Over the past 10 years we have encountered the reality of sex trafficking in our travels. Women in Ecuador who have escaped a brothel, children in the Dominican Republic being rented for a week to sex tourists, teen girls in the Philippines working the street…the list goes on and on.
It was in seeing these things that God stirred my heart to do something. At some point, it went past knowing it was happening to seeing the faces of people that were being used/exploited. Looking into their eyes and knowing what was happening to them brought tears to my eyes in compassion and a mothers heart to fight the injustice like they were my own daughters.
We have sought out organizations working to prevent it and those that are working in the recovery process. There is a war against human trafficking happening around the globe and there are a lot of battles being won.
We learned of an orphanage here in Nicaragua that takes in children that have been sexually exploited. They house 70 children and also have a home for teen moms and their babies. We were eager to learn about what they were doing, how we could help and partner with them in continuing to provide services to children.
Don and I emailed, called and showed up to the address (a 2.5 hour drive). The address has a large sign showing that we were in the correct place. Mysteriously the orphanage has been closed down and all of the children moved. We talked to the guards and they only knew that about a year ago all of the children had been moved. They didn’t know where or why.
I have started a deeper dive into what happened…so far there are no answers. Knowing that children are often “resold” has my awareness in heightened alert. We will continue to pursue it and pray. For now it is just a “to be continued” blog post…
5byfaith 