Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Answering a Silent Cry


Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. There are more slaves today than ever before in history. It may be hard to believe that this heinous crime could ever penetrate our own borders. Yet the reality is that slavery thrives within every town and city in the USA. There are numerous forms of slavery that exist here; the largest of which is Sex Trafficking (ST).  ST is the second largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world; second only to drugs in annual profit. It is reported that sex trafficking is a $32 billion industry; an annual profit greater than Nike, Starbucks, and Google combined. Another hard reality is that the average age of women and children trafficked is 11-13 years of age. The numbers are staggering and they are climbing.  Now is the time to rise up, to take a stand, and make a difference!
The Freeing Captives project is an auxiliary of Freedom Ministries. Its purpose is to fight ST, both domestic and international, on various fronts; also working to bring hope, healing, and restoration to the victims.  I am the founder and director of the Freeing Captives project.  I first learned of ST at the age of 17.  When I heard of young girls being held in cages in the red light districts of India I was overcome by a passionate desire to see these girls rescued and restored.  It drove me to action.  I spent the next six years in research, study, and activism.  Through college I was actively involved in sex trafficking ministry.  After graduating I spent 7 months overseas in five countries; Switzerland, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and India.  I learned more about the global realities of the trade while spending time with survivors (women and children), with children of the night, and with rescuers.  I saw the faces of ST while walking the streets of the red-light districts in Mumbai, Amsterdam, and various Swiss cities.
One scene in particular is burned in my memory forever.  As I walked down the streets of Mumbai’s most notorious red-light district, surrounded by protective staff from a local ministry, I was struck by the reality and gravity of all that was around me.  Walking down the filthy streets, with brothels on either side; becoming ever more aware of the Pimps guarding the doors and eying us as we passed. The heat of July in India was oppressive and the dust in the streets swirled around us as we pressed through the streets.  We were instructed to stay close, move quickly, and not to attract attention by making eye contact with anyone.  Yet as we walked I knew there were women just behind the walls of the brothels; just behind the bars on the windows and curtains on the doors.  They were invisible to us but the reality of what they experience on the other side of the divide is sickening.  Being there was so surreal. Then, in a moment, I was drawn to look up.  And there I saw her and our eyes met.  In that second, two worlds collided, and an image was forever engrained in my mind.  There in the window, a woman; in an upper story of a brothel, peering out at me from behind bars.  I could never explain the look on her face, her demeanor, or the sense behind her eyes; emptiness, pain, and a broken spirit.  It pierced my heart and the image of that young lady became the face of ST for me; a lone girl, a dark room, and a blank gaze from behind bars.
I saw her face but most of the victims are invisible, and yet they are everywhere; they are in our own backyards.  So on my return to the United States I was ready to throw myself into the work of seeing captives set free in the USA and around the world.  I partnered with multiple nonprofit organizations working as advocates for victims of sex trafficking, bringing prevention, rescue, and restoration to survivors in the United States; specifically in Virginia.  I also took all I had learned from years of research, study, travels, and experience and I founded the Freeing Captives Project.  Through partnership with other organizations in the community Freeing Captives works towards prevention and awareness of sex trafficking, towards rescue, restoration, and healing for the survivors; bringing spiritual and physical healing.
In the past year Freeing Captives has presented awareness and prevention training to multiple groups; youth, teachers, students, and churches.   Likewise I have partnered with local organizations; creating teams of hundreds of volunteers, teaching, training, and expanding.  I have been part of coordinating events  designed to bring awareness and to unite organizations, ministries, and communities in combating slavery.  I have been in communication with the FBI, learning of locations where ST is thriving locally, doing research, and mapping out these locations for ministry.  And Freeing Captives has established prayer walks in these areas; we are in two cities at present and hope to have more established within the next year.  Yet one of Freeing Captives greatest ministry focuses is prayer.  I believe that prayer is the foundation on which every great revival is built.  And through the fervent, continual prayer of the people of God, the Kingdom of God is established, and captives are set free.  Thus I encourage the Church to get involved and I am on a prayer and restoration team; committed to praying for the women who have been rescued from ST in our area. Another major focus of Freeing Captives is restoration through relationship.  So I do one-on-one spiritual mentoring of young women who have been abused sexually, physically, and emotionally.  I have also recently become involved in a ministry reaching out to women in strip clubs; again focusing on prayer and restoration through relationship.
In all of these things I am really excited about the ministry that has occurred through the Freeing Captives Project in this past year; as well as the relationships and connections formed.  The ministry continues to grow.  Goals for this next year include the continuation and growth of the present ministry operations.  Developing and establishing prayer walks in more cities; research is already underway.  The biggest ministry development in this next year will be the addition of a number of trips oversees.  I am planning on taking at least one trip to South East Asia, maybe two; for 1-2 months.  I will be co-leading a group.  The purpose will be to train the group in sex trafficking ministry; spending time with missionaries and ministries, learning from them, encouraging them, participating in their work, working with survivors, and learning what it takes to do sex trafficking ministry.  The trip will take us to Cambodia and Thailand.  The group of young people will then return to the USA better equipped for ministry, ready and able to teach others, and with the tools they will need to begin sex trafficking ministries in the USA.  I am really excited about this opportunity but it will require greater finical support.
The ministry is growing but Freeing Captives does not have nearly enough money to even support the present operations.  At present I am about $900 a month short of my support goal.  So I want to ask if you would be willing to directly partner with me in the work I am doing to set captives free by becoming a financial partner.  I am in need of partners willing to give monthly; support will help pay for costs of ministry and living.  I am trusting God to raise up ministry partners willing to come along side of God in the work He is doing through me.  So I want to ask that you would prayerfully consider joining me as a financial partner; whether with a monthly gift of $25, $50, $100, $200, or any other amount.  If you have a passion for the work I am doing and if you feel God is leading you to give, then please give as you feel led.  Without God’s provision, your support, and your prayers this ministry would not be possible.  Thank you.
Blessings,
Bethany