Where do I start?

In April of 2010, PW Gopal performed at our church (The Oaks Community Church in Middletown OH). The primary purpose of the event was to help raise awareness of Human Trafficking..

We were partially aware of the issue because our daughter had been telling us about it. She did her high school senior exit project on Human Trafficking. Her teacher was initially reluctant, challenging her that she would not be able to find 5 sites on the subject. Emily loves a challenge, and succeeded in convincing her teacher to let her proceed.

PW spoke about a modern day "underground railroad". That idea resonates with me. One nice contrast of the current underground railroad is that we are not on the opposite side of the law. He also talked about creating "points of exit", which he referred to as The Hundred Movement. A major problem today is that if a victim is pulled from trafficking, they don't have a place to put them.

Over the next few months, we tried to learn more by reading web sites and books, watching videos, attending events, and anything else we could do. I don't have a list of all the sites, but here are some that were helpful.

• Shared Hope International - They have been one of the best for learning about human trafficking. They are doing great work.
• The Hope House - While many homes are struggling to open, this one is caring for girls right now.
• Shared Hope story about home in NC Great story about The Hope House.
• Chapter 61 Ministries - to see [victims] ... healed, empowered and becoming who God made them to be
  Click the video on their main page to hear the story of two girls from Toledo, and the trucker that made a difference.
• Rahab's Hope - Ministry dedicated to showing the love of Jesus to girls in the sex industry.
• SCTNow (Read their 'About us' page)
  SCTNow has launched a national campaign to raise money for retired elite military operatives targeting the demand side of trafficking...
• Polaris Project - For a World Without Slavery

In May, Tammy and I had a 5ish hour car trip on our way back from a quick weekend in MI (our 28th Anniversary). We talked about how we could get involved to help these victims. As a guy, my natural inclination is to want to lay hands (or a ball bat) on the people that are hurting these children. I am so thankful to hear about groups like SCTNow. I am glad they are working on the "demand side" of the issue. However, Tammy and I both feel we can be of more use helping these victims.

We figured if we were going to try and start a home, we better meet some people that have done it. PW connected us with Emily Fitchpatrick of On Eagles Wings Ministries in North Carolina. We arranged to meet with her and some of the people working with her. They were extremely gracious and open in talking with us.

I have so much more to say, but I want to focus on the other parts of the site for now. When I get the site live, I will come back and complete this section...

I know I still owe more detail here about our story, but I wanted to post this update to let people know that we were able to raise the money to get the Wii for the girls! It is very exciting! We can't wait to see how God will grow this effort into something that can help many more girls that are being rescued from HUMAN TRAFFICKING