SAconnects, Volume 3, Number 7 by The Salvation Army: SAconnects

VOL. 3, NO. 7 â&#x20AC;¢ SEPTEMBER 2017

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SACONNECTS.ORG

the magazine

our leaders

Last year when I received my appointments as both Territorial Secretary for Spiritual Life Development and the Territorial Social Justice Consultant, someone said, “Spiritual Life Development is an internal process and is generally an individual thing. Social Justice takes action and implies involvement with other people. It’s not that they’re incompatible, but they seem to be pointed in different directions. Won’t it be hard for you to focus on both?” I then thought of something I heard at a Cultivate Spiritual Formation course several years ago where Robert Mulholland defined spiritual transformation as “Being conformed into the image of Christ for the sake of others.” We don’t practice spiritual disciplines and strive to become more like Jesus solely for our own benefit. The Salvation Army is called a “holiness movement.” We strive to become holy and we move out into the world to share that holiness with others. Historically, we have reached out to the marginalized and we continue to do that in these days. When asked which of the commandments was the most important, Jesus famously answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30–31). To me, this Scripture suggests that personal holiness can be demonstrated through acts of mercy and compassion. In other words—spiritual formation and social justice. As our Founder said, “Faith and works should travel side by side, step answering to step, like the legs of men walking. First faith, and then works; and then faith again, and then works again—until they can scarcely distinguish which is the one and which is the other.” In this SAconnects, you’ll see how the Army is making a difference in people’s lives—one person at a time.

— Lt. Colonel / Tte. Coronela Patricia LaBossiere Territorial Social Justice Consultant Territorial Secretary for Spiritual Life Development Asesor Territorial de Justicia Social Secretaria Territorial del Departamento de Desarrollo de la Vida Espiritual

IN focus

El año pasado, cuando recibí mis nombramientos, el de Secretario Territorial para el Desarrollo de la Vida Espiritual y el de Asesor Territorial de Justicia Social, alguien dijo: “El desarrollo de la vida espiritual es un proceso interior y, por lo general, se da a nivel individual. La justicia social se desempeña en —e implica— la interacción con otras personas. No es que sean incompatibles, pero cada una de ellas parece apuntar en direcciones diferentes. ¿No te va a ser difícil enfocarte en ambas al mismo tiempo?” Entonces se me ocurrió algo que oí en el curso “Cultiva la formación espiritual” hace varios años, cuando Robert Mulholland definió la transformación espiritual de la siguiente manera: “Conformarnos a la imagen de Cristo por el bien de los demás”. No practicamos las disciplinas espirituales ni nos esforzamos por parecernos cada vez más a Jesús sólo para nuestro propio beneficio. Se dice que el Ejército de Salvación es un “movimiento de santidad”. Nos esforzamos por llegar a ser santos y salimos al mundo a compartir esa santidad con los demás. Históricamente, hemos llevado nuestro ministerio evangelizador a los marginados y seguimos haciéndolo en la actualidad. Cuando le preguntaron cuál era el más importante de los mandamientos, Jesús expresó su célebre respuesta: “‘Ama al Señor tu Dios con todo tu corazón, con toda tu alma, con toda tu mente y con todas tus fuerzas’. El segundo es: ‘Ama a tu prójimo como a ti mismo’. No hay otro mandamiento más importante que estos” (Marcos 12:30-31). Para mí, este pasaje de la Biblia sugiere que la santidad personal puede expresarse mediante actos de misericordia y compasión. En otras palabras: a través de la formación espiritual y la justicia social. En palabras de nuestro Fundador: “La fe y las obras deben avanzar una al lado de la otra, respondiendo una a cada paso que da la otra, como hacen los pies de una persona que camina. Primero la fe y luego las obras; luego la fe una vez más y de nuevo las obras, hasta que apenas se pueda distinguir entre la fe y las obras”. En esta edición de SAconnects, verás la manera en que el Ejército de Salvación rescata a las personas atrapadas en el flagelo de la trata humana. Estamos ejerciendo un impacto en esas vidas, una por una.

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2017 SEPTEMBER

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Vol. 3, No. 7

CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2017

IN focus

1 our leaders 4 from the editor 6 ethically speaking N file O 5 relevents Marchon Noon talks about the RISE program and rescuing women from the streets.

26 wholly living Our commitment compels us to reach the outcasts with compassion.

28 testimony A trafficking survivor talks about ending “the mentality of control” and the healing power of forgiveness.

features

29 great moments The Salvation Army has a long history in fighting human trafficking.

FAITH in ACTION 22 Finding A Way Out Combating human trafficking around the territory.

wo trafficking survivors T describe their trauma, their escape, and their recovery.

finds 30 Facts and numbers on

human trafficking around the world.

32 Download apps to your

phone and help combat human trafficking.

SPECIAL ISSUE: VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

9 The Daughters of God Captain Deborah Coolidge takes the fight against human trafficking into strip clubs.

12 Doors to Salvation

The Salvation Army in Philadelphia has a dual approach to helping trafficking survivors.

16 The Healing Power

of Restoration Ink

A ministry in Maine is helping victims of prostitution and human trafficking cover up the marks of their past.

Para leer más artículos en español por favor visite SACONNECTS.ORG /ENESPANOL

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2017 SEPTEMBER

IN focus

from the editor

the magazine

Autumn Adventure Aventura Otoñal Just a few years ago, Florida was known as the primary retirement destination in America. But today, according to recent census data, eight of the top 11 states with populations having the oldest median age are in the USA Eastern Territory, with Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire topping the list. Perhaps the physical beauty of mountains and shorelines, the atmosphere of vintage Americana in picturesque, historical little towns is a big attraction, despite New England’s colder winters. The number of senior citizens in the Northeast will also continue to increase in heavily populated urban areas as medical technology helps to extend their lifespans well into their 90s. But how will their lifestyles be sustained amid a shrinking tax base, smaller pension reserves, and strained medical, housing, food, and transportation budgets? In the next SAconnects, you’ll read how The Salvation Army is helping to meet some of those practical, social, recreational, and spiritual needs of seniors. From affordable housing in Cincinnati, Ohio, and in Harlem, N.Y., to state–of–the–art recreational facilities such as the Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Philadelphia, to giving back to the next generation as volunteers, you’ll learn how the Army is helping older people make their autumn years an exciting adventure.

— Warren L. Maye Editor in Chief / Editor en Jefe

SEPTEMBER 2017

Hace sólo algunos años, el estado de Florida era conocido como el destino preferido de los estadounidenses que se jubilaban. Sin embargo, en la actualidad, según datos del último censo, ocho de los once estados cuyos residentes tienen la edad promedio más alta del país se encuentran en el Territorio Este de EUA, con Maine, Vermont y New Hampshire ocupando los primeros lugares de la lista. Quizás se deba a que la belleza natural de las montañas, las costas, el aire pintoresco del Estados Unidos tradicional que allí se respira, sus antiguos pueblos y ciudades, logran atraer a personas de la tercera edad, a pesar de lo fríos que son los inviernos en Nueva Inglaterra. El número de personas de la tercera edad en el noreste del país seguirá aumentando en las áreas urbanas de mayor población conforme los adelantes médicos les vayan permitiendo prolongar sus expectativas de vida hasta bien entrados los 90 años de edad. No obstante ¿cómo podrán mantener su estilo de vida ahora que la base impositiva está siendo recortada, las reservas de pensiones disminuyen y el presupuesto destinado a la salud, vivienda, comida y transporte se hace cada día más exiguo? En la siguiente edición de SAconnects, podrás informarte de lo que el Ejército de Salvación ha estado haciendo para atender las necesidades prácticas, sociales, recreativas y espirituales de las personas de la tercera edad. Desde acceso a viviendas a precios razonables en Cincinnati, Ohio, y en Harlem, Nueva York, hasta instalaciones recreativas modernas como las que ofrece el Cuerpo y Centro Comunitario Ray & Joan Kroc en Filadelfia, en compensación al trabajo voluntario de la próxima generación; te enterarás de lo que el Ejército ha estado haciendo para ayudar a nuestros adultos mayores a hacer de sus años otoñales una aventura emocionante.

ON THE WEB OOB 2017 IS A ‘WRAP’ During this year’s 129th Old Orchard Beach Camp Meetings, we posted a “Daily Wrap Up” on SAconnects.org. These stories, written by SAconnects magazine staff, illustrated with colorful photographs by our Communications Department photography team, and posted by our Social Media team, were viewed by thousands of people in the United States and worldwide. Posts on Facebook and Facebook Live are waiting for you now. Be sure to “Like” our pages and stay informed.

On September 8, 2017, go to SAconnects.org for coverage from Centennial Memorial Temple in New York City for the “Welcome to Cadets 2017: Messengers of Compassion” meeting, led by Commissioners Israel L. and Eva D. Gaither.

Find all our issues in one place! Digital versions of SAconnects, the magazine are available on

saconnects.org/digital-edition.

Need RESOURCES? You’ll access pages on the arts, Mission & Culture, Salvation Factory, Strikepoint, Women’s Ministries, Spiritual Life Development, and more!

