literate and employable. [3] She holds the position of Global Consultant with the American Baptist International Ministries. [4] She is currently based in the Netherlands. [5]
Bethell was the only daughter and oldest sibling growing up in San Joaquin Valley. Her father was a Baptist minister. [6]
Bethell attended the University of Redlands. [7] Soon after, she followed her childhood dream of visiting far-away countries and started teaching in Hong Kong in 1978 and a year later, visited Thailand. [7] Inspired by seeing the prostitution district in Thailand, she founded and became the director of New Life Center in Chiang Mai in 1987. [8] [9] By 1995, the New Life Center, under her direction, was aiding approximately 120 women every day, teaching them vocational skills and enabling them to attend night school for literacy. [10] She also worked with local police and families to remove women and children from brothels in Thailand. [6]
In 2001, she began working as an international consultant on human trafficking and human exploitation for the American Baptist Ministries. [5] In 2000, she testified for the United States Committee on Foreign Relations about sex trafficking. [11] In 2003, she again testified about human trafficking at the United States House of Representatives. [12] The next year, in July 2004, Bethell spoke at the pre-conference to the Baptist World Centenary Congress. [13] In 2005, [14] she received the Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Award. [15]
In November 2006, Bethell spoke at an evening gathering in Orlando, Florida in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the American Baptist Churches USA. [16] In March 2009, Bethell spoke at a conference called "STOP Sex Trafficking: A Call to End 21st Century Slavery" at Mercer University. [17]
Bethell's philosophy is that prostituted children can recover from their abuse and said that those who suggest otherwise are "not giving enough credit to the power of the human spirit." [18] Bethell also supports the "Nordic Model" of fighting prostitution. [6]