Episode 75

#75. Can I Protect My Child from Becoming a Human Trafficking Victim?: An Answer Christian Parents Can't Afford to Miss with Rescue 1 Global Founders Daniel and Lacy Tolar

Daniel and Lacy Tolar continue to open the eyes of Christian parents as they unveil the horrific realities of the human and sex trafficking industries. They challenge our perception of safety, but they also describe how we can train and equip our children to be discerning and to flee from compromising, dangerous pitfalls. We believe an "Again" we are called to as biblical mothers is to protect our children from harmful influences. We may not have complete control, but we are called to be vigilant. Moms may be shocked by the answer Daniel and Lacy provide, but it is one worth taking to heart.

Ending human trafficking is about rescue, restoration, and prevention. We pray Christian parents find direction and discernment to lead in righteousness. Be empowered and equipped to prevent your children from becoming victims.

Rescue 1 Global

Transcript
Stephanie:

They're the joyful agains our children.

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Shout on the swings, the exhausting

agains of cooking and laundry and

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the difficult agains of discipline.

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So much of what we do

as mothers is on repeat.

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So what if we woke up with clarity,

knowing which agains we were called to.

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And went to bed believing we are

faithful in what matters most.

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We believe God's word is

the key to untangle from the

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confusion and overwhelm we feel.

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Let's look up together to embrace a

motherhood full of freedom and joy.

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Welcome back to the Again podcast

from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm your host, Stephanie Hickox, and today

you'll be hearing another portion of our

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incredible conversation with Rescue One

Global Founders, Lacey and Daniel Toler.

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And entrusted with the child's

heart author, Betsy Corning.

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In this portion, they're answering

the question, I'm sure we're all

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thinking, how can I protect my

child from human trafficking?

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Their response will probably

shock you, but it's an answer

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we can't afford to miss.

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We're so grateful for the work

that they're doing and we pray that

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you'll consider partnering with

them, but we also want this to be a

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benefit to you and to your family.

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Although we can't have complete control

we do believe that this is an, again,

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God calls us to, to diligently protect

our children from harmful influences

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may this insightful conversation bring

you direction and guidance to that end.

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As with our previous portion of

the conversation, we recommend that

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children not listen along with you.

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There are definitely some sections

that could be beneficial for teens and

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older children, but we think it's best

that you listen first and determine

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what's ideal for your children to hear.

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To learn more about Rescue One

Global, you can head to their website,

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rescue the number one global.com.

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There's really something each

of us can do to contribute.

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Betsy/Daniel/Lacy: I'm sure every mother

here Has got a heavy heart listening to

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all the things that you went through.

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Now it's interesting to say that you're

not really breaking down doors to get

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to these girls or having to pull them

out of cars as did happen to you once,

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but you're going to motels and knocking

on doors and helping people that might

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be in some desperate situation there.

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But is that where The most of these

trafficked people are actually

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living and do you go to you?

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So you're saying you go to the

same motels week after week.

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That's a great question The actual

number one way that trafficking happens

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in our world today Which this is when

I get to talk to moms It's my favorite

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thing to talk about because I'm a mom

and it's where it hits home to me I

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think you asked the question Betsy early

on about is it has the problem grown?

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For us, we're not actually sure the

problem has grown exponentially as

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much as it's just been uncovered.

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It was so covered and hidden and not

talked about that it didn't have a name

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and it didn't have a definition, but

we can say if it has grown, the reason

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it's grown is because of technology.

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So when I was growing up and when

you were growing up, your mom and dad

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warned you about going to the park and

talking to strangers or being in the

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public and don't talk to strangers.

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So stranger danger, right?

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I really don't teach my eight year

old about stranger danger in public

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the way that I was taught about it.

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Yet I have to talk to my kids about

what's on their phone or their

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tablet or iPad because the number

one way that trafficking happens

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today is that The predator is now

not in the park looking for your kid.

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They're in your bedroom while you're

watching your favorite TV program

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in the living room because they're

on every one of those devices.

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And there are always back doors

and there are so many ways that

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technology, kids, even good kids

with families that love Jesus.

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They can get trapped.

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I have yet to speak at a youth group where

someone from that youth group, when I'm

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done speaking about, what trafficking is

and what it looks like and the dangers

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where I don't have a youth pastor or

a child, a student themselves come up

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to me and say can I talk to you or my

friend, this is something that I think

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is happening to my friend, 100 percent of

the times I've talked to a youth group.

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I've had someone, a contact, even

if it was a, someone outside of the

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youth group, someone walked up to me

and said, I think I need your help.

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I think we need your help.

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My mom, my dad actually in

the:

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a school in South Nashville.

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And we ended up rescuing a young girl.

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She was 19 years old, going to

a local Christian university

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in downtown Nashville.

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And as we were processing her story,

I found out that she had been being

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trafficked since she was in seventh grade.

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And when I asked her, she said, I went

to a small private Christian school.

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I said, Oh, where was that?

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And she told me the name of the school.

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And it was the school that Daniel and I

met in high school at the same school,

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the school that my kids were going to

the school that my dad had started.

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And this was a very good godly place.

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And so I say that.