SAconnects.org/resources

facebook.com/saconnects

relevents

ON file

interview by Hugo Bravo

Marchon Noon, program coordinator for The Salvation Army’s RISE (Recovering Individuals from Sexual Exploitation) program in Toledo, Ohio, talks about the book of Isaiah, how a long commute can be a blessing in disguise, and answering God’s call to help women recover from life in the streets. Seven words from the book of Isaiah apply perfectly to the RISE program: This is the way, walk in it. This is my motto for people we help. We offer them a path towards a new life, away from their old life. If they choose to deflect from the new path, then there is nothing we can do. But if they choose that path, rather than judge or condemn them for their choices, we will do everything we can to help them. That is who we are, and who God is. (Below, right) a miniature boxing glove given to Marchon symbolizes how she fights for her clients.

Every day I walk into work, I say a prayer, “God, let me be the best me that I can be today.” Some days are more difficult than others, when Satan pushes my buttons. I get frustrated with the gaps other organizations have in their service to clients. I feel hurt and angry when I see a woman lose her family over a single solicitation charge, while When clients in crisis contact me, I go to another woman—found passed out in her car with a needle in her them. I’ve rescued women from the street who arm—is able to keep her children. But on other days, I feel a rush of joy were naked. When a pimp has control over a when I see ladies turn their lives around. woman, she can find herself without even a stitch I came to work for That is when I know God has His hand of clothing on her back. That’s how strong the The Salvation Army on the RISE program. hold is. When they call RISE, sometimes they’ll after a program called say, “You don’t remember me, but you gave me Second Chance colyour number a while back, and said to call when I needed lapsed in Toledo. When you.” When we find women at that level of despair, we give our full staff came to the them something they did not have before—a choice to get Army, we formed RISE. their life back. What drives me is seeing them make that We then had funds and choice. They go from naked on the corner, to getting their access to the Army’s families back, to having a home, to buying a car, to starting resources and other proa real job. We work through every barrier in their life, from grams. Food pantries, material needs to legal battles, until they are self–sufficient. diaper banks, and utility and rental assistance became available. RISE I’m grateful for my commute. I live an hour away from RISE, and the drive to work and back continues to grow and is my own time. I’m blessed with 60 minutes to prepare for the day, and another 60 minutes to we help more women decompress. In my car, I can laugh, cry, sing, think, or say, “Lord, this day is overwhelming me; now than ever before. please take control.” I would not be able to do what I do if I worked around the block from home.

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2017 SEPTEMBER

IN focus

Ethically Speaking by Colonel Richard Munn

the magazine

your connection to The Salvation Army

USA EASTERN TERRITORY

PORNOGRAPHY PORNOGRAFÍA The Greek root for pornography is porne—“female captives”—and implies sex for aggression, degradation, and abuse. Today, it more broadly references sexually explicit images and literature. The accessibility of the internet means that once–clandestine sexual imagery is now an almost inescapable presence in mainline culture, moving from peripheral parts of town into homes. There is evidence that pornography is destructive to communities. It is an addiction linked to organized crime, trafficking, child abuse, and marital stress. In contrast, Scripture portrays our sexuality with a spiritual dimension that goes beyond the physical. CHEMISTRY Since creation, men and women have exhibited sexual attraction. This is naturally magnetic—two genders drawn to becoming “one flesh” again.

TERRITORIAL LEADERS Commissioner William A. Bamford III Commissioner G. Lorraine Bamford CHIEF SECRETARY Colonel Kenneth O. Johnson, Jr.

La raíz griega de la palabra pornografía es porne, “mujeres cautivas”, y relaciona al sexo con la agresión, la degradación y el abuso. En la actualidad, la palabra se refiere más ampliamente a las imágenes y a la literatura de contenido sexual explícito. La accesibilidad del internet hoy hace que las imágenes sexuales, antaño clandestinas, sean ahora una ineludible presencia en la sociedad. Es evidente que la pornografía es destructiva para las comunidades. Es una adicción vinculada al crimen organizado, a la trata humana, al abuso infantil y al estrés conyugal. La Escritura, por contraste, enmarca nuestra sexualidad en una dimensión espiritual que va más allá de lo físico.

COMMUNICATIONS SECRETARY Major Tonie Cameron

LA QUÍMICA Desde la creación, tanto el hombre como la mujer han mostrado atracción sexual. Es algo naturalmente magnético: dos géneros atraídos a formar “una carne” de nuevo.

COMMAND NEWS CORRESPONDENTS

EDITOR IN CHIEF Warren L. Maye MANAGING EDITOR Robert Mitchell EDITOR / HISPANIC CORRESPONDENT Hugo Bravo KOREAN EDITOR Lt. Colonel Chongwon D. Kim ART DIRECTOR Reginald Raines PUBLICATION MANAGING DESIGNER Lea La Notte Greene GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Keri Johnson, Karena Lin, Joe Marino STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Ryan Love CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Brenda Lotz, Major Young Sung Kim CIRCULATION Doris Marasigan PENDEL Major Kathryn A. Avery EMP Jaye C. Jones GNY Major Susan Wittenberg MASS Drew Forster NNE Cheryl Poulopoulos

CURIOSITY Pornographic enticement can be engaged by a combination of naiveté, curiosity, and sin. Invariably, its emptiness is revealed as people experience short–term satisfaction, at most.

LA CURIOSIDAD La atracción a la pornografía puede nacer de una combinación de ingenuidad, curiosidad y pecado. Su vacuidad, invariablemente queda en evidencia cuando la persona tiene una experiencia —a lo sumo— fugaz en términos de satisfacción.

CAPTIVITY The potential for addiction is increasing. “Pornography’s effect on the brain can mirror addiction to heroin or crack cocaine,” said psychotherapist May Ann Layden during her U.S. Senate testimony.

EL CAUTIVERIO El potencial para caer en la adicción está en aumento. “El efecto de la pornografía en el cerebro puede reflejar la adicción a la heroína, al ‘crack’ o a la ‘cocaína’”, sostuvo la psicoterapeuta May Ann Layden durante su testimonio ante el Senado de los Estados Unidos.

The Salvation Army, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.

CLEAN CONSCIENCE The good news is, many people who were once entrapped by pornography have, by God’s grace, overcome this compulsive behavior. How about this pre–emptive strategy? “Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

UNA CONCIENCIA LIMPIA Muchas personas que una vez se vieron atrapadas en la pornografía han podido, por la gracia de Dios, superar y sobreponerse a esa conducta. ¿Qué te parece esta estrategia preventiva: “Consideren bien todo lo verdadero, todo lo respetable, todo lo justo, todo lo puro, todo lo amable, todo lo digno de admiración, en fin, todo lo que sea excelente o merezca elogio” (Filipenses 4:8)?

SAconnects is published monthly by The Salvation Army USA’s Eastern Territory. Bulk rate is $12.00 per month for 25–100 copies. Single subscriptions are available. Write to: SAconnects, The Salvation Army, 440 W. Nyack Rd., West Nyack, NY 10994–1739. Vol. 3, No. 7, September Issue 2017. Printed in USA. Postmaster: Send all address changes to: SAconnects, 440 West Nyack Rd., West Nyack, NY 10994–1739. SAconnects accepts advertising. Copyright © 2017 by The Salvation Army, USA Eastern Territory. Articles may be reprinted only with written permission. All scripture references are taken from the New International Version (NIV) unless indicated otherwise.

SEPTEMBER 2017

PR & VI Linette Luna SNE Laura Krueger WEPASA Captain Kimberly DeLong Territorial Music Liaison Derek Lance Territorial Youth Liaison Captain Gillian Rogers

THE SALVATION ARMY

MISSION STATEMENT

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The Legacy of Martin Luther by Colonel Richard Munn

Scrupulous, cantankerous, and titanic are words used to describe Martin Luther.

1 Salvation by Faith

A thousand years before the Reformation, salvation was mediated through the Church, and specifically through the Mass administered by clergy. In contrast, Luther proclaimed that salvation is mediated by faith though Christ, alone. A key text for Luther is Romans 1:17: “In the gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith, from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” This Scripture liberated him. He writes, “I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through the gates that had been flung open.”

We shouldn’t be surprised. One church leader snorted, “He is a demon in the appearance of a man!” Another leader pronounced, “He, alone, is right.” Today, Luther’s inspirational quotes stand side by side with his angry, vitriolic, and bawdy rhetoric. Suffice it to say, his ideas of reform triggered a turmoil that ended the Middle Ages and commenced a new era. Church historian Martin Marty notes, “He is the last medieval man and the first modern one.” By unshakeable conviction and sheer dogged personality, Luther exposed wearily accepted religious corruption. Though originally seeking internal Catholic reform, the result became Protestantism. The global spread of the Reformation demonstrates both the durability of the Gospel and the versatility of Protestantism. Nigerian Pentecostalism, Pennsylvania Dutch Amish, Australian Hillsong, and The Salvation Army are all different from one another. However, they are all Protestant. The influence of larger–than–life Luther continues to shape our spiritual lives. Theologically, Salvationists may be Wesleyan by heart, but we are descendants of Luther—to the marrow. Here we stand.

2 Priesthood of all Believers

The idea of grace available by faith directly from Christ to the believer—with no need for priestly mediation—simultaneously disempowered organized religious authority and empowered individuals. Each believer is now his or her own priest. The impact is immeasurable: mighty Luther opens a door, closed for fifteen centuries, and then a flood of church denominations quickly follows. He stands up to organized religious authority on principle, but in a short time, someone else stands up to him with equal conviction, passion, and principle, and so on. Today, reputable sources cite as many as 40,000 denominations in the world.

