Tag - human trafficking

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God’s Children are Not for Sale: Gaining Perspective on Sound of Freedom
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Christmas: The Key to Ministering Inside Brothels
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When You Think Selling Yourself Is Your Only Option
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Real-World Slavery — Will You Turn a Blind Eye? [April Prayer Focus]
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Vite Trasformate: Uncovering Lost Treasures
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The Healing Power of Hope
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What is Human Trafficking? A No-Hype, Honest Definition
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Opening Our Doors to Brokenness

God’s Children are Not for Sale: Gaining Perspective on Sound of Freedom

Woman walking in sunlight
The movie Sound of Freedom is a classic story of “good guy defeats bad guy.” In the real world, the story of trafficking is rarely so simple.

In recent weeks, the movie Sound of Freedom has brought awareness of exploitation to audiences around the world. The film has also sparked lively conversations and even controversy, as various voices offer thoughts on the movie’s messages. Regardless of where we land on the movie itself, Sound of Freedom’s widespread exposure opens the door to a greater conversation about the realities of trafficking that are far more complex than can be portrayed in a two-hour film.      TEAM has long been engaged in anti-trafficking initiatives in multiple countries around the world. We reached out to some of TEAM’s global workers and…

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Christmas: The Key to Ministering Inside Brothels

Ministering Inside Brothels
Women across Europe will spend this Christmas season in brothels. But friends like you are giving them hope!

Angelika* is cold. Really cold. She tries to find a spot on the street near the big vans with curtains on the windows. Those clients are regulars, and with any luck, she’ll be able to warm up a bit in the vans when she does what she has to do with the men inside. She misses her home. She doesn’t even speak the language here. But her husband was abusive and then abandoned her and her two small children in this place. Now she is a single mother of two in a strange country — doing work she hates. This…

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When You Think Selling Yourself Is Your Only Option

child bride
At the young age of 13, Sandra became a child bride. After years of abuse, childbirths, abortions and rape, read about how she came to find life in Jesus. Stock photo by TEAM

The bleeding just wouldn’t stop. Sandra was in the middle of her most recent in-home abortion. And this time, she could feel the life draining from her like the blood pooling up around her body. How had it come to this? How had she ended up lying here, dying in her own home? When she thought back to her childhood, Sandra knew the answer to those questions. Sold by Her Own Family Sandra was born in a town on the western border of Chad. Her mother died when she was an infant, so she was raised mostly by her aunt,…

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Real-World Slavery — Will You Turn a Blind Eye? [April Prayer Focus]

human trafficking
Slavery still exists in our world. Will you join us in praying for an end to human trafficking? Photo by TEAM

There are more slaves in the world today than there were during the American Civil War. Eighty percent are women — half are children. Some slaves are trafficked for manual labor, but most are forced into underground sex work. They suffer unspeakable physical and psychological torment. And many don’t come out alive. We believe God’s people must break cycles that keep the vulnerable oppressed. So, we invite you to pray with us this month for human trafficking victims. Pray against the systems that keep them oppressed. And pray for healthy, sustainable solutions that will bring an end to slavery in…

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Vite Trasformate: Uncovering Lost Treasures

TEAM-Italy
In Italy, Ruthi Brucato and Vite Trasformate are seeing lives changed through outreach to women exploited on Bologna's streets. Photo courtesy of Ruthi Brucato

Vite Trasformate reaches out to marginalized and exploited women on the streets of Bologna. They provide holistic support, including a place to stay and the message of the gospel. This story was originally written by Cara Davis and published in Horizons Magazine. Facts have been updated. Ruthi Brucato, a TEAM missionary in Italy, walks the street toward home with her son, Gabriel, 6, and daughter, Elianna, 7. On the corner stands a prostitute. Gabriel points and says, “Mommy, a treasure!” “That’s right, Gabriel,” Brucato says. “She is a treasure.” Ruthi and her husband Mark moved to Italy six years ago to join Nuova Vita (New Life) Church…

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The Healing Power of Hope

Naomi directs children in games that help to build community. Naomi and Anne love and serve not only the vulnerable women but their children as well. Photo by Robert Johnson/TEAM
Naomi directs children in games that help to build community. Naomi and Anne love and serve not only the vulnerable women but their children as well. Photo by Robert Johnson/TEAM

Naomi Duff and TEAM missionary Anne Hoyt are reaching out to women in Chad’s sex industry and helping them realize their true worth as daughters of God. Today, Naomi shares some insight into what they do and how the Vulnerable Women Initiative in Chad is helping these women find hope, healing and purpose through Christ. It’s the third day that Rita is in labor. I rush her from the hospital to a specialized mother and child unit. N’Djamena traffic is at its worst at 7:30 a.m., so we crawl along, but every bump in the road produces a gasp of pain from…

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What is Human Trafficking? A No-Hype, Honest Definition

Human trafficking is best combated through partnerships between governments, nonprofits and trained professionals. Photo by Robert Johnson / TEAM

No two victims of sex trafficking have the same story. But many stories sound a lot like Sarah’s: a big dream and a wrong turn. A nursing student in Africa with six siblings, Sarah wanted to continue her nurse’s training in Europe. Her stepfather told her about a recruiter who would connect her with work at shops in Europe — exactly where, it’s unclear — to help her pay for her studies. The door for her dream opportunity was swinging wide open, or so she thought. Then she found herself locked in a house with ten other girls, the start…

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Opening Our Doors to Brokenness

ministering to the marginalized
In Europe, as in most of the world, street life takes its toll on those who spend their nights working or losing themselves in it. Sometimes the best healing is an open home. Photo by Robert Johnson / TEAM

We asked Rachel Zuch, a TEAM worker in Austria, to share about some of the greatest challenges in ministering to the marginalized members of our communities. This morning, a young man is sitting across the kitchen table from me, sipping his coffee and talking about his dreams and fears. We’ll call him Sam. The first time I saw Sam was four years ago on the street. He was dressed like a woman, selling his body. Born into a Gypsy family in Romania, Sam had never gone to school before he met my husband and me. Soon after that, he made…

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