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Because I want our, your moms that are

listening to this to really know this

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does not affect you just because you have

a dysfunctional family or because you

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live in poverty or you live in whatever.

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All of our kids are

searching for significance.

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All of our kids are looking to be valued.

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All of our kids are trying to find

out who they are and they're 12 and

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13 and their bodies are changing.

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They're struggling with their identity

and they don't understand identity

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in Christ the way that we do, today.

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And so they're looking for someone

online because that's where they're

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spending most of their time.

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The average kid spends 15 hours a

week or so on some type of device.

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Predators know that and they come

in like the best psychologist

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and one of our girls happened her

story was, she was mad at her mom.

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She was in a youth group in a good

church and mom wouldn't let her wear a

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certain skirt and dress a certain way.

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And she posted on her social media

how, because kids actually have

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multiple social media accounts.

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And they use those mom and dad know about

one, and that's the one that they tag

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their family pictures in and all of that.

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And then they have the one that

mom doesn't know about, and

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it has a different name on it.

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And usually a different profile

picture or something like that.

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And that's the one they're posting

how mad they are at mom because she's,

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an old fuddy duddy or, she won't let

me do this or that, or they're too

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strict and legalistic and whatever.

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These predators will.

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Eat up that thing on social media and

they will just absolutely grab that and

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get in that chat room and tell them, I

can't believe your mom is so controlling.

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That's horrible, and they will

start to build that relationship

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and then that small relationship

will turn into something else.

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This 19 year old that I was

referencing that we rescued.

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That's how it started.

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This man who was what we found out to

be in his 40s posed as a 14 year old boy

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originally as her friend on Facebook and

they began to chat and he asked her to

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take an inappropriate photo of herself.

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and it wasn't an extreme inappropriate

but just a small inappropriate photo.

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And that led to a complete sex tortion for

the next seven years of her life, ended up

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turning into videos and she had to do it.

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And he was selling those

as child pornography.

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70 percent of traffic victims will

tell you that they made pornography

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while they were being trafficked.

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And And with AI, that even scares me more.

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That's, new in the neck.

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last year, you post kids.

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if you take these pictures of yourself at

the beach with your family, and you think

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it's innocent a child predator can take

that and AI, take that photo and use it

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and make a pornography image out of that.

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Things like that.

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And so I tell moms and dads, You are

not supposed to be your child's friend.

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You are their protector and provider.

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You're their nurturer.

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And you should know their passwords.

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You should know there are apps out

there that look like a calculator

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if you opened up the child's phone.

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But if you clicked the certain

buttons on that calculator, it opened

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up the hidden apps that your child

doesn't want you to know about.

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And I wanted to bring that

out today because that's how

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our good kids get trapped.

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Okay, explain that again.

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How a parent would be able

to See those apps again.

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What would they do?

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So you should know all of your kids

passwords and you I tell my kids I own

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your phone Your phone is not your phone.

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Your phone is my phone and I love you

enough that you can be mad at me But I

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also know how dark this side of the world

is that I am going to do this to protect

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you and so as my kids have gotten older

they understand now obviously because

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of what we do that they're not afraid of

us getting in and Even if they're having

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inappropriate or not great conversations

that have nothing to do with trafficking,

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I'm able to catch it and talk to them

about it and go, Hey, how do you think

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this makes the heart of God feel when

we're having this type of inappropriate

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conversation and how inappropriate

conversations can seem innocent, but

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what is, What does God think about that?

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Or how should we feel about that or

whatever the conversation is, it opens up

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the door for me to be in that kid's world.

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So what I was saying is there are apps

and they look similar to a calculator.

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All of us have on our smartphone, we

have a calculator app and it just looks

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like the front of a main calculator.

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And when you click on it, it

actually works like a calculator.

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But if they put on the calculator

pad, a certain code that they come up

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with it actually hides apps behind it.

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So if they have other fake profiles

on their accounts, you can see that,

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they can, you can block on Instagram

or Facebook or all the other things.

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You can block anybody from

seeing that other account.

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And so our kids settings are set

to where when they create another

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uh, we get a notification because I

want to know what my kids are doing.

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And my kids, we love Jesus and

we have a great family, but my

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kids have tried to be sneaky.

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And when we find that they've done

something, dad, especially with the

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boys has conversations and says, Hey,

I love you enough that we're going

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to talk about this, and get to the

heart of that child because we're

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not out for behavior modification.

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We're out for the heart of that child

because that's what God's after.

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And Speaking to godly Christian

parents, that's always my biggest

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thing is your technology is the number

one way these kids are trafficked.

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They're not grabbed on the side of

the road the way our daughter was.

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That's the smallest percentage of ways.

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The other next percentage of

ways is the way we go out on the

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streets and find them in the hotels

and motels they've already had.

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That's those are for people who've had

a really hard life and life has already

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swept them up into trauma and tragedy.

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But the largest percentage, it

comes from all of our online use.

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I think it's also interesting We're

talking about human trafficking.

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There's so many different types

of human trafficking also.

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So we've been talking about the, the sex

industry and that sort of trafficking,

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but there's many different types.

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What other types are there?

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Coercing people to work or So there

are really two types of trafficking.