The Supremacy of Scripture and the Primacy of Preaching The central act in the mystical drama of medieval worship was the Mass. While never compromising the ceremony, Luther urged that the preaching of Scripture should be more dominant. And so, the Reformation brought the Christian pulpit into the modern age. Robust, scholarly, impassioned Protestant preaching through subsequent centuries is one of the enduring legacies of the Reformation.

4 Married Clergy

Luther’s marriage to Katherine Von Bora is one of the great partnerships in the reformation story. As forceful as Luther was, Katherine was his equal, and he loved her for it. Luther believed that marriage was a vocation equally as important as monasticism. And so, as the Reformation spread its global influence, married clergy became a regular feature. It may have been unintended, but Luther contributed to the rising status of women.

iStock

5 Mission in the Language and Music of the Culture

Luther translated the Scriptures into the German language and composed both the music and lyrics for several melodic hymns. What today seems normal and sensible to us was then revolutionary. Paul Grime writes, “For a thousand years of Christian worship, lay people had rarely sung. Then came Luther.” Martin Marty echoes, “Singing used to belong only to monks and priests. But as a result of Luther, lay people erupt in song.”

2017 SEPTEMBER

“ You will do anything to feel like his everything. And he promises you everything. And the things he convinces you to do, they don’t seem that bad if afterwards he shows you how much he loves you.... And as long as your profits meet expectations, you will have what you’ve wanted your whole life—love.”

* F rom the spoken word poem, "America’s Daughters" available on www.youtube.com

The fight

against

human trafficking The Day of Prayer for Victims of Human Trafficking will be held on Sunday, September 24. On that day, Salvationists worldwide are called to help break the “Chains of Bondage” with fervent prayer. Here in the northeast United States, those chains are particularly heavy. Of the top 11 states where sexual trafficking is at its worst, several of them are in the Army’s Eastern Territory. We’ve highlighted here some of the people and programs involved in the Salvation Army’s effort to combat this problem. You’ll read how survivors are being physically redeemed, emotionally restored, and spiritually transformed so they may live normal, productive lives.

SHE IS MY friend

I saw them walking the street outside the corps, getting in and out of cars. I used to wonder why anyone would become a prostitute. What would lead someone into that type of life? AND THEN, I MET HER. And I realized no one chooses this life. She’s in this life because she has no choices. She’s been manipulated, tricked, coerced. She is vulnerable. The circumstances of her life pushed her in that direction. NO ONE NOTICED. NO ONE BELIEVED. NO ONE CARED. Now, she’s in the life. She’s trapped, she’s addicted, she’s afraid. She has learned to do whatever she has to do to survive. She is called a "prostitute." But she is so much more than what that label implies. SHE IS a sister, a mother, a daughter. SHE IS a student, an athlete, a musician, an artist. SHE IS hungry, addicted, afraid, vulnerable, lonely. SHE IS black, white, Hispanic, Muslim, a U.S. citizen, an immigrant, a teenager, a grown up— A PERSON. She’s been in jail, in detox, in rehab, a hospital, a shelter, a church. She is surprised that someone would want to talk to her, give her a gift, learn her name. She is wary, reluctant, curious, hopeful. She’s a good mother who would do anything for her child. She has a robust, infectious laugh. She likes frozen mocha lattes and Jodi Picoult novels. She plays saxophone, runs track, loves board games. SHE IS beautiful, funny, brave, strong, determined, resilient. SHE IS a survivor. SHE IS a child of God.

She is my friend. –Lt. Colonel Patricia LaBossiere

by Robert Mitchell

Amid the pulsating rock music and flashing strobe lights of a New Hampshire strip club, exotic dancers perform on stage. The club’s clientele are men, but on this night, two women in the audience, dressed in regular clothes, are not there for the show. One of them is Captain Deborah Coolidge, a Salvation Army officer and pastor. “We’ll sit as if we’re chatting, but what we’re really doing is praying for the Holy Spirit to invade the place,” Coolidge says. “No one would know that because we’ve got our eyes open and we’re looking at each other.” More than three years ago, Coolidge and a Christian friend from a local church began their outreach ministry to the strip club near Portsmouth, N.H. Coolidge goes there to show the love of Christ to the dancers, but it’s also her way of fighting human trafficking.

2017 SEPTEMBER

“

I hope people understand that these women are the

LOVE OFFERING

daughters of God. I believe people sometimes think, That’s what they want to do. But for some of them, they do

”

it because it’s all they know. —Captain Deborah Coolidge

GIRDING FOR BATTLE

“Traffickers go to clubs to traffic girls,” she said. “We’re always mindful of that.” Two weeks before each visit, Coolidge and her prayer partner prepare for the spiritual warfare they know is ahead. “We park across the street from the club and we just pray,” Coolidge said. “We pray for the girls and the ministry and the outreach.” On the last Tuesday of each month, they actually go into the club and sit as any other customer would—except they are prayed up and ready. “The night we go, we’re singing worship songs in the car and we’re praying,” Coolidge said. “We park a little bit away from the club and we have some real time of specific prayer before we go into the club.”

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

GOING UNDERCOVER

SHOWING LOVE

The two women pray for “loving conviction” for the dancers. They also pray the customers will realize that the entertainment they are seeking is “degrading” to women. Coolidge does not wear her Salvation Army uniform when she goes to the club. “It’s not about The Salvation Army,” she said. “It’s about these girls. We just want them to know they’re loved and that we have resources, if they want assistance. A lot of them are single mothers.” Coolidge said the women’s ministry at the corps helps her provide the dancers with gifts, including homemade sugar scrubs, nail polish, candy, and roses. She also gives them pocketbooks containing a New Testament, ChapStick®, and a pad and pen.

At the club, the gifts are laid on a table as a welcoming gesture to the 40 dancers. “We always bring gifts for all the girls,” Coolidge said. “Each girl will come over and pick a gift. The manager knows who we are and what we’re all about. She encourages the girls to come over and to talk with us. “They think the gifts will cost them money. We tell them they’re donated in love and that we want to help.” Coolidge, who is single, said she and her fellow prayer warrior often get “odd looks” from the dancers and customers. They wonder what the two women are doing in the club. “They’re curious,” Coolidge said. “They seem to know where we’re from because they call us the ‘church ladies.’ We see a lot of new faces. It seems like every month there are new girls who have never seen us.

SEPTEMBER 2017

“All their lives, these girls have been exploited. They feel suspicious and unsure. It’s taken a few years for some of them to trust us. A lot of them will get their gift, thank us for being there, and give us a hug. But because they are so mistrusting, they don’t share much more than that.” Because some women feel comfortable confiding in Coolidge, their lives are being changed. Coolidge befriended a dancer who now allows her children to attend a corps in another New Hampshire town. The Salvation Army even helped the dancer attend cooking school. “We let her know she had a support system that would help fulfill her dreams,” Coolidge said. “The system is there for her, if she wants it. We wanted her to know that.”

Another dancer was distraught about her runaway 16–yearold son, whom she had not seen in three weeks. In tears, the dancer approached Coolidge and her Christian friend. Coolidge, who is careful not to push her faith, asked the dancer, “Do you want to pray?” Coolidge recalls, “She dropped to her knees and said, ‘Please, please, do!’” When the dancer told a customer what had happened, he gave Coolidge $60 and said, “I love what you’re doing for these women. Put this money toward the outreach.” The Salvation Army helped another dancer who needed home heating assistance, meals, and Christmas gifts for her child. Still another dancer has been away from the club for a

month. Coolidge is encouraged by the woman’s absence and hopes she is pursuing a new life. “She really wants to get out of this business, but it’s all she knows. It’s what’s comfortable to her,” Coolidge said.

“I’ve been called to love people. I know I have to be an administrator and do everything officers do, but I never want those duties to take me away from the true call on my life—to be like Jesus.”

AT THE DOORSTEP

A LIFELONG FIGHTER

“I hope people understand that these women are the daughters of God. I believe people sometimes think, That’s what they want to do. But for some of them, they do it because it’s all they know.” Coolidge admits that the “spiritual heaviness” can weigh her down. She often cries after leaving the club. “It’s a dark, twisted, evil place,” she said. Coolidge first learned about human trafficking while preparing to establish a Bridging the Gap program. One day, a woman who was being trafficked showed up in the corps chapel. She later helped police bust a trafficking ring in Portsmouth. “That’s what really started me doing further research,” Coolidge said.

AN OPEN DOOR

Coolidge attended an anti–trafficking workshop, where she met a Portsmouth woman who now goes to the club with her. The woman, who attends church, called the club manager to discuss her outreach idea. Both were stunned when the manager agreed to let them in. “We wanted to give these girls the hope of doing something else,” Coolidge said. “We knew a lot of them were going to stay in this business, but we loved them regardless and prayed they would realize better hopes and dreams.” At first, the Portsmouth woman already had a partner, so Coolidge agreed to back them up with prayer. “For six months, I stayed in the vehicle and prayed while they were in the club,” she recalls.

SUPERNATURAL STRENGTH

“Trying to recruit other women to help has been a challenge,” Coolidge said. “It’s not something a lot of people feel comfortable doing.” Coolidge said if anyone feels called to a similar ministry, but doubts they have the courage to do it, they should trust God. “It’s not about me,” she said. “Regardless of my fear and anxiety, I have to trust that, if God is calling me to do this, He’ll equip me to do it. It’s all about Him. I’m just a willing vessel. There’s nothing special about me. It’s all about me being open enough to allow Him to use me.

