Prior to starting the race, I knew that encountering human trafficking was very possible. It wasn’t until month 8 in Romania that we began to see the realities of it.
One young girl we met, Florina, shared her story with us. As a child, just under 10 years old, she was kidnapped from her family while visiting in Italy. She was held for a few months, and thankfully right before she was to be sold, police shut down the ring, and she was returned to her family. And just a side note on Florina, she is a remarkable girl. At only 15 years old, she carries quite a story. Caring for her mother until she died of cancer; Florina found herself without a home or family. Right before her mother passed though, Jesus was drawing her. Although she did not grow up in the church, whenever she passed by Living Hope Church and heard the worship music playing, she felt pulled and eventually started attending. It was the pastor of this church that later adopted Florina into his own family. Florina today is a flourishing girl that radiates the life, hope, and peace of Jesus and has ambitions to be in the medical field one day.
Man, I want to see more stories like that. As we have continued on through Asia, the reality of sex trafficing has become more and more blatant. One weekend our host took us on a beach trip to Kampong Som. The first evening, as we walked the busy streets looking for food, it became apparent that there was more going on as we noticed woman sitting outside of bars. Later that evening, part of my team went out again and ended up befriending a woman named Ann who worked as a prostitute. Although her English was limited, they learned that she had 2 daughters and worked to keep her girls in school. They planned to meet again the following evening and this time I felt the pull to go. Now prior to the race, when I thought about ministry within the sex trafficking realm, I felt apprehensive because I don’t know anything about this type of ministry, but I do know that when the Spirit is pulling me to something, to do it. So I went. We also brought Khema, our host’s wife, with us so we could have a translator.
We met Ann outside the bar which she worked. She greeted us with a smile that she obviously wore as a mask. She sat us down at a table and brought over a table game. We started off with small talk, but soon Khema and Ann were deep in coversation in their own language. It was awesome to watch this gift unfold from Khema- to effortlessly relate and befriend other women. We believe that Khema has a gift and calling to disciple younger women, and we love seeing and affirming that gift in her! As my teammate and I sat acrross the table from them, we continually prayed over them. Ann had shared with Khema she didn’t have many friends and they exchanged numbers to keep in contact. Ann also invited us to her home to meet her family the next day. We said our goodbyes for the night and you could see their was a visible shift in Ann.
The following morning, we picked up Ann from the bar. This time she appeared apprehensive to see us, but warmed up as we sat over breakfast and then continued on the 30 minute drive to her house. When we got to her house, she got out of the van and excitedly motioned for us to follow her. We were greeted by her mom, dad, and 2 daughters. It was just a quick visit to say “hi”, and as we were about to leave, we were asked to pray over Ann’s mom. It was relayed to us that she had high blood pressure, but also undiagnosed abdominal issues which you could see her abdomen was visibly swollen. After we prayed over her as a team, my teammate turned to me and asked if I would pray over her again. We prayed again, and I just had the overall sense to continue spending time with her. I held her hand, told her my name, and asked if I could hug her. As I hugged her, I could feel her begin to breakdown crying and we sat there for a while until she let me go. Afterwards, I told her Jesus loved her and she nodded her head as if she understood.
I don’t know all what happened in that moment, but I do believe that she encountered the love of God. Like I said earlier, prior to the race, knowing that we could encounter sex trafficking brought apprehension. But I love so much more watching God do what He does and being a part of it, and I’m looking forward to see how God will move in this upcoming month!