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That's it.

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There's only two.

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There's labor trafficking and

there's sex trafficking, but there

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are Like, categories of trafficking

underneath each one of those.

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We have labor laws, obviously, in the U.

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S.

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that says you can only work

a certain amount of hours.

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You must be paid, certain amounts

of wages for those things.

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A lot of labor trafficking

and sex trafficking in foreign

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countries are tied together.

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Those that are come here with, we have

a lot of foreigners who are now in

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our country and In Nashville or around

the country when we see foreigners to

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have come here and being trafficked

Typically, they're being trafficked the

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same way they were in their original

home country And so we've had to learn

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the different types of what trafficking

looks like in those different cultures

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and communities but in sex trafficking

You, anything, the definition is

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basically any sex act of any type that

is exchanged for anything of value.

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It doesn't even have to be money.

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Some of our girls, their first

ever trafficking experience was

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over a cheeseburger at McDonald's.

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Ran away from home, got on the streets

for a night, and after 24 hours,

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they're hungry and cold and scared.

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And some guy swoops in they just know,

it's like that intuition these predators

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know, somebody that they should pursue.

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Oh my gosh, you shouldn't be

out on the street by yourself.

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Are you hungry?

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Let me just take you across the

street to McDonald's, get you

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a hamburger whatever you want.

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And then they make them feel comfortable.

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And then they're like, Hey, you want

to just, why don't you just get in the

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car and chill and be warm and whatever.

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And so that's, that coercion, but it

all has manipulation and coercion,

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whether it's the technology that I

just talked about or on the side of

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the street those are the two main ways.

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But pornography.

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is made by mainly sex trafficking victims.

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That's a sex, there are sex acts.

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Most of the girls will tell us that

there was a gun, or that drug that they

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needed to numb their pain, or their

food was behind the camera when they

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were forced to make that, photo shoot.

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The first ever child that we rescued

in Tennessee, she was 16 years old.

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She had been brought from Ohio.

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And she was trafficked and she didn't

even realize that they were taking their

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photos that they were taking of her.

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She thought they were for a modeling

job and they took them and then they put

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them out online to sell her as, for sex.

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And she just thought she was being

told to be pretty in lingerie and

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she was 16 and it was her birthday

and she was brought here by a friend.

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And then she ended up

being sold within 24 hours.

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So the.

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The manipulation and coercion has to

happen, but anything of value that's

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traded for that sex act, like I said,

it could be as small as a cheeseburger.

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That, by definition,

becomes human trafficking.

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You do not have to move someone across

state lines or across the country or city.

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It can happen in their own homes.

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You have another portion of that.

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That's called OSEC, online

sexual exploitation of children.

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And that happens a lot in our Filipino

and our Asian cultures, especially the

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Filipinos because Filipinos can speak

English and you'll see a little hut with

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a dirt floor, but they've got a satellite

up there and they can take those images.

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And A predator gets online and

says, I want to see this and

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they describe what they want.

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And they'll do it with that child in

front of the camera, no matter what

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age they are, and then broadcast

that out and it'll be sold.

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And so that child never left their home.

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These are their aunts, their moms,

their uncles, their brothers, their

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sisters, and they're in survival

mode and they're doing that.

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It's still wrong and it still

changes that child's life.

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So there is also the labor side of that.

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And so through our Southern border, you've

got agricultural labor that comes as well.

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And then you've got servitude, which,

so you have domestic domestic servitude.

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So you have people who are

housekeepers or nannies or some

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type of chef or cleaner in homes.

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We know of.

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In just the last couple of years, upwards

of 600, 000 Filipinos that are domestic

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servants in the northern part of the U.

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S.

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New York, Delaware

Connecticut, those areas.

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And most of them, they came here

legally and then they were now

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working under the table cash.

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And then their visas

expire and the individuals.

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pay them low wages, and typically

if they live in low accommodations.

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And so that occurs as well.

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And we see that in Thailand

and the Philippines as well,

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but we also see that here.

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And some of the things that we

have experienced from California

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to Nashville is labor trafficking.

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In the agricultural field, families

will come here to be farmers or work

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some construction, but mainly farming.

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And they won't make enough money because

they're promised a wage and that wage

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is never delivered at that level.

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It's usually lower.

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Always lower.

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And moms and daughters will be sex

trafficked to make up the difference.

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Whether it's for the

organization or for the family.

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And so now you have a collision

of both labor and sex that

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occurs even in our country.

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We've had several young girls in our

safe homes that was their scenario.

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And then even older Mom and

dads were working the fields.

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The daughter was being trafficked.

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Yeah.

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And then even in from people coming in

from either Minnesota or New York came to

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Nashville, they were of Chinese descent.

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They came here because they thought

they were going to get a job some

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type of labor, some type of work.

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And it always is they put them in

massage parlors, massage parlor, they'll

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put them in a restaurant and then the

restaurant doesn't make enough money.

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So at night they'll sex them out.

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To make up the difference, but let me

give you really quickly because it's

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really important human trafficking is

always wrapped up in other crimes You'd

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almost never have human trafficking

as a standalone crime And so the

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definition of human trafficking, I like

to break it down into three parts For

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it to be a human trafficking case and

not just some other crime something

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that's involved with drugs or abuse

or even rape or something like that.