At her first appointment in Berlin, N.H., Coolidge battled slum landlords. Since then, she has made a life of speaking for the voiceless. “I guess there’s an anger that rises up in me when I see injustice and unfairness,” she said. “With human trafficking, I don’t like how some people take advantage of other people’s vulnerability. “Even as a girl, I always fought against injustice and unfairness. Fairness was so important to me. I was always looking out for the underdog, the kid who the other kids didn’t like. I would go and befriend that kid. I know Jesus got angry over injustice and unfairness. I’ve always had that kind of heart.”

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

Coolidge recently began a new appointment in Malden, Mass., but she hopes her work in Portsmouth will have an eternal impact. One night, as Coolidge sat in the backseat of a car in the club’s parking lot reading her Bible and intensely in prayer, she saw a vision of a church steeple atop the club. “The Holy Spirit said to me, ‘Deb, this is figurative. One day, this place will be closed and used for My glory.’ I hang on to that. I believe that with all my heart,” Coolidge says. “I don’t know if I’ll see that day, but I’m allowing God to use me in any way He chooses to bring it to fruition.”

SALVATION

by Robert Mitchell

n hour before the doors open, there’s already a line of women waiting on the sidewalk outside the Salvation Army’s “New Day Drop–In Center” in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. When they’re finally inside, the women who live in the shadows find a short respite and safety from the city’s seedy sex industry. The drop–in center has been open for a few years, but in March, The Salvation Army took another giant step in its ongoing fight against human trafficking by opening a transitional housing program in a Philadelphia suburb. The program, called “New Day, New Home,” is the first of its kind for The Salvation Army in the Eastern Territory. While most of the referrals for the house come from law enforcement, the courts, and other agencies, the hope is that women from the drop-in center may someday find housing there. “Many of the women who come to the drop–in center are not ready for housing yet,” explained Jamie Manirakiza, director of anti–trafficking and social services for The Salvation

Army in Philadelphia. “They are looking to find safety, hope, and a space where people care about their worth and dignity. Many of them need detox, rehab, emergency housing, and criminal–justice–based advocacy.”

WORKING TOGETHER

“New Day, New Home” is a joint initiative between Greater Philadelphia Area Services and the Pennsylvania and Delaware (PENDEL) Division. Manirakiza said women ages 18–26 can stay at the house—free of charge—for as long as three years, including meals. The unmarked home has two apartments and can house eight trafficking survivors at a time. The goals include getting the women education, training, therapy, permanent housing, and reuniting them with their families. “We support them in reclaiming their voice, sense of self, and hope for the future,” Manirakiza said. “We do individual goal planning and work on helping the women become self–sufficient. It’s long–term, so we haven’t yet measured the impact since we just opened in March 2017. “We’re at the beginning of change, but I think there’s a ton of potential for long–term growth and for individuals to

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2017 SEPTEMBER

“

These women are experiencing homelessness, they are getting sexually assaulted regularly, they are living in abandoned houses, they have been abused … and the

”

wounds are deep. We’re telling these women, ‘WE BELIEVE YOUR LIFE HAS VALUE.’ — Susan Santucci

take a different path once they get in there.” Gina Valenziano, the home manager of “New Day, New Home” and a former staffer at the drop–in center, said the women follow the Safety, Emotion, Loss, and their Future (S.E.L.F.) group curriculum.

NEW BEGINNINGS

“We offer a space for healing, a space to learn skill development, and a space to be independent,” Valenziano said. “It allows them to find healing from the trauma they’ve been through. It allows them to think and focus on themselves. “Everyone deserves a second chance, or as many chances as they need, to get where they need to be. Everyone deserves love and care, no matter what they’ve been through.” Major Susan Ferreira, director of social services ministries for The Salvation Army in Philadelphia, said many of the women have experienced significant loss and deserve an opportunity to have a safe place to hope for the future. The quiet house in the suburbs provides the solace for that to happen. “Some of them are still maturing,” she said. “I think this is a good target age for us to reach.” As they recover, some of the victims have trouble sleeping, but the staff is trained to help them through their trauma, working on day and night rituals, Manirakiza said. “Sleep is a very challenging time for many of the survivors,” she said. “The staff will engage the women in art projects or they’ll sit up and watch a movie or they’ll talk. The staff are trained to work through nighttime routines and recreating positive rituals during those crucial times when a participant might go into crisis mode.”

GETTING WISER

Manirakiza said the women are allowed to keep their phones, but a safety plan is implemented when a pimp or trafficker tries to make contact. “It can be challenging to not go back to the life,” Manirakiza said. “The program engages people in talking about safe relationships, choices, and their future. “If they can handle having a phone, and make a choice to say ‘no’ to someone, then they’ve made that accomplishment

SEPTEMBER 2017

for themselves and they can champion that and believe they’re strong and know they can do it after they leave.” Some of the women first make contact through the drop– in center. It serves as an oasis in the middle of Kensington’s “open air” street track, where heroin, crack, and commercial sexual exploitation are prevalent. “The drop–in center is where we’re meeting them on the ground level, meeting them exactly where they are, and providing a safe space. They’re able to set goals and begin some of the work they have for themselves,” said Arielle Curry, the assistant director of human trafficking for The Salvation Army in Philadelphia. Helping many of the women is Courtney Fyock, a victim advocate funded through The Salvation Army’s Office for Victims of Crimes task force grant.

FINDING SAFETY

“When they come in, we do crisis counseling,” Fyock said. “We do a lot of stabilization and then connect them with housing resources. That seems to be the number one thing they need.” Susan Santucci, the drop–in center’s program coordinator, said the staff is “as welcoming and non–threatening as possible. “The women can come in and get an outfit, relax, watch TV, and take a nap. It’s pretty low–key,” she said. “We believe that each one of them—no matter where she’s coming from, no matter what her situation—deserves safety, respect, and just a moment to collect herself and regain that idea of what safety looks like. “These women are experiencing homelessness, they are getting sexually assaulted regularly, they are living in abandoned houses, they have been abused … and the wounds are deep. We’re telling these women, ‘We believe your life has value.’”

FINDING JESUS

Staffer Malsiella Martinez, who serves at the drop–in center during the day and night, added, “We tell these women, ‘This is a place of refuge and a place you can call home.’ When they come here, we want them to feel valued and cared for.” The women can also avail themselves of therapy sessions and several groups, including one focused on their spiritual

lives led by Santucci and Major Martha Bone, divisional social services ministries secretary. Santucci and Bone discuss such topics as beauty, creation, love, the fruits of the Spirit, and community. “We plan the lessons by just knowing the women and what might speak to them,” Bone says. “We’ll talk about the topics as an open group. We ultimately want to point people to God.” The center provides Bibles in both English and Spanish and sometimes the group just reads about women in the Bible. “There are times when they read the passages themselves and they just start weeping,” Bone says. “God’s Word speaks for itself.”

CHRIST THE ROCK

“God’s Word really speaks to them. When they read about God’s love, which is really something we throw in every single Bible study time, it’s just very powerful to them.” Santucci said some women who have escaped the sex industry have returned to the drop–in center to tell her they now attend church. Others depend on Christ while still in the life and fighting daily battles.

“There are women who rely on their faith and are in recovery and are out of the life, and their faith is a big part of that,” she said. “Most of the women I interact with are currently going through the life and relying on Jesus and trusting in Him that He will walk them all the way through. “I’ve had women come into my office and sit with me and weep and say, ‘I can’t imagine where I’d be without Jesus today.’ Their clothes are worn and they have scratches and bruises all over them. To me, those are humbling moments.”

BRINGING PASSION

Martinez recalls being asked to read Bible verses to a woman. “We don’t force Jesus on them, but we’re probably the only ‘Jesus’ they see,” she said. “If they want prayer, I’m here. We’re called to reach the unchurched. That’s why we’re here. “Us being here, we’re that light in the midst of darkness. We’re called to serve those who are rejected, who are outcast, and who are being dehumanized. That’s why I wake up in the morning—because I have a passion for women. They’re considered nobody in the eyes of the world, but they’re somebody in the eyes of Christ.”

The Salvation Army’s anti–human trafficking team in Philadelphia.

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2017 SEPTEMBER

by H u g o

B r av

or victims of human trafficking, physical marks come in a variety of forms. Some are scars from drug use that often accompany such a lifestyle. Other marks result from acts of violence perpetrated by their abusers. Still, more marks are surprisingly elaborate, artistically rendered, and permanent. Tattoos, designs made upon the body by inserting indelible ink under the skin, are a traditional art form, a symbolic and frequently beautiful method of self–expression. But for human traffickers, tattoos signify their ownership of a victim. Such marks denote a life of pain, degradation, and even slavery. People who have escaped such bondage see their tattoo, whether it be on a visible or private area of the body, as an agonizing reminder of the past. These memories are frequently an obstacle on the path to recovery and salvation. Through Restoration Ink, a ministry based in Dover–Foxcroft, Maine, the tattoos of former trafficking victims undergo a remarkable transformation. Symbols and marks previously made by people who had mistreated them are now skillfully covered and reconfigured.

