A Safe Space for Victims of Trafficking

Human trