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]
References
^Greg Barrett (2008). The Gospel of Father Joe: Revolutions and Revelations in the Slums of Bangkok.
John Wiley & Sons. p. 270.
ISBN978-0470328033.
^Karen Bullock (2008). Leon McBeth; Michael Edward Williams; Walter B. Shurden (eds.). "Baptists and Women and the Turn toward Gender Inclusion". Turning Points in Baptist History: A Festschrift in Honor of Harry Leon McBeth.
Mercer University Press: 210.
ISBN978-0881461350.