Victims can reclaim themselves with a design that is unique and special. This literal and physical transformation births a chance for them to build a new memory and life.

‘SHE’S BEEN BRANDED’

Jennifer Clark is the Anti–Trafficking Ministries coordinator at the Salvation Army’s Portland (Citadel), Maine, Corps. Her mother, Beth Stumpfel, is the founder and director of Restoration Ink. In the summer of 2015, Clark was in Bangor to teach pastors how to recognize the marks on a woman being trafficked. Clark visited her mother for lunch and told her a woman from The Well, an outreach program at the corps to victims of human trafficking, would join them. “Mom, please don’t stare,” said Clark, “but this woman—she’s been branded.” Stumpfel recalls, “I felt nauseous by that word, branded. I had always considered

tattoos a choice. I never saw them as symbols of ownership of another human being.” Tattooed on the woman’s neck was a drawing of a wad of cash. She explained that it had meant she was for sale on the streets. She also had two gang tattoos, representing two men to whom she had belonged. As the women talked, Stumpfel casually mentioned that she knew an artist in Bangor, Maine, who could help her change the tattoo.

FORECASTLE TATTOO

Stumpfel’s brother–in–law, a former schoolteacher, told her about a former student who had opened a tattoo shop in Bangor named Forecastle Tattoo. But by the time she contacted him, he had sold Forecastle Tattoo to another tatooer

named Sam Wood. Stumpfel told Wood about human trafficking and how it was no longer a crisis in just big cities such as New York and Portland, but had found its way to local communities like Bangor. “When Beth mentioned these small suburbs, it hit close to home. You don’t want to think about that underbelly of your own town, but it exists,” said Wood. “It’s easy to click ‘Like’ in social media on an article exposing the horrors of human trafficking. But being part of Restoration Ink is something that I can directly do to help someone who wants to leave that part of their life behind them.” Wood agreed to help the woman cover her tattoos. Since that first meeting, he has transformed as many as a dozen tattoos with his original designs. Some women come with Stumpfel, others come from Hope Rising, a Maine residential treatment program and home for survivors of trafficking. Most of the funding for the program comes from the Church of the Open Bible in Charleston, Maine, where Stumpfel is a member.

‘PROPERTY OF …’

Cover–up tattoo projects such as the ones done through Restoration Ink are among the most difficult to do, with some taking several hours and multiple sessions. “Most of the tattoos that come in to be covered are poorly done,” says Wood. “They were made using dangerous homemade methods or for cheap by someone with no experience.” “But the ones that affect me the most are the well–done tattoos with the name of their trafficker large and clearly written. They’re usually designed with flowers, hearts, or a popular cartoon character.” Wood remembers seeing a victim with the words “Property of,” followed by her trafficker’s name, written on her lower abdomen. “That one was professionally done. Someone paid a lot of money for it; he really wanted his name to stand out on this poor woman.”

THE JOURNEY

Kasie Robbins, a former trafficking victim of 17 years, has 22 tattoos. The first was done with a guitar string and a video game system motor. The tattoos on her feet were done with staples instead of tattoo needles. Along with various gang signs, she has the word Chaos (the street name of a man who told her he would kill her if she ever left him) tattooed alongside a drawing of a pitchfork. As she was having wings tattooed on her back, she suffered a drug overdose—while her daughter slept in a room upstairs. Today, Kasie is a women’s home director for the Cityreach Network. She shares her testimony at church meetings, hoping to help more people escape from human trafficking. She met Stumpfel at a Faith & Justice summit and learned about Restoration Ink. When Kasie visited Sam Wood at Forecastle, she cried as she showed him

2017 SEPTEMBER

Sam Wood begins by drawing the new design in washable marker on Kasie, and then going over the marker lines with black ink. Color will be added at a later session. The new tattoo will cover the flowers and a gang symbol on Kasieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s left shoulder. For more photos of the cover-up process, visit SAconnects.org.

SEPTEMBER 2017

EL PODER SANADOR DE

her tattoos. They discussed how he would cover them. Kasie said Sam understood what she felt, what she was going through, and her personal journey from trafficking victim to today. They decided to cover the one on her left shoulder first. The process will take three separate sessions. Robbins said, “The Restoration Ink ministry is giving victims the gift of not having to relive that painful part of their life, and at no financial cost to them. I grew up in a world where I had to give something to get something back. But that’s not what Restoration Ink is. That’s not what God is.”*

MORE THAN WE CAN IMAGINE

Wood says what he enjoys most about Restoration Ink is helping women remove images that represent painful memories. He is also inspired by the work they do to help other women get off the street and on a path to recovery. One of his most memorable Restoration Ink experiences was covering a seahorse tattoo on a woman’s lower back. During the three sessions, she was energetic and shared her experiences as a victim of trafficking. She also talked about turning her life around, getting a job, and reconnecting with her family. “When the tattoo was finished, she stood, looked at the final work in the mirror, and went mute. It was the only time I had ever seen her silent,” said Wood. “She turned to me, burst into tears, and wept for five minutes. We exchanged lots of hugs as she said ‘thank you’ many times over. “To me, that’s the perfect example of the healing power of Restoration Ink. This girl was a positive person, open about her past, and committed to making changes to her life. But deep inside, that innocuous symbol branded on her body bothered her much more than any of us could imagine.”

NEW NEEDS, NEW PROJECTS

Restoration Ink shows that there are always new ways to serve that can completely change a person’s life. All we must look for is the need. Beth Stumpfel, who has no tattoos herself, said, “The Lord has used me for a lot of ministries, but I never thought my next one would be working with tattoos.” She is still amazed at how God used people and organizations to create Restoration Ink: the woman from The Well, Sam Wood and Forecastle Tattoo, Hope Rising (which has several women waiting and ready to receive cover– ups), and the Church of the Open Bible, which continues to help by providing financial and spiritual support. “A ministry like Restoration Ink can be done anywhere, from the smallest church to the largest organization, like The Salvation Army,” says Stumpfel. “Visit a local recovery house, talk to people who know how to reach victims of human trafficking, and find a talented artist who recognizes the need to help these women as much as you do. God brings these projects to you. All you have to say is ‘yes.’” *To read more of Kasie’s testimony, go to page 28.

For more information on Restoration Ink, visit www.facebook.com/restorationink or email restorationink16@gmail.com.

n o i t a r o t Re s Ink El programa “Restoration Ink” (Tinta Restauradora), basado en Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, ayuda a mujeres que han sido víctimas de la trata humana, de modo que se cubran los tatuajes que usaban sus antiguos perpetradores para identificarlas como suyas. Los tatuajes son reemplazados por diseños nuevos. Restoration Ink se inició cuando Beth Stumpfel conoció a una mujer del programa “The Well” (La Fuente) del Ejército de Salvación que había sido víctima de la trata humana. Los tatuajes incluían la imagen de un fajo de billetes que tenía a la altura del cuello (simbolizaba que estaba a la venta en las calles), y los nombres de los dos hombres a los que ella “pertenecía”. “Nunca me había imaginado que los tatuajes se pudiesen utilizar como símbolos de posesión por parte de otro ser humano”, cuenta Stumpfel. Actualmente, trabaja con Sam Wood, dueño del salón Forecastle Tattoo en Bangor, Maine, cubriendo los tatuajes de aquellas mujeres cuyos grabados simbolizan sus vidas pasadas como víctimas de la trata humana. Cuando Stumpfel le contó a Wood que la trata humana ya no era un fenómeno que se reducía a las grandes ciudades, sino que había llegado a los pueblos pequeños como Bangor, este decidió usar sus talentos para ayudar a las víctimas. “Uno preferiría no tener que pensar en el lado oscuro del lugar en que vives y sacas adelante a tu familia, pero el hecho es que el problema es real”, explica Wood. Restoration Ink ha ayudado a cubrir una docena de tatuajes de víctimas de la trata humana. Muchas mujeres están a la espera de recibir esa ayuda. “Restoration Ink es fácil de realizar en cualquier comunidad, grande o pequeña”, reflexiona Stumpfel. “Cuando hallamos a las personas dispuestas a ayudar a los demás, Dios nos facilita las cosas de manera que podamos iniciar nuevos proyectos y atender las nuevas necesidades de la personas”.

To donate to the Restoration Ink program, send a check or money order to

Restoration Ink, 610 East Sangerville Rd, Sangerville, ME 04479

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FAITH in ACTION

FINDING A WAY OUT combating human trafficking Robert Mitchell and Hugo Bravo contributed to this report.

The official Salvation Army statement on human trafficking:

The Salvation Army is deeply committed to the modern–day fight against human trafficking (for sexual and labor purposes) and forms of commercial sexual exploitation innately linked to sexual trafficking. The Salvation Army firmly believes that the abuse and exploitation of human beings through any form of human trafficking is an offense against humankind and against God. This belief, combined with our mission to meet human needs in His name without discrimination, motivates us to work vigilantly for the prevention of human trafficking and for the restoration of survivors. Human trafficking is contrary to the principles of freedom and dignity. The exploitation of human beings dehumanizes the individuals who are trafficked, rewards the inhumanity of the traffickers, and weakens the moral and social fabric of society at large. The Salvation Army is opposed to the corrupt abuse of power against other human beings that is inherent in trafficking for personal economic gain. We therefore have the responsibility, both individually and collectively, to work for the liberation of those who have been enslaved in this manner, and to establish the legal and social mechanisms by which human trafficking can be stopped.