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You have to have one action,

one means, and one purpose.

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And so the definition goes like

this human trafficking is the

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recruitment, transportation transfer,

harboring, or the receipt of persons.

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That's the action taking place.

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Okay?

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That's how you're getting them.

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By means of how do you do those things?

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You're using threat.

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force, coercion, which is a

fancy word for manipulation.

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And how many of us in our life

have been manipulated to do

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something we didn't want to do?

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It's really that simple.

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Abduction, fraud, and deception.

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Those are the means that a

trafficker will use to get them.

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And then the purpose is obviously the

two main purpose of exploitation is

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in forms of sexual or forced labor.

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And so that is the global

definition of human trafficking.

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And so that's how the law

enforcement looks at it.

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And so we said we're going

to look at it the same way.

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And that's how we distinguish.

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Who fits in our category of trafficking

and who fits in other categories that

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we need to get them help from other

non profits or other agencies, social

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work agencies that can help them with

the needs that they find themselves in.

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But let me read you really quickly

because you asked for the list.

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The list for sex trafficking

is forced prostitution.

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I'll say that very tongue in cheek.

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We don't ever actually use the word

prostitute anymore in our language.

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In our 15 years, we've never found

one woman who woke up one day and

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said, I want to be a prostitute

as a career choice in my life.

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What you find is there's life

circumstances put them in something,

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either their own bad choices,

but someone else did that forced

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fraud, coercion, that manipulation

that got them into the rest of it.

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And then they think they're

stuck and they can't get out.

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So we call it forced prostitution.

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Obviously, I've already spoken towards

pornography strip clubs, we just rescued

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a girl about two weeks ago out of a

strip club in the Georgia area, mail

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order brides, that happens a lot from our

foreigners that are brought here, and even

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overseas, live sex shows, those are the

red light districts, or, Vegas is actually

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one of the places that still it's Not

illegal in the country here sex tourism.

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Did you know that a lot of our places,

red light districts in places like

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Thailand or the Philippines actually came.

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So I also write the word military

prostitution down here, right with

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that, because most of the red light

districts came from when our military

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was stationed around the world.

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And it's been documented that when

our military, whether it's European

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or American all together, go the level

of trafficking, they actually will

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bus girls into that area for their.

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There are in our time, but yeah, just

tens of thousands up to millions.

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And so the red light districts we now

go into in the country of Thailand,

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for instance, or in the Philippines,

when you find their originations, you

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find that's where we docked our ship.

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transcripts during the wars

and it created the demand.

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So we called, talk about supply

and demand in the business world.

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And so that's part of that.

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And then familial, I described

some of that familial trafficking.

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Actually one of our survivors she

is from here in, in north Nashville.

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She was sold by her parents.

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The lack of education and poverty outside

of the sexual addiction are some of the

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really reasons why a lot of kids are

trafficked or people are trafficked.

367

:

We have gang, obviously gangs use sex

trafficking as a thing, pimp controlled.

368

:

And then the biggest thing

is that survival sex.

369

:

We find girls who, Fell down on their

luck about something and they got stuck.

370

:

And that's where they get stuck in that

trap and they think it's the only way out,

371

:

but I'll do it this one time so that I can

get enough money to get to the next thing.

372

:

And then they find themselves trapped

over and over again inside of that.

373

:

And yeah we actually have about

four women right now on outreach

374

:

that we're serving, that we know

that is their specific situation.

375

:

Like their story.

376

:

Yeah.

377

:

And we keep offering the,

a new way and a new out.

378

:

And I had one say.

379

:

I've been doing this for 10 years

and I'm almost ready to get out.

380

:

And I said, why can't that day be today?

381

:

And she said, I'm just not ready.

382

:

She said, there's something in my brain

that just won't let me, I'm afraid.

383

:

She said, I'm more afraid

to leave than I am to stay.

384

:

It's just, it's infuriating.

385

:

It's frustrating.

386

:

It's it makes you want to cry.

387

:

The heart of the Lord.

388

:

Makes you want to cry and

throw up all at the same time.

389

:

Yes.

390

:

I can't imagine the Lord's heart when he

sees it all happening all over the world.

391

:

Daniel, you and I were talking one time

about even the people on the streets that

392

:

may be asking for money may be actually

human trafficked in a way, like how would

393

:

that enter into something like that?

394

:

If you see somebody on the side

of the road asking for money.

395

:

Yeah.

396

:

Over the years, we have

learned different avenues for.

397

:

Traffickers to get people

to make money for them.

398

:

And so in the early days everyone knows

of South, Southwestern, the company that

399

:

puts books together and goes out and they,

those boys usually in college go out and

400

:

sell magazine subscriptions and books.

401

:

They still do it.

402

:

They do it legally.

403

:

They're a good company, but there are

other companies that do the same thing

404

:

and they actually will promise them

these jobs and send them locations.

405

:

Promise them like trips and promise them

trips and all this quota and they'll

406

:

make a lot of money and they never

do, and so we have over the years,

407

:

we have had several calls about those

scenarios, not the company, but other

408

:

organizations that do that as well.

