Meet Jamie, the very worst anti-trafficking person…

There is a woman whose name is Jamie Wright and who has a blog called ‘Jamie, the Very Worst Missionary’ which I generally enjoy reading as she is honest and sometimes in-your-face and completely real in terms of addressing different aspects of Jesus-following life… She let me use her Sex Before Marriage posts here [which are phenomenal, by the way] and has now just come back from a trip to Asia where she got to witness some of the human trafficking war [cos it really is a war – more slavery exists today than ever before in human history, a tough statistic to really take in for reals] face-on and she wrote about it here which is a great first post to read if you have the time, and then wrote this follow-up post which is a call to action [and opportunity to do so] which she has allowed me to repost here in the hopes that a few more people will see it. Please read and like and share and do whatever you have to d to get this in front of more eyes, and definitely consider getting involved in some way:

The Big Ask: How can I help fight human trafficking and slavery?

I sat across a table from a man I can tell you almost nothing about.

He’s an undercover investigator working with The Exodus Road, and I was truly impressed by him. I don’t want to get all gushy, so I’ll only say that he was a total effing badass. (Like if Chuck Norris and William Wallace had a baby and the baby grew up and married John Wayne and they had a baby,that baby would be this guy.) So, anyway, he spends time doing surveillance and gathering evidence against pedophiles and traffickers. His nights go to looking for underage sex workers in brothels, taking covert video and detailed notes, he and his teammates carefully follow the trails that lead to the traffickers of children, and assist the government (when needed) in sting operations to bust them.Bad. Ass.

He took us for a drive in a car with dark tinted windows, and it didn’t take long to get to a little karaoke bar on the side of a dirt road surrounded by a high wall, its big metal doors open for business. He and El Chupacabra went in for a bit, then texted Matt and I to join them. We found them at a small table with a bench on each side. A few teenage girls were seated around them, while a pretty girl with braces and chipped nail polish was pouring them drinks. And, there, pressed in against my hulking husband was a girl no bigger than my 13 year old. A tiny delicate thing.

The girl didn’t speak, didn’t smile, scarcely made eye contact, unless prodded by the obviously more seasoned girl next to her. After a little conversation and a few seemingly casual questions, our tour guide learned that she didn’t speak the local language. “Maile” was her name, and she’d only been there for three days.

Now. Everything in me wanted to jump up and scream, “THIS IS TOTALLY A VICTIM OF TRAFFICKING!!! QUICK! LET’S GRAB HER!!!” – But I kept up appearances, as instructed to “just party”. Because that’s what the beginning of rescue looks like — it looks like average, every day dudes going to strip clubs and gay bars and brothels looking for a good time, when, in actuality, they’re super badass mofo’s looking for underage sex workers and victims of trafficking.

As we finished our drinks, a couple of the girls took their leave, disappearing into a back room, but not until she was waved in by an older girl did the little one make her hurried (and clearly relieved) escape. We got up, paying our tab and leaving a tip, and headed for the car. But I watched that hardened investigator linger. He pulled a bill out of his wallet and put it in the pretty girl’s hand, pointing toward the door the other girls left through, he said, “This is for Maile.”, and she nodded understanding.

I was completely undone – but wanting to sound like I, too, was a stone cold badass (and not some shuddering, traumatized suburbanite), I tried to say something aloof and appropriate, like, “So, you’ll go back and investigate that, right?”

“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

First he said something about not jumping to conclusions (the mark of a good investigator). Then he said, “Yes, I’ll go back.” and “It’s hard to walk away when you have an idea of what could happen to them, but you could pull boys and girls out of brothels all day long and there will be 10 more to take their place.” And then he talked about the importance of getting to the root of the problem and the need to prosecute the pedophiles who create the demand for children and the traffickers who supply them.

Ugh! For real, I wanted to stand and clap.

There are millions (MILLIONS, you guys!) of men, women and children around the world, who, are hopelessly enslaved. They’re in dark places; in brothels and bars, brick factories, fishing boats and slums. They live and breath in places the American Church is afraid to go. They’re hidden in the shadows of a world that doesn’t care for them or about them.

But rescue is coming…

I was invited to SE Asia by an organization called The Exodus Road, a non-profit coalition that empowers freedom from sex slavery through investigation and rescue. Just “come and see”, they said. “no strings attached.”, they promised. I felt it brave for a group who knows my penchant for harsh scrutiny of overseas NGO’s to invite me in to have a close look around. If I’m being honest, I was prepared to be disappointed. I was expecting “Look at us, we’re the Saviors of South East Asia!”. I was expecting a short-sighted plan to do irrelevant work led by unqualified people. Because I’m a jerk.