SEPTEMBER 2017

iStock

MEN ARE VICTIMS TOO If you think human trafficking is just about women, think again. Jamie Manirakiza, director of anti–trafficking and social services for The Salvation Army in Philadelphia, said she and her staff have seen men victims, too. “We have male survivors who have gone through the program,” she says. “I would say it’s a small percentage as far as sex trafficking, but that’s not because males are not being victimized, it’s because it’s more challenging to reach that population.” Manirakiza said 80 percent of the men were victims of labor trafficking, where someone is forced to work. The Salvation Army is the lead non–profit on an anti–human trafficking grant, which works with agencies with outreach to migrant workers. “We have seen a number of male survivors through the agencies we partner with,” she said. The Salvation Army’s New Day anti-human trafficking program in Philadelphia also provided case management when the Department of Homeland Security shattered an international male sex trafficking ring there a few years ago. Erin Meyer, the anti–human trafficking program manager for The Salvation Army in Cincinnati, learned the intricacies of the cause working on the National Human Trafficking Hotline in Washington, D.C. In Cincinnati, she has seen victims, including both men and women, as young as 8 and as old as 65. “Exploitation knows no gender, age, or race,” she said. “Commercial sex CHECKING IN is everywhere. People purchasing sex is anywhere you go.” There are plenty of human Meyer, the coalition manager for the group End Slavery trafficking victims who show Cincinnati, said domestic servitude is a problem in some up at two locations of “The Well” in of the city’s restaurants and factories and also in the Cincinnati, but The Salvation Army is gethiring of nannies and housekeepers. The rural ting even more with an outreach to local hotels. areas around Cincinnati feature people trafMeyer said the monthly outreach is run in conficked in the agricultural business. junction with Emergency Disaster Services (EDS), which “We see all that here in provides a canteen from the Center Hill Corps. Cincinnati on a regular “We are going to some of the hotels that are more transient where basis, both men and people are living there,” Meyer said. “Some of them are struggling with women,” she addiction and homelessness. We know commercial sex is happening there.” said. Meyer said staffers knock on the hotel room doors or alert people through the canteen’s public address system. “We provide them with food, spiritual support, and ministry,” Meyer said. “Most of the time we’re not seen as a threat. The approach is we’re here and if you want support or need someone to call, we’re here. We’re just seen as a resource that’s out in the community.” Meyer and her seven–member staff also distribute information about two support groups that meet weekly at the Cincinnati Citadel Corps and the Cincinnati West Side Corps. Both corps also offer drop–in centers called “The Well” where women can receive food and material assistance. The support groups are led by Sarah Medina, a clinical specialist. She had received spiritual backup from Major Holly Daniels at Cincinnati Citadel and Major Patty Richwine at Cincinnati West Side. “It allows the girls to talk about their experiences,” Medina said. “They also meet other girls and talk about it as a group as well.” Medina said the support group at the West Side Corps is more broad and includes some women who are not only trafficked but also suffer from domestic violence and sexual assault. Medina said many of the women are seeking spiritual help. The curriculum used is Celebrate Recovery, which is based on the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. “We want them all to know that they are loved and a child of God,” Medina said.

2017 SEPTEMBER

FAITH in ACTION

FINDING HER CALLING

“

This man had done horrible things and was deeply involved in trafficking. But since birth, he has been a victim of human trafficking too.

Sarah Medina, a former intern at National Headquarters (NHQ), is now working on the anti–human trafficking staff at SWONEKY’s Divisional Headquarters in Cincinnati. She also is a solder at the Cincinnati Citadel Corps Meyer and loves to take the Gospel to the streets. and her staff “We’re all children of God and we sometimes walk all deserve to be loved and the rough Price Hill treated with respect,” neighborhood around the she said. —Osvaldo Rivera West Side Corps before the group meetings to pass out snacks, hygiene items, and information. It’s a well–known “track” for commercial sex solicitation. WHEN ADDICTION PLAYS A PART “We also go out weekly at night to difIliana and Osvaldo Rivera are soldiers at the Boston Central Hispanic Corps. Through their ferent areas and provide outreach cards,” career as drug counselors, they’ve seen how addiction has contributed to human trafficking. Meyer said. “A lot of these individuals do find spirituality a big part of their ILIANA: “Sometimes, the addiction is what drives OSVALDO: “With the men I counsel, I try to recovery and survival through the women to get caught up in trafficking. Other stress the importance of the father figure. Many of these experiences. times, it’s what makes them stay in it. It’s what many these men have left their families. Others want “We do get a lot of pimps use to control the women they traffic. Their trauma to return to them, but their addiction keeps requests for prayer and and PTSD is severe. As they feed their addiction, they them from doing so. When the father of the spiritual support while become slaves to their pimps. The women are beaten, mishousehold is absent, it leaves the door open for we’re on outreach treated, and made to do horrific sex acts for their ‘johns.’ everything negative to walk in. That includes at night.” “Another thing I noticed is that many women are not foreign or addiction and, in some cases, trafficking. immigrants from overseas, but American, with resources and fami“I know this because I’ve heard testimonies lies who live nearby. Trafficking happens to women born right here. from men who have been pimps. “In one of the first cases I worked on, a young mother came “One man I met through recovery addiction to me saying she was ready to leave her pimp and return to her programs was raised in a brothel where his family. But her young daughter was staying in apartments with grandmother was the ‘madam.’ There was no other trafficked women, and the mother was afraid to pick her male role model in his life. As a boy, all he daughter up. saw was prostitution—happening in the same “I went with the mother to the apartments where the women rooms where he grew up. babysat her daughter. We took the girl and as many of her pos“As he got older, he developed a drug sessions as we could carry. addiction. Whenever he needed money, he “But just as we were leaving, the mother’s pimp arrived in his went back to that lifestyle. He called it his car. I recognized him from many recovery meetings I had orga‘downfall.’ The need to use drugs made him nized in the community. also traffic women. It was the only lifestyle he “His license plate read ‘COMFORT,’ the name he used at the knew. He would find women, rent an apartmeetings. The mother told me that she had met Comfort at a ment, set it up to get ‘johns’ in there, and make recovery meeting. his money. When he no longer needed the “I know he recognized me from the meetings too, but he did room, he was gone before the police or anyone not try to stop us from leaving. I was so angry to realize this could find out what he was doing. person was picking up women who were looking for help with “This man had done horrible things and was their addiction. But at the same time, I was happy to help this deeply involved in trafficking. But since birth, he woman leave the life.” has been a victim of human trafficking too.”

”

SEPTEMBER 2017

FAITH in ACTION

Does anyone care? “ Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise that every human life is of inestimable value.”

— BISHOP DESMOND TUTU

A drink from The Well It was Jenny’s idea. “No one who comes to The Well* should have to drink from a paper cup,” she said. “It’s so temporary. So disposable. So impersonal. No. Every woman who comes to The Well has her own personalized mug. She can design it and make it herself.” The first time a woman visits, she receives a plain, white, ceramic mug and a set of permanent markers. She can use the markers to decorate the mug any way she wants; with flowers, butterflies, balloons, and most important—her name. Usually, it’s a pretty novel experience. One woman said, “Wow! I haven’t done arts and crafts since I was a kid.” The women always warm to the idea. Their creativity comes out. They smile. They can’t wait to see the finished product. When the decorating is finished, Jenny “cooks” the mug and it becomes a permanent, personalized reminder that a woman can use every time she comes to The Well. Hopefully, it’s a small sign that this is one place where she belongs and is welcome. Each mug is as unique as the woman who made it. January came to The Well only a few times before she got out of the life, went home, and reconnected with her family. We all stayed in touch with her via Facebook. One day, we saw some pictures she had posted. The first one showed January and her grandson, smiling happily. The next picture showed them having a great time doing arts and crafts together. The final picture showed a finished craft project—his own, personalized, ceramic mug. Sometimes, love can be a work of art. * “The Well” is a day center in Portland, Maine where, once a week, a few women drop by the Salvation Army’s Portland Citadel Corps for coffee and conversation. Jenny Clark is the anti–human trafficking ministries coordinator for the corps.

It all started so innocently for Kelly. She met him on the internet and they became friends. They chatted all the time and got to know each other. He made her feel special. He sent her gifts. After a while, he told her he wanted to meet her in person. He convinced her to visit him. He even sent her a plane ticket so she could fly out to meet him. She had no one in her life who cared enough about her to be concerned. No one warned her or told her to be careful. No one urged her not to go. No one noticed she was gone. He met her at the airport, brought her home, and said he loved her. Then he raped her, turned her out, and forced her to sell herself to earn him money. She was shocked. She was afraid. She didn’t want to do it. But she had to; he made her; she didn’t have a choice. One day, she managed to escape and run to the police. They sent her home by bus. Later, she testified in court and helped to put him behind bars. She’s still trying to put her life back together, to make sense of what happened to her, and to convince herself that she’s not a bad person. It wasn’t her fault that this happened to her. She didn’t deserve it. The nightmares still occur from time to time. She’s afraid to be in big crowds. She’s afraid to be alone. She struggles with anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She’s not sure whom she can trust. Sometimes, she can’t believe this happened to her. She wonders if it was all a bad dream. Recently, Kelly got word that her trafficker was released from prison. Now, she lives in fear that he’ll come looking for her; that he’ll want revenge. He knows where she lives. Maybe he’ll try to traffic her again. She looks over her shoulder. She doesn’t sleep. She wonders, why did this happen to me? Will this ever end? Does anyone care? The acts of love demonstrated by The Salvation Army at The Well, New Home, and many other places prove that there are people who care about Kelly and the many other women, men, girls, and boys who have been victims of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

—stories by Lt. Colonel Patricia LaBossiere

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2017 SEPTEMBER

ON file

Freedom for the Long ago the prophet Isaiah said, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor” (Isaiah 61:1–3). Jesus began His public ministry by declaring these same words. “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:16-21).