409

:

And yes, because we are.

410

:

some of our bigger cities that

are, have been cities where we've

411

:

received multiple countries or

citizens from other countries here.

412

:

So in Nashville, we have 142 different

languages spoken in our public schools.

413

:

In our public schools.

414

:

And so you have different

cultures, different communities,

415

:

different countries, and.

416

:

The ways that they would like, I think

Lacey even talked about this, some

417

:

of the ways that they would traffic

on sex side, also labor side as well.

418

:

And so you have boys who or girls.

419

:

Who will give out flowers or food or

water and the it's actually trafficking

420

:

rings and even right now in the homeless

communities, we have clusters of

421

:

homeless groups that will just travel

in different locations and you see

422

:

the same people over and over again,

six days, six seven days a week asking

423

:

for money but there's a hierarchy

there's that money goes to one person.

424

:

It's usually the controller.

425

:

And sometimes that guy is not homeless,

but he uses those homeless people.

426

:

And so we see that happening

a lot here around the country.

427

:

And so that's some home

born, but the other.

428

:

When you go into your your ethnic

population, so in Nashville, even

429

:

in Minnesota and New York, you have

Ethiopian populations or Chinese

430

:

populations or Egyptian populations.

431

:

And those also traffic the

same way they did from those

432

:

countries, but they're doing food.

433

:

They're peddling food or they're

peddling some type of snack or

434

:

some type of clothes or flowers.

435

:

And we actually see that

happen here as well.

436

:

What would your response be?

437

:

How do you handle a situation like that

when you're approached by a person?

438

:

We, we have really good relationships

with police, law enforcement, and because

439

:

you can't prove that the controller is

trafficking that child or that individual.

440

:

Hold on.

441

:

If it's a child, Then it's a lot easier

actually to help because a child is

442

:

not supposed to be standing on the

side of a street corner, but you'll

443

:

see some of these girls and they'll

look, you're not sure what age they

444

:

are, but they look really young.

445

:

And so we do what was called a welfare

check and we'll call our local law

446

:

enforcement, Daniel and I, because we're

trained might talk to them ourself and.

447

:

People who work with us would talk

to them themselves, but we also might

448

:

call what's called a welfare check

and have the police just stop by and

449

:

ask them some questions too, to see if

they can get any information from them.

450

:

But trafficking is so hard to prove

that they're just panhandling.

451

:

And unless it's illegal to panhandle,

it's really hard to find that connection

452

:

unless you watch them for a period

of time and watch them go back and

453

:

give the money to someone else.

454

:

Always used to equate it to like

an Oliver Twist type scenario where

455

:

they are, the handler is back.

456

:

He says, I'll feed you and I'll

keep you safe, but you're going

457

:

to bring me all the money.

458

:

And then we're going to live

as a community and we're going

459

:

to survive as a community.

460

:

Nothing new under the sun.

461

:

That's right.

462

:

Yeah, that's absolutely true.

463

:

And yeah, but with that there's

hotlines that you can call.

464

:

We have a hotline that we call

each state has a human trafficking

465

:

hotline or there's a national human

trafficking hotline that you can call

466

:

specifically to report those things.

467

:

But we tell people all the

time, if you suspect something

468

:

odd, you need to say something.

469

:

You need to call the police.

470

:

We, we I probably will, and

I shouldn't, as much as I do,

471

:

will approach those scenarios,

those people, and ask questions.

472

:

Again, I know what I'm looking for

and it's not always the best way.

473

:

You really need law enforcement to be

able to follow up with those things.

474

:

So I would always recommend and call

the police because we're talking

475

:

about the safety of someone's life.

476

:

Yes, and, but now you say that even

drivers cars passing by, seeing somebody

477

:

on the corner may call the police

and say, And report that person and

478

:

the police may look into it and then

eventually it might get down to you.

479

:

And you are familiar with

a lot of those people.

480

:

Do you want to speak to that at all?

481

:

Yes, absolutely.

482

:

I have had two opportunities where

I was actually driving down the road

483

:

and called the human trafficking

hotline here in Tennessee and my

484

:

information got reported up to the

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

485

:

Every state has.

486

:

Every state has their own bureau,

like Georgia Bureau of Investigation

487

:

or Kentucky State Police.

488

:

Every state has their

form of the state police.

489

:

And they did not necessarily know

that it was me that was reporting it.

490

:

And so I get a phone call from

the detective and said, Hey

491

:

we know you're in the area.

492

:

And I was like, Oh,

Hey Jason, it's Daniel.

493

:

And he goes, Oh why are

you calling the hotline?

494

:

I was like cause technically I'm

not supposed to respond to this.

495

:

He said, that's all right.

496

:

He said I need your help.

497

:

So do this.

498

:

And they actually was able to

arrest that family was trafficking.

499

:

A child were brought her to a

McDonald's to sell her for sex.

500

:

And then another scenario was.

501

:

A lady at a very prominent very

wealthy part of town was always

502

:

panhandling and she was taking

money back to the guy at the shell

503

:

station and I called it, reported it.

