Chain Reaction has 2 safe houses in Cambodia & Indonesia
How did you get started ? Why is human trafficking one of your missions ? It wasn ’ t something that we signed up for . We had always been involved in missions , working in different countries from young ages . While working in Cambodia and Indonesia , we just kept confronting this monster . We thought it was someone else ’ s job . At first it was like , let ’ s see how we can help others who run safe houses or are rescuing . We were offering spiritual support as well as prevention talks in villages in Cambodia . So we thought , that ’ s our role . That ’ s all we ’ re going to do until one of the little girls in one of these villages walked right into our hearts . She ended up being our first rescue . When we met her we didn ’ t know that she was actually spending most of the days chained to the front of her home and fed scraps or dog food , and was then abused at night . She also has special needs . Her grandmother , who was her caregiver , had sold this child ’ s mother , as well as the mother ’ s sister . Both of them had died of HIV . We asked if we could have her . She came to our house and was just such a source of joy in spite of her disability and the abuse she had endured . She just put smiles on everybody ’ s faces . She brought laughter and song and dance . We knew there were more like her .
We made it our mission to find the underage victims . We help girls from the age of 5 up to 15 . Some of them were sold by their parents to brothels . The 5 year old was actually sold to a bar to clean and serve beer . They are thriving and becoming wonderful women of purpose , understanding that they have destiny on their lives . They want to now reach out to communities . Sometimes we take them to villages and let them love on the children . So the healing process , which we envision to be something long and drawn out , is such a quick work . There is unconditional love and an atmosphere where they can thrive .
What are some specific ways that you help these young ladies ? We give them medical care and enroll them in private schools so they can get the best education possible . There are caregivers who love and care for them and meet their physical , as well as heart needs . We go through a curriculum of healing with them . Most of all , it is just providing a loving atmosphere .
Do you work with young ladies in Dallas or Texas ? At the moment , no . We seem to have our hands full with our 2 safe houses in Cambodia and Indonesia . My husband and I were living in the region , but now we are here , because of our children . We have 3 children of our own and it was getting really hard . So we go back and forth every other month . Our hope is that there will be such a strong team in all of these places so that we can start to look into how we can serve here .
What are some ways that people can prevent being taken in the U . S . and sold internationally ? Be well-informed . There is a market for international trafficking . For example , the Vietnamese are attracted to Cambodia , because they are more light-skinned . We have come across cases where women from Russia are brought here and have been trafficked , and Koreans have been taken from the United States to Mexico . Within the countries themselves , there ’ s a huge demand for local American girls who are in the countries .
How can people in Dallas and the United States help end human trafficking ? There are opportunities for volunteers to travel with us for those who can afford it .
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