CLEAR INTENTIONS

OUR CALLING

From the start, Jesus made His intentions clear. He had come to save the lost and broken. His ministry was to the lonely, the sick, the poor, and the outcast. He reached out in mercy to people who had no hope. He touched the untouchable. He ministered to those who were most in need of compassion: the blind man, lepers, the sinful woman, the tax collector, the woman at the well, and Gentiles. He calls us to do the same. All throughout His word, in both the Old Testament and New Testament, we read of God’s direction to reach out and minister to people in need.  “ Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” —Isaiah 1:17  “ … loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke … set the oppressed free and break every yoke … share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, clothe them and do not turn away from your own flesh and blood...”

From the beginning, Salvationists have been committed to bring the Gospel to the people and to care for their material needs. William Booth said, “You cannot warm the hearts of people with God’s love if they have an empty stomach and cold feet.” He also asked, “What is the use of preaching the Gospel to men (and women) whose whole attention is concentrated upon a mad, desperate struggle to keep themselves alive?” (emphasis added). Our calling is to minister to the whole person. Our mission is justice. Our commitment to God and to holiness compels us to reach out with compassion—especially to the outcasts of society. Anne Voskamp says, “When the Church isn’t for the suffering and broken, then the Church isn’t for Christ. Because

—Isaiah 58:6&7

 “ … do away with the yoke of oppression … spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed …” —Isaiah 58:9–10

“ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” —Micah 6:8

 “ Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” —Matthew 25:40

SEPTEMBER 2017

wholly living

Captives by Lt. Colonel Patricia LaBossiere

Jesus always moves into places moved with grief. Jesus always seeks out where the suffering is, and that’s where Jesus stays. The wound in His side proves that Jesus is always on the side of the suffering, the wounded, the busted, the broken” (The Broken Way). As General André Cox so urgently stated, “God is calling us to go out into the communities where we are placed to be shining lights, to be salt and light in the world. We need to be a mobilized Army. So what’s holding us back from standing up and taking this world for Jesus?”

HOW TO HELP Not everyone is called to reach out specifically to victims of human trafficking, but there are other ways to support this ministry. Here are some ways you can become involved: ❑ Pray ❑ Educate yourself on the issue and inform others. ❑D onate money or needed items such as toiletries, clothing, underwear, diapers, bedding, and food. ❑ S upport legislation that fights human trafficking and helps victims. ❑ Volunteer at a shelter. ❑R esearch what is already being done in your community and ask if you can help. ❑V olunteer your professional services, such as legal services, tattoo removal, medical care, immigration advice, ESL classes, GED preparation, child care, and job training or apprenticeship. Everyone can do something. As Christine Caine says, “Christ in us transforms the world through us. Just as He did while He physically walked this earth, Christ in us reaches out to broken people in a broken world. Through us He feeds the hungry, heals the sick, befriends the lonely, gives hope to the hopeless, and saves the lost. He loves this world through meeting needs” (Unstoppable).

HOW TO PRAY

If you feel especially led to pray about the issue of Human Trafficking, here are some guidelines to get you started: Pray for the victims—that they will be freed from bondage and restored, that their needs will be met and they will be re– acclimated into society, that they will be healed of the physical and emotional wounds they have suffered, that they will know they are children of God who deserve to be loved and treasured, and pray that they will hear and respond to the gospel message. “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Pray for people who are in ministry with this population for their own wellbeing; for resources to continue and expand the work; for cooperation among churches, agencies, law enforcement, and others; that God will prosper these ministries and restore many victims. “Blessed are those who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right” (Psalm 106:3). Pray for the breakdown of the sex industry—for closure of all establishments and pornography sites, for the arrest and conviction of pimps and traffickers, for repentance of sex buyers and reduction of demand, for God to convict the hearts of traffickers and transform their lives. “The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed” (Psalm 103:6).

ON file

testimony

Healing Both Sides by Kasie Robbins

When I was a victim of human

trafficking, my nickname was “Ghost.” I would disappear. I never stayed in one place or did one thing for too long. Growing up feeling alienated from children my own age, I began to look for connections with others through drug abuse and sex. Those connections became dangerous relationships with older men. I believed that if I gave that part of myself, it would lead to their love and acceptance of me. I never realized that I was drawing myself closer to others who were just as broken as I was. In my 17 years as a prostitute, I was beaten, burned, and threatened by men who promised to cut my face open so everyone would know I “belonged” to them and no one would ever want me again. I‘d run away—disappear like a ghost—only to find myself back and caught up in the lifestyle again. When I had my children taken from me, I was broken. I begged the men running my life to kill me, taunting them to pull the trigger as they pointed guns at my head. But this made them want to be with me even more. I opened a Bible for the first time in jail. I learned that God is so much bigger than everything that has happened in my life, and more powerful than anyone who has hurt me. Today, I work with girls who want to get off the street and I run recovery homes for them. I work with churches and ministries that seek to help women who were in my position. If I would have had someone from a church come and pray with me, I wonder how different my life would have been.

SEPTEMBER 2017

FAMILIAR COMFORT Prostitution and human trafficking are not like you see them on TV. No one wakes up and decides this is what they want to be. It begins with needing little favors, such as food for your children or rent for your apartment. It’s years of slowly giving up control of your life. The pimp, the drug dealer, and the prostitute all feed off “familiar comfort.” Why do they engage in behavior that hurts so many lives? Because to them, it is familiar. They are comfortable in it. They can’t fail at it because they’ve been doing it for so long. Being around “johns” was easy for me. I had manipulated my mind to think this was normal. The thought of leaving was scary and triggered emotions. I wanted to run back to what I knew. But like anything I’ve done in life, I’ve improved when I left my comfort zone. My mind was my biggest opponent. It took me years to cry about what I was doing; I was numb to it, convinced that all I would ever be was a prostitute. But I knew my children loved me, and they had forgiven me. I knew God loved me, and He had forgiven me. I thought, why should I not also forgive myself?

ENDING CONTROL The fight to end human trafficking is not against flesh and blood, but rather against the mentality of control. That control allows a man to force a woman to lower her moral standards. It comes in many forms, such as a pimp making a victim sell herself on the street, or a married man who forces his wife to sleep with him when she doesn’t want to. In both situations, control is key.

Even people who have never been part of human trafficking can help cure the mentality of control. The phrase “It is easier to raise strong children than to fix broken men” is never truer than when you teach a boy to respect girls. If a man talks to his son about respecting his mother and the son sees that dad treats her as his equal, he is more likely to respect the women in his life when he is older. I grew up never knowing what love was from a man; I thought how the pimp spoke to his women was how a man was supposed to speak.

FORGIVENESS BEGINS My children and I pray to God for the people who have hurt us. So many of the women that I work with are so angry at their pimps and traffickers, and it destroys them from within. I try to tell them, there was once someone in that person’s life that they loved and trusted, and taught them that this type of behavior was acceptable. They could not control what happened to them, so they grew up trying to control others. Everyone typically reaches out to the women, because there are ways to spot a victim. But when you look deeper and you find what is broken in the trafficker, you break the chain. That’s how you stop human trafficking—you reach out, heal, and forgive—both sides.

ON file

great moments

Modern Babylon Revisited The Salvation Army’s War on Human Trafficking by Nealson Munn

In 1885, decades before he became the second General of The Salvation Army, Bramwell Booth and his wife, Florence Soper Booth, were young officers ministering in London. Through their work with poor young women, they became aware of the scale of human trafficking in Victorian England. Horrified by these “terrible revelations,” as Florence wrote, the Booths worked with an investigative journalist named W.T. Stead to devise a provocative way to publicize their discovery. The result was one of the most remarkable episodes in Army history. England in the late 19th century was notably reform–minded, but also characterized by decorous reserve and a high level of self–regard. It required an extraordinary effort to convince genteel Londoners that human trafficking was taking place in their midst. Rebecca Jarrett, a Salvationist and former prostitute, contacted her old colleagues, who helped Stead and the Booths “buy” Eliza Armstrong, a 13–year–old girl. Bramwell transported Armstrong across the English Channel and placed her in the care of a Salvationist family in France. Stead then wrote a polemical, multi–volume exposé entitled The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon. The title implied that Victorian England was morally equivalent to civilizations such as Babylon and Ancient Greece, with young women sacrificed as tribute to “the maw of the London Minotaur.” In The Maiden Tribute, Stead recounted the purchase of Armstrong, arguing that the episode demonstrated how easy it was to buy and traffic a young girl without detection. Respectable society, he wrote, lay in sleepy ignorance of such crimes.