I know, I know. I’m an ass! A cynical, pessimistic, hyper-critical ass.

Which is why I’m pretty excited to say that I fell in love with The Exodus Road and the work they are doing around the world. Smitten. Seriously.

2 investigators and the national
leader of a group home for victims
of sexual abuse (33 boys & 8 girls),
looking over a pedophile’s case.

Over the course of a few days, a few beers, and more than a few bowls of spicy papaya salad, Matt Parker, CEO of The Exodus Road, answered every question El Chupacabra and I could come up with, even the weird, dumb, and awkward ones. The perception I walked away with is one of a young but healthy organization, with a big picture mentality. They honor the local government, and value partnership with sister organizations (including those working in outreach and aftercare) who agree to high standards of practice. Pushing the long-standing but broken Christian model of “good intention” aside, they’ve carefully chosen trained investigators with unique skill sets to do the best work on the ground, contracting men and women with a wide range of ethnic, religious, and professional backgrounds.

It was terrible and wonderful to see and hear about Rescue in SE Asia. I was deeply moved, and I was certain I wanted to help. Having just heard from those specializing in aftercare about the difficulties getting victims rescued in order to help them move forward, I knew this is where I wanted to join the fight.

Now, I know some of you want to tell me that I didn’t need to fly to SE Asia to find sex for sale, pedophiles, ping pong shows, and trafficking. I totally get that. But the U.S. economy doesn’t rely on tourism generated by selling our sons and daughters. Our children’s bodies aren’t counted as part of our Gross Domestic Product. Our government (while super flawed) has the will and the means necessary to investigate, arrest, and prosecute criminals who sell, enslave, or traffic human beings. So, yes, the problem exists in the U.S., but, no, it’s not the same. Regardless, we, the Church, must take both to task—not choosing one as more important than the other, but by realizing that we have the financial and human resources to address both, wisely and fully.

So, this is the part where I ask you to get involved. (Oh c’mon, you knew it was coming.)

My approach will be to invest financially in global rescue, and physically in local anti-trafficking efforts.

Locally, I’m meeting with several organizations who are working in rescue and restoration of victims of sex trafficking in my region. I’ll fill you in as those details emerge, but it wasn’t hard to find interesting groups to consider volunteering with – I just googled it and invited some friends to check it out with me.  I challenge you to do the same.

Globally, I’m pledging $35 a month to sponsor an investigative team in SE Asia, through the Exodus Road.

But my gift, alone, is pretty insignificant — that’s why I’m asking you to join me in the full financial support of an entire investigative team focused in one SE Asian city, notorious for sex crimes against underage boys and girls.

My gift is small, but if 200 people come together at $35 a month each, we can fund a whole damn team! And that’s HUGE. If we pool our resources, we can make a significant contribution that puts pedophiles and traffickers behind bars, rescuing current victims and helping to prevent future victims.

We CAN help. We can empower rescue and prevention. We can RESCUE A CHILD.

To protect the investigators, I can’t publicly name the country or city of the team we will be sponsoring. (Though, I will say, it’s a city I visited on my recent trip and the investigators I met.) So to make this fun, I’m creating a private Facebook Group where up to 200 donors can join me in a safe place to talk about, celebrate, and pray for the work we’re conspiring to fund. The Exodus Road will provide us with covert footage and other super-duper-top-secret info from investigations and arrests as it comes. And we’ll even have an occasional awesome give-away. (The first one will be next week!)

Over 100,000 people will likely see this post, more if you share it *wink wink*, I only need 200 of you to join me, please be one of them! I honestly believe we can make a difference.

To join the team, click here and put “DELTA TEAM – JAMIE” in the comments section, along with the email address you use for Facebook so I can welcome you to the private group.

I wrote this in my notes, sweating in bed after that hard night out with the investigator:

What if a little band of merry men gathered their resources to empower the rescue of trafficked and enslaved women and children? What if we supported and encouraged the men and women on the ground in just one city in SE Asia? What would happen if they had everything they needed to investigate and prosecute those who prey on the weak?…Word would get out if more bad guys went to jail, and traffickers disappeared, and brothel doors closed… What would happen if we came together from all over the world to shine a bright and focused light in the dark? ….Perhaps it would create a ripple of Hope where once there was none, as rumors of escape spread and one child turns to comfort another, whispering with assurance, “Rescue is coming.”

$35 a month (or $5 or $15 or whatever!). Will you join me?  

[You can find this particular post here, but you should probably just make a point of bookmarking Jamie’s blog which is here, because she writes from the heart and more often than not provides some much needed challenge and invitation to live this Jesus-following thing for real]