You are looking at potential human trafficking victims. That’s me on the left, when I was about 20. You can also see me in the group photo, second from the left, with long hair, at age 16. The fact is, any young person could land in the sex industry, for any number of reasons and due to various combinations of circumstances.“Not you!,” you might well exclaim. Actually, yes! It could have happened to me, to you, to anyone we know. Traffickers prey upon pre-teens and teenagers who suffer from insecurity and lack of confidence.
People who work in the sex industry are just like you and me. They are ordinary people who have landed there for different reasons; they may have been deliberately targeted or victimized, or they may have been forced into working in the sex industry by adverse circumstances (such as financial need, lack of education, a series of failed relationships, substance abuse, abuse by family members, lack of familial support, or a combination of those factors).
They deserve to know that they are valued and significant, that their lives are precious to God. They need to know that they can be free from fear and shame. That is our message, and that is why we want to support initiatives that demonstrate kindness, genuine compassion, and partnership with sex industry employees. Most of them are fathers or mothers, and they genuinely love their children. Many of them are believers and struggle with their own sense of guilt and shame; they are really no different from you or me.
The bottom line is that we are keenly aware that we ourselves could have been victims of human trafficking, had our life circumstances been less advantageous.
Stephen & Christine Ege
Founders, The Ark Bakery & Café
Of course, we are not undertaking this effort on our own. We have a small but talented core team of people who are laboring to get this project off the ground.