The Maiden Tribute created a furor, directly leading to the passage of legislation raising the age of consent and criminalizing procurement for prostitution. However, the tactic of staging a crime, simply to prove how easily it could be done, was and remains controversial. Stead, Jarrett, and Bramwell Booth were eventually tried for assault and abduction, with Stead and Jarrett both serving prison sentences. During the events surrounding the publication of The Maiden Tribute, members of the Army employed three approaches that remain central to its response to human trafficking. AWARENESS: Like most Victorians, Bramwell and Florence Booth were initially ignorant of England’s sex trade. As Florence heard the stories of the young women she met, she became distressed and cried herself to sleep. “I tried to console her by suggesting that the stories were probably exaggerated,” Bramwell wrote in his memoir Echoes and Memories. Bramwell’s initial skepticism, bordering on willful ignorance regarding this topic, was typical of the time. However, the Booths’ empathy and dogged curiosity ultimately captured the nation’s attention. ENGAGEMENT: Crucially, the Army of the 1880s did not work alone. Although he was not a Salvationist, W.T. Stead’s fiery moral attitude and sense of showmanship were a perfect fit for the Army. (He wore his prison uniform on the anniversary of his imprisonment.) Without Stead’s writings in a prominent newspaper, the Army’s

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W.T. Stead pictured with his exposé.

work could not have effected legislative change. Similarly, Stead and the Booths could only execute their plan with the help of Rebecca Jarrett, who provided access to a criminal network. Salvationists today work with a wide range of contacts. In an online video, Major Estelle Blake counsels, “We need to network with different agencies, different churches, anybody who’s involved in the fight, to find out how we can work together to combat it.” FEARLESSNESS: Several participants in the “Armstrong Affair” served prison sentences. Although polite society was scandalized to learn of the sex trade of young girls, some anger was also directed toward Stead, Jarrett, and the Booths for their methods. Today, Salvationists committed to this fight recognize that engaging such an issue may anger people who would support the cause in principle. Misperceptions such as “Trafficking doesn’t happen here” and “There’s nothing I can do about it” are commonplace. Success requires fearlessness and a willingness to invite controversy in order to effect social change, as The Salvation Army did in 1885.

2017 SEPTEMBER

finds

facts you didn’t know about

10HUMAN TRAFFICKING Human Trafficking is the third largest international crime industry in the world. The International Labor Organization estimates that it generated about $150 billion in 2012, with two–thirds of that amount tied to sexual exploitation.

La trata humana es la tercera industria criminal más grande a nivel mundial. La Organización Mundial del Trabajo estima que generó cerca de $150 mil millones en 2012, con dos tercios de ese monto proveniente de la explotación sexual. (source: www.humanrightsfirst.org/resource/human-trafficking-numbers)

Three of the highest child human trafficking areas in the U.S. are in

CALIFORNIA:

Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego.

TRES de las áreas urbanas que registran mayores índices de trata infantil en los EUA están en

CALIFORNIA: Los Ángeles, San Francisco y San Diego.

12 y los 14 anos de edad. THE AVERAGE AGE A TEEN ENTERS THE SEX TRADE IN THE U.S. IS

12 to 14 years old. (source: “Human Trafficking Into and Within the United States: A Review of the Literature.” aspe.hhs.gov/report/human-trafficking-and-within-united-states-review-literature)

SEPTEMBER 2017

(source: caseact.org/about/)

The National Human Trafficking Hotline

in the U.S. has received over 31,600 reports of human trafficking in the last eight years. Today, they

average about 100 calls per day. La Línea de Emergencia Nacional de Trata Humana en los EUA ha recibido más de 31.600 denuncias de trata humana en los últimos ocho años. En la actualidad, el

promedio es de 100 denuncias por día. (source: Polarisproject.org/facts)

paint texture: iStock; maps: Free Vector Maps .com

EL ADOLESCENTE PROMEDIO INGRESA AL MERCADO DEL SEXO EN LOS EUA ENTRE LOS

600,000 to 800,000

people are trafficked across the U.S. border every year. Eighty percent are female, and half are children.

Los estudios muestran que en la actualidad se trafica a alrededor de 21 millones de personas en todo el mundo. El continente con los mayores

índices de trata humana es Asia, donde las víctimas alcanzan los 11,7 millones.

There are an estimated 21 million people trafficked around the world today. The continent with the highest number of

600.000 y 800.000

personas son traficadas de un lado a otro de la frontera de los EUA cada año. Ochenta por ciento de ellas son mujeres y la mitad son niños.

human trafficking victims is Asia, with 11.7 million.

(source: unicefusa.org)

(source: www.state.gov/documents/organization/34158.pdf)

Aun cuando las mujeres constituyen el 98 por ciento de las víctimas de la trata humana, alrededor de

400.000 hombres y niños

también son víctimas de la trata humana en el mundo en la actualidad. Though women make up 98 percent of human trafficking victims, there are about

400,000 men and boys being trafficked in the world today. (source: humantraffickingcenter.org/men-boys/)

$90

Globally, the average cost of a person in human trafficking is A nivel global, el costo promedio de una víctima de la trata humana es de

www.freetheslaves.net/average-cost-to-buy-a-person-today-90/

The U.S. Department of State estimates that only

0.4 percent of human trafficking victims have been identified. El Departamento de Estado de los EUA estima que sólo el

0,4 por ciento de las víctimas de trata humana han sido identificadas. (source: www.caseact.org/learn/humantrafficking/)

THE SALVATION ARMY’S EFFORTS

to fight human trafficking in the U.S. began in the late 1800s, when it opened homes for women and children caught in organized sexual exploitation. Within 30 years, there were 117 Rescue Homes. In later years, the Army’s efforts to combat human trafficking were a major catalyst in the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885, which raised the age of consent from 13 to 16.

LOS ESFUERZOS DEL EJÉRCITO DE SALVACIÓN

en la lucha contra la trata humana en los EUA comenzaron hacia fines los años 1800, cuando inauguró hogares para mujeres y niños que habían sido rescatados de la industria organizada de la explotación sexual. Al cabo de 30 años, ya había 117 Hogares de Rescate. Años después, los esfuerzos del Ejército de Salvación para combatir la trata humana fueron un importante catalizador que llevó a la aprobación de la Enmienda de la Ley Criminal de 1865, que elevó la edad de consentimiento sexual de 13 a 16 años. (source: www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/combating-human-trafficking)

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2017 SEPTEBMER

finds

Fight Human Trafficking on your phone

Get Help.

The popularity of cell phone apps has made it easier to educate people about the signs of human trafficking and help them report those signs to authorities. Below are four free informative apps that will help smartphone owners report the signs of trafficking. The STOP App www.stopthetraffik.org/uk/page/the-stop-app With the STOP app, anyone with a cell phone can anonymously report details of suspected human trafficking events to a global grassroots movement working with local communities and other organizations. Upload photos, detailed descriptions of suspected trafficking, and read information on what to look for before reporting. Redlight Traffic www.redlighttraffic.org/app Redlight Traffic educates users on the signs of human trafficking, and allows information on people, businesses, or vehicles involved in human trafficking to be reported. The website redlightraffic.org is also a valuable resource for reading real stories from survivors, learning useful facts, and sharing information through social media. SA Justice www.daniellestrickland.com/projects/sa-justice/ SA Justice is a program from The Salvation Army USA Western Territory, which informs and inspires people to initiate social justice. The app offers information on how to identify and help victims and provides access to Army programs designed to combat human trafficking, such as, “We Will Not Be Silent” and “Stop the Traffik.” To download the app, search for SA Justice in the Apple App store or on Google Play. Ban Human Trafficking banhumantrafficking.com/en/play-the-game This is an interactive text adventure game that will help the player recognize the different types and stages of trafficking — recruitment, exploitation, and recovery. The game shows how anyone, regardless of gender, age, resident status, or financial situation can be caught up in human trafficking. The apps are available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

SEPTEMBER 2017

Report a ti p. Request S ervices.

hum an t r a f

f ic k in g h o t

line.org

Human tra fficking is a form of mo This crime dern– day s occurs wh lavery. e n a trafficker or coercion uses force to control a , fraud, nother pers of engagin on for the p g in comm urpose ercial sex a or services cts or solic against his iting labor or her will.

International Anti–Trafficking Day of Prayer Every year, The Salvation Army sets aside the last Sunday in September to focus on the plight of trafficked people. This year, it’s Sunday, September 24.

S AND UP

Annual Day of Prayer for

VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING Sunday 24 September 2017

Resources for the International Day of Prayer for Victims of Human Trafficking 2017 are available on The Army’s website, www.salvationarmy.org. A variety of posters featuring this year’s theme, “Stand Up for Justice” are available in English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. To create further translations locally, there’s also a poster without words. A Bible study, sermon outline, prayer, video resource, and materials for children enrich these resources. Content from previous years is available at sar.my/aht.

Susan is making a difference… and so can you. – Susan Trubiano & Zek

Your simple acts of kindness change lives even when you don’t realize it. Your gestures take on a life of their own when you reach out to others. Some affect the “here and now,” but others are acts that reach out to children not yet born.

Like Susan, You can leave a legacy that transforms By the simple act of remembering The Salvation Army in your will or estate plan you will provide love and support to future generations . . . to future victims of hurricanes and floods, to the hungry, the homeless and the abused. Your gift can be the channel for God’s grace.

Yes, please send me free information about a gift through my will or estate plan.

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