June 18th, 2012 by Kristi Stephens

As promised, this past Saturday NP and I joined over 400 other people “walking a mile in her shoes” in Dublin, Ohio!

This is the fourth annual fundraising and awareness event for Gracehaven House – and it is quite a sight to see hundreds of men {women, too, but we’re less interesting! ha!} teetering around on high heels. People stopped shopping and just watched the parade go by!

It wasn’t just to make a spectacle of people in the mall, though. :) Gracehaven did a great job of leveraging the inevitable attention we received to raise awareness about domestic trafficking. Our bright green “walk a mile in her shoes” t-shirts combined with signs placed all throughout the mall made it obvious what this was all about.

As the walk was getting ready to start, Gracehaven founder Jeff Barrows prayed for the walk {no injuries, thank you Lord!} as well as the 50-100 girls who would be trafficked that evening in the Columbus area alone.

50-100 girls enslaved, exploited, brutally raped. Right around us in the immediate area. It’s hard to wrap my mind around it.

The more I learn about trafficking the more it breaks my heart. So many victims grew up in abusive and difficult backgrounds, already feeling desperate, unwanted, unloved.

Sometimes slavery happens where you’d least expect it. A highlight of the “Walk a Mile” event for me personally was meeting Theresa Flores, author of The Slave Across the Street. I’ve heard pieces of Theresa’s story over the past few years through interactions with Women at Risk, International. From the book description:

When Theresa Flores was 15, she was trapped in the horrifying world of sex trafficking while living at home in Detroit with her unsuspecting parents. Now a counselor and social worker, she tells how God healed the wounds of her sexual servitude and offers parents advice, prevention tips, and information on human trafficking in contemporary America.

It was such a privilege to join with Gracehaven this year in this fun event yet sobering and vital effort. I’d encourage you to take a look at this video about Gracehaven (especially if you are from Ohio!) and hear a little more about what is motivating this effort to open Gracehaven House, and to find and free sexually exploited girls in our area.

The reality and prevalence of trafficking is horrifying. But good work is being done. Awareness is being raised. We CAN make a difference!

Ready to learn more about trafficking?

• Gracehaven House {find them on facebook}
• Women at Risk, International {find them on facebook}
• International Justice Mission {find them on facebook}
• World Vision – child trafficking advocacy
• Polaris Project  {find them on facebook}
• Not for Sale Campaign {find them on facebook}

May 29th, 2012 by Kristi Stephens

Last week we spent each day praying for children in the foster care system.

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while also know that I am passionate about making a difference in the issue of human trafficking. The issues are not isolated from one another.

Did you know…

A large percentage of children trafficked into the commercial sex industry in America have backgrounds in foster care. One FBI agent in Florida recently estimated the number at 70%. Some shelter directors I’ve spoken with thinks [sic] eight out of ten trafficked kids come from foster care. – Change.org

Why?

…children in foster care often come from backgrounds of abuse and neglect, and some of them may find sexual or physical abuse has been the norm in their life. Populations of foster children also often overlap with populations of runaway and homeless youth, who because of their lack of resources are vulnerable to street pimps. And in many parts of the country, the foster care system is so broken that kids can slip through the cracks without ever being noticed. When a child with no family, no support, and no place to sleep is offered all those things by a pimp, it often sounds like a dream come true. [emphasis mine] – Change.org

Child abuse, an often very broken foster care system, homelessness, human trafficking, rampant sexual sin of all kinds… the issues stack together and intertwine.

What to do?

It can feel overwhelming. But I think part of the battle against these evils is just to be aware and do something.

On June 16th, my husband NP and I will be “Walking a Mile in Her Shoes” {meaning a mile in high heels – NP might opt for flip-flops, but he’s willing to give my shoes a try!} and raising funds for Gracehaven House, a safe-house outside of Columbus, Ohio for girls who have been victims of sexual exploitation. Gracehaven, a place of hope and healing, will open a shelter this year, which will add an additional 10 beds to the 120 currently available, and will be the only shelter in the Midwest.

Would you consider sponsoring us on the walk? If you would like to contribute, please send me an email at n8skristi@gmail.com with the pledge amount and your phone number for Gracehaven’s administrative purposes. Even a $5 or $10 pledge is so very appreciated.

Be aware and do something. Thank you for your prayers and for joining us on the fight for justice and mercy in this very broken world.

April 12th, 2011 by Kristi Stephens

For the next two weeks, I will be reposting our Redeemed series focusing on the serious issue of human trafficking and the ministry of Women at Risk, International. Gillian Ferwerda of Women at Risk (WAR) wrote these posts for us to open our eyes to the rampant problem of trafficking around the world, and also give us specific ways that we can make a difference! I pray you will join us and be changed through it!

They know who to prey on—traffickers target the weak, the vulnerable, the unprotected, and the alone.  Impoverished women and children, widows, orphans, or street children are easy prey.

Traffickers are known to wait outside of orphanage doors as the girls who graduate from the orphanages may have no family support, no governmental protection, no familiarity with the world outside of the orphanage, and no education or job training. They are eager to live, eager to begin life, and eager for any job. Traffickers are ready with smooth promises of good jobs, modeling tours, an exciting life, etc.

Each hour, 115 more children are forced into prostitution. [1]

Chirawan’s Story
Thailand

Future—it is a word that Chirawan does not take for granted. She won’t dwell on what could have been—she was brought to the orphanage by a kind relative and rescued from all kinds of potential horror stories.