504

:

And again, I get a phone

call because I'm in the area.

505

:

So the response was, Hey, the

local police does not have time to

506

:

respond to this specific situation.

507

:

They are aware of it.

508

:

Can you get some more information?

509

:

Of course I did.

510

:

But the difficulty is, like Lacey said,

you can't prove that is the trafficker

511

:

and this person's being a victim.

512

:

It takes some time to investigate.

513

:

Both of those scenarios ended up where

the state police did their due diligence

514

:

for the investigation and actually one.

515

:

Recovered that minor and arrested that

family, but also arrested the trafficker

516

:

of the lady who was not only being forced

to panhandle at the street corner, but

517

:

she also was being sexed out at night.

518

:

It's because she didn't meet her quota.

519

:

And that's a good term to understand that.

520

:

Even in this scenario, the victim has

a specific quota, a dollar figure that

521

:

they're required to bring in daily, daily

so they can no longer work, which brings

522

:

up another scenario where you have people

sometimes who are being trafficked.

523

:

We'll figure out a scenario to where

they can recruit somebody else.

524

:

To manage the quotas of them, and

they don't have to serve anymore,

525

:

and so we see that happening a lot.

526

:

And Lacey actually can speak

to some of the details of what

527

:

that looks like in the context.

528

:

There's definitions and scenarios

that go into play specifically on how

529

:

those people control the other girls.

530

:

Yeah, they actually, I won't use

the language because on the streets,

531

:

obviously, their language isn't clean

but they call her a bottom B, and she

532

:

is probably formerly been trafficked

herself, but he's convinced her, I

533

:

won't make you go out and work anymore

if you can find some younger girls to

534

:

take your place, and so she will become

a recruiter, which makes it really

535

:

hard for law enforcement when they,

maybe grab a whole gang of them up.

536

:

Is she a victim or is she, yeah.

537

:

Now a perpetrator.

538

:

And so we work with

them, the answer is both.

539

:

And we work with them to figure

out, the depths of that, but

540

:

that's what makes it hard.

541

:

And so one of the things I didn't

say earlier that I was talking about

542

:

was technology is the main recruiting

tool, but traffickers are going in.

543

:

Did you know, 11 percent of

victims are found in a school.

544

:

And you may ask me as a mom most of

our schools in America are pretty

545

:

safe, especially with all the

gun violence around our country.

546

:

You can't get into a school.

547

:

They're usually locked down, pretty good.

548

:

How is traffickers getting a child

or recruiting them in school?

549

:

And most people think automatically think

the creepy coach or the somebody else.

550

:

No, it's actually other students.

551

:

A lot of scenarios where another child is

experiencing some forms of exploitation

552

:

and abuse somewhere, and they're

recruiting their little girlfriends or

553

:

their friends to get online and make

videos and pictures, or they're getting

554

:

them to go, like this little girl from

Ohio that I was talking about earlier.

555

:

That's what happened.

556

:

Her best friend at school said, Hey,

come with me for your 16th birthday.

557

:

Let's go to Nashville with my

boyfriend who's three years older

558

:

than me and go do this modeling shoot.

559

:

And that's what we're going

to do for your 16th birthday.

560

:

And so so many ways that these

traffickers use to get in and damage

561

:

the hearts of our children, moms

and dads should be very vigilant.

562

:

This is not just for some

scary movie that happens.

563

:

It happens to really good kids with

good moms and dads who love the Lord

564

:

and are doing the best they can.

565

:

A matter of fact, we told the

story of our daughter who was,

566

:

the precipitous of all of this.

567

:

When she got home, some of

her trauma began to come back.

568

:

And when she was 14, she got her

first phone and because she felt ugly.

569

:

And fat and her value in our

own self worth was diminished.

570

:

She was looking for somebody to tell

her she was pretty invaluable and she

571

:

almost was recruited herself after

knowing what we do in our own home.

572

:

So when it can get that close

to my house, I'm really worried

573

:

about everybody else's home.

574

:

It's pretty much the feeling of

every seventh grade girl, right?

575

:

Yes.

576

:

And and when your best friend recruits

you and makes you think that this

577

:

would be something to make you feel

good about yourself or whatever

578

:

it is, it's truly heartbreaking.

579

:

So yes, I've heard of this scenario

where the they recruit their

580

:

friends to do something exciting.

581

:

You would think though that standing

at the corner, we bringing in this

582

:

money that one day you just say no,

I'm not going to do this anymore.

583

:

Why do they feel so beholden To this

other person that, so many kids these days

584

:

are pretty bold too and confront them.

585

:

You'd say you don't own me.

586

:

Do they literally own them?

587

:

Do the kids literally feel owned?

588

:

I think they feel it.

589

:

Yeah.

590

:

I think that the extortion side of things

is the biggest I don't have a lot of

591

:

words other than the word brainwashing.

592

:

Literally that idea of wiping out

everything that you would as a mom and dad

593

:

would have taught them and replacing it

with something else that sounds better.

594

:

Our children's biologically,

psychologically, their

595

:

brains are not developed.

596

:

Their frontal lobe is not developed,

which means they can't actually rational.

597

:

And I think the second thing

is, danger is the way that those

598

:

of us who are older can do.

