Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Last night, I was at a local church on behalf of Streetlight USA. A Sergeant in the Vice Enforcement Unit who supervises investigations into Human Trafficking and Child Prostitution was speaking, as well as my friend and fellow volunteer Carolyn. She is a survivor of child sex trafficking.
Carolyn speaks to local groups frequently about her experience and the horrible things she went through in her past. She was molested at age 13 by boys in her neighborhood. At age 15 after she had run away from home, she was propositioned for sex by a stranger and found herself surviving on the streets as a prostitute.
Over the years, she was shot, stabbed, and used alcohol and drugs. Ultimately, everything changed for her after a serial killer had killed six women who lived a similar life. Out of the six, she knew four of the women and one of them was her sister.
She found herself at a bus stop one night, crying out to God. “God, I will go wherever you want me to go. I will say whatever you want me to say. I will do whatever you want me to do…for a chance to begin again. Please get me out of this life.” Carolyn believes God answered her grandmother’s prayers on her behalf.
Carolyn is a new creation. She loves God and his word. She is clean and sober and has been on the “straight and narrow” for nine years. She speaks on behalf of Streetlight USA regularly and is a mentor to the resident survivors on the campus (girls ages 11-17). She also mentors recovering drug addicts, prisoners and others who have come out of a life in prostitution. She even teaches a class with the Vice Sergeant to men who have been arrested for soliciting prostitutes in order to educate them about the harm they are doing.
As horrible as the topic of sex trafficking is, I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it is to see someone who has been transformed by God’s grace and is passionately answering his call to help others. I get so discouraged sometimes about this issue – the evil of it is truly mind boggling.
But with God, all things are possible. People like Carolyn, the Vice Sergeant and the people at Streetlight USA are working to save children from this nightmare. Because of Jesus, there is hope. Only Christ can bring hope to such a dark place and one day, he will come back and end this horrific injustice.
In the meantime, please educate yourself, your friends and loved ones, and most importantly, the young people in your life. The average age of entry in child sex trafficking is 13 and they come from all walks of life and are trapped into this world by various means. Visit www.streetlightusa.org. Carolyn says the thing the victims of sex trafficking need most are prayers for their healing and wholeness.
For the children,
Melissa