She knows that many girls from Thailand’s northern hills, where she grew up, are sold into sexual slavery. Now, instead of being brought to the city as a slave, she is going with a promising future. A recent graduate from high school, she is excited to be a full time student at the University!

A safe home

In mountainous northern Thailand, 110 girls, ages 4-23, find a home, a shelter from potential exploitation and trafficking.

Something in these girls’ story indicated that they were at risk. In small villages, the news that a father or stepfather is going to sell his daughter travels quickly, and a kind relative or neighbor may bring the girl to the orphanage.

Here, the girls find protection, safety, and knowledge of their loving heavenly Father. This orphanage provides them with education and skills so that they can make a safe living for themselves once they graduate.

Women At Risk, International (WAR, Int’l) partners with this orphanage, helping them to expand their buildings and program. In addition, we sell embroidery made by the children’s families, getting to the root causes of these children’s risks, poverty and devaluing of women, by providing income to the family through women and in conjunction with these girls.

What you can do!

Prayer truly should be our first response—we cannot see, rescue, or protect every child, but our God is omnipotent and omniscient. He sees each tear. He has allowed us the privilege of being his co-workers through prayer.

WAR, Int’l knows the importance of prayer, and asks women to uphold our programs in prayer. We cannot do it without it. For information about our Prayer Circles (read about them here) and on how to pray for WAR, Int’l, please email Gillian at gf (at) warinternational.org or call 616-855-0796.

For you

For those who have entered into a relationship with God through belief in Jesus, we can rest in the fact that Christ has rescued us! His blood is absolutely sufficient to cover all our sins. We are brought to a safe home in his fold. We are secure because of him, and no one can snatch us out of his hands.

We are his, forever (John 10:28-29). We are safe, protected. We are no longer condemned and our hearts can rest at peace (Romans 8:1; 1 John 3:21), because we can do absolutely nothing to add to that. It has all been paid. We are reconciled with God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). No longer are we afraid and assailed by doubts, but He who calms the seas can calm our hearts and minds.

From Kristi: Want to know more about how to find freedom through Jesus Christ? Please email me – I would love to talk with you.

April 8th, 2011 by Kristi Stephens

For the next two weeks, I will be reposting our Redeemed series focusing on the serious issue of human trafficking and the ministry of Women at Risk, International. Gillian Ferwerda of Women at Risk (WAR) wrote these posts for us to open our eyes to the rampant problem of trafficking around the world, and also give us specific ways that we can make a difference! I pray you will join us and be changed through it!

Deng’s Story

Thailand

Deng had lost it all—her business, her husband, everything. She only had her son left—and a deep debt from a failed business.

She was lost, unable to start a new business, with no other recourse. Desperate to care for her young son, she finally found a job in a bar in a large city in Thailand, which quickly spiraled into exploitation.

Life continued to cascade out of control as she lost hope. She despaired of life and prepared to lose even that by her own hand. A timely phone call from a safe house staff, telling her that God loved her, saved her life.

That night, she cried out for help and came to the safe house. There her son and she began the journey of finding acceptance, love, a new job, and a new life.

Causes of trafficking and exploitation

Poverty, unemployment, lack of education, lack of opportunities, and gender inequality all played a part in pushing Deng into exploitation. Traffickers know to prey on the vulnerable, the unprotected, the already at risk. Natural disasters, war, political unrest, economic instability, etc. add to the chaos and catastrophe, escalating risk and susceptibility.  The lack of awareness, dearth of real prosecution and punishment for perpetrators, and a paucity of preventative programs and measures exacerbate the problem. These create a ripe “supply” of people.

On the other side, there is a demand, a market to buy human beings. People become objects, something to be bought and sold for personal pleasure. Children are commodified. It is commercial dehumanization.

Women are caught up in something bigger than they—victims of social, economic, and political problems, and preyed upon by an industry that commercializes people. Women and children are pawns in the hands of evil.

What you can do!

Women At Risk, International (WAR, Int’l) seeks to address all arenas—awareness through the Civilian First Responders program; prevention through scholarships, education, micro-loans, etc.; and rescue and restoration through safe houses, job skill training, and employment. To combat such a large and pervasive evil, we need multiple approaches targeting multiple arenas with the whole woman in mind.

Invest in a woman’s life by purchasing her handmade jewelry, providing a viable alternative income, helping her escape or preventing her from falling into this horror. Visit www.warinternational.org to shop online , find our stores, or get information about hosting a home jewelry party.

For you

Like these women and children, you and I also find ourselves part of a bigger story. Satan wants to keep us as pawns while God liberates us, adopting us as his very children, ambassadors of hope.

He created us with dignity, as individuals created with inherent value and with purpose. While we are still God’s enemies (Romans 5:8), still hurting him and hating him, still doing things in our own way, God took the initiative and sent his Son to die for us (John 3:16).

Like the father of the prodigal son, God is waiting and ready for us to come back to him (Luke 15:11-32)—but better than that, he sent his son to find us and bring us back to him (Luke 19:10). When we return, he is there waiting to clothe us with the garments of salvation (Isaiah 61:10). He longs to bring us to true freedom in him, and in him, we are truly free (2 Corinthians 3:17; John 8:32).

From Kristi: Perhaps you are like Deng.  Perhaps you are desperate and feel there is no way out.  Like the safehouse workers and Deng, He will not force you to come.  He is there, waiting for you to call out to Him for help.  Would you like to know more about finding freedom through Jesus Christ? Please email me – I would love to talk with you.