599

:

And people go off of either their

experience and then their logic

600

:

shuts down and you have to understand

how trauma works in the brain

601

:

so these people who have been

trafficked over and over been abused

602

:

in these scenarios, what's happening

is every time we have a trauma,

603

:

what happens to our brain, and

I'll do a little psychology here.

604

:

I was a biology psychology

major before I started this.

605

:

It actually does trauma spots on your

brain and it stops the neuroconnections

606

:

in a person's brain when trauma happens.

607

:

Now most of us can experience a

trauma and God has beautifully

608

:

made our brain to rewire itself.

609

:

But when a girl, for instance,

inside sex trafficking, a girl can

610

:

be sold 5, 10, 15 times a night.

611

:

Then they have to make the quota of 500

a day, and a sex act can be anywhere from

612

:

50 to, 500 an act, depending on what it

is and what area of town that they're in.

613

:

That's trauma after trauma.

614

:

And it's like your body doesn't

get a chance to recover.

615

:

The first thing these people need

when they come to us is safety.

616

:

We don't do anything else other than

physically meet do they have food?

617

:

Do they have water?

618

:

Do they have a safe shelter?

619

:

Then they sit for a little bit and it

begins to say, okay, I can breathe now.

620

:

I can leave that fight or flight mode

and start to talk and start to think.

621

:

When they're sitting on the side of

the road the way that you're talking

622

:

about and describing or when they're

in these motels and hotels, they've

623

:

never left that survival mode.

624

:

Their brain is constantly,

they've turned off all logic.

625

:

That side of their brain actually

shuts down because their experience

626

:

tells them something different.

627

:

And they never really

looked at the area of abuse.

628

:

I equate it this way, God made little

girls, when they're born, to look

629

:

at their dad and go, Ooh, my daddy,

he provides, he protects, right?

630

:

Then one day, a not so great dad

may breach that trust and respect

631

:

and honor, and abuse his daughter.

632

:

Her logic says daddy, Because God made

our brains to tell us this, it's supposed

633

:

to protect me and take care of me.

634

:

But my experience now tells me when I'm

six years old, that's not how I feel

635

:

when Daddy does what he does to me.

636

:

So take that small scenario and then put

it into the scenarios we've been talking

637

:

about all day and realize that their

experience tells them something different.

638

:

Just like their experience tells them

that the church is going to look down

639

:

on them and never Accept them and they

can't be there So all of that keeps them

640

:

trapped that brainwashing that they're

doing and that guy has convinced them

641

:

that I don't say guy Lightly, they're

about 25 percent of traffickers are

642

:

women and about 75 percent are men it's

flip flopped as of who's trafficked.

643

:

It's about 70 percent female

that's trafficked and about 30

644

:

percent males that are trafficked.

645

:

And obviously in labor trafficking,

the male is, the percentage for males

646

:

is much higher than females and then

the opposite in sex trafficking.

647

:

But that concept of the sides of our

brain and the way that our psyche

648

:

works is God made it to where when

we have trauma, parts of our brain

649

:

shuts down so that we can heal.

650

:

But somebody who's never

ever leaving the trauma?

651

:

They're constantly being hit anybody

ever been in the ocean and you get dragged

652

:

down by a wave over and over again.

653

:

You can't catch your breath and

you can't get yourself back up.

654

:

These people live like that all the time.

655

:

And one other scenario I'll give

you is the idea of a tornado.

656

:

Most people have probably

experienced some sort of tornado.

657

:

When we get a tornado warning here

in middle Tennessee, we get what, two

658

:

minutes, five minutes of a warning.

659

:

What do we do as moms?

660

:

We grab our kids with some pillows and

blankets and we, whatever we can grab on

661

:

our way to the bathroom and throw them

in the bathroom tub and, hunkered down.

662

:

What do we do when we're

hunkered down for that tornado?

663

:

We're just trying to hold on

and pray for the best to happen.

664

:

We grabbed it.

665

:

Everything around us really

quickly to survive that moment.

666

:

These people live like that 24 seven,

anything at their grasp, they're grabbing

667

:

at just trying to survive and then

they're hunkered down and just hoping

668

:

they can get through today and then

tomorrow they do it all over again.

669

:

And so those are the mental and emotional

things that they're walking through.

670

:

And the two other elements there, you've

got Shane that speaks really loudly.

671

:

And, I was actually sharing this the

other day, that shame actually means

672

:

that small emitted sounds of scornful

whisperings and that shame really

673

:

enslaves people to that reality.

674

:

But when you have a trafficker who

says, I accept you as you are, even

675

:

though the shame and all the things

that Lacey was saying is this is

676

:

not right and I shouldn't stay here.

677

:

When you're accepted.

678

:

Then you tend to stay and

you're enslaved in that.

679

:

And then the other thing is we, I'm going

to, I'm going to paraphrase all of our

680

:

survivor, victims and survivors words.

681

:

The hell that I know is better

than the hell that I don't know.

682

:

And so when we say come to us,

come to this space where it's safe,

683

:

first thing they think is it's not.

684

:

It can't be all my experience says,

and I get this question asked all the

685

:

time for me, every woman that I've

ever gone to on the streets to rescue

686

:

or law enforcement has called us, they

will ask me, what do I have to do to

687

:

come to where you say, I'll be a safe.

688

:

And my answer is always

absolutely nothing.

689

:

And some of them have said it, but most

of them don't, they just look at me.

690

:

I don't believe you.

691

:

Some of them have said, okay, prove it.

692

:

And we do, we have to prove that

there, there are no strings attached

693

:

to this love that we're offering.

694

:

We're not going to ask you to do

something other than help yourself

695

:

for what it is that we're offering.

696

:

Because.

697

:

That's exactly what Christ did for us.

698

:

I died for you specifically.

699

:

You just got to believe that

and I'm not going to ask you to

700

:

come to me for anything else.

701

:

You don't have to do anything else.

702

:

I did it.

703

:

It's a free gift.

704

:

It's a free gift.

705

:

And so we do the same thing with

all of our victims and survivors.

706

:

Our survivors that are in the house,

because their experience, they will run.

707

:

I was telling this one of the ladies

that was at the governor's residence

708

:

with us even yesterday when one of

the girls was talking, I said, we've

709

:

actually rescued her three times.

710

:

She's what?

711

:

It's yeah, she was at our safe house.

712

:

This is a third time.

713

:

We've rescued her three times.

714

:

She said, how does that work?

715

:

I said, long story, but that's

just exactly the way it is.

716

:

The other part of this, the third

thing is the love that we offer

717

:

really scares them because they've

never experienced unconditional love

718

:

with again, no strings attached.

719

:

And so that really frightens them.

720

:

They don't know what to do with it.

721

:

That's absolutely true.

722

:

And we've worked with children that have

been adopted from different countries,

723

:

even that have been perhaps traumatized

in their country, or there's some sort

724

:

of conditions that they're being brought

out of and being brought to the United

725

:

States in a completely different culture.

726

:

different language, different everything,

and it's not going to be solved

727

:

by giving them an ice cream cone.

728

:

They just have to first

know that they're safe.

729

:

They have to know that the thing

they're eating isn't going to be

730

:

the last thing that they're eating.

731

:

They need to know security

and comfort, not just comfort,

732

:

but really security and love.

733

:

And it's so important, isn't it?

734

:

Stephanie: We know you're busy, mama.

735

:

So we are truly grateful you joined us for

this episode of again, if you're looking

736

:

for more information about building your

home on the foundation of Jesus Christ,

737

:

head to www.entrustedministries.com

738

:

to learn more about our study for

moms entrusted with a child's Heart.

739

:

This scripture saturated study

has blessed families around the

740

:

world, and we want it for you too.

741

:

Before you go, I want to pray this

benediction over you from Second

742

:

Thessalonians one 11 through 12.

743

:

We're rooting for you to this end.

744

:

We always pray for you that our God

may make you worthy of his calling and

745

:

may fulfill every resolve for good.

746

:

And every work of faith by his power

so that the name of our Lord Jesus

747

:

may be glorified in you and you

and Him according to the grace of

748

:

our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

749

:

Amen.

750

:

Until we meet again.

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About the Podcast

Show artwork for The Again Podcast on Christian Parenting: Redeeming the Repetition of Biblical Motherhood
The Again Podcast on Christian Parenting: Redeeming the Repetition of Biblical Motherhood
Christian Parenting, Biblical Motherhood, Faith, Family

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Stephanie Hickox

Stephanie has always delighted in God’s Word and in sharing it with others. Whether it is equipping mothers and leaders through Entrusted with a Child’s Heart, inspiring students when teaching at homeschool co-ops or children’s ministry, or homeschooling her own children, Stephanie’s life mission is to encourage others to follow faithfully and joyfully after Jesus—especially if they hold her favorite job title: mom.

Betsy Corning wrote Entrusted with a Child’s Heart in 1999 in response to the needs she saw in families as she and David counseled young parents just a few years behind them. Entrusted has been taught in hundreds of churches nationwide, been translated into several foreign languages, and has made its way around the world. More recently, Betsy received her Masters in Biblical Studies from The Master’s University and is developing a new Bible Study program called Get the Word Out. Her passion for God’s Word, discipleship, and teaching biblical principles as they apply to family life has remained strong to this day. One of the greatest blessings in Betsy’s life are her three grown children, their spouses, and ten grandchildren that keep her constantly in touch with every age and stage.

Jen Freckman Is an incredible wealth of wisdom. She will tell you a natural remedy for just about anything! She is also a voracious reader and she is just overflowing with quotes and guidance that she's encountered through reading and being faithful. She delights in her children and is a devoted mother. She is also an amazingly creative problem solver! Her solutions to manage her home and guide her children are inspiring.

Emily Deyo is such a treasure. She is an incredible encourager and servant-hearted woman. When she has the mic in front of her, so much value comes out! She is a wordsmith and her heart consistently beats for how she can encourage and serve others. She is a truly loving and attentive mother.

Join Betsy, Emily, Jen, and Stephanie as they share the wisdom only Scripture and on-the-job training can provide to help untangle the joyful calling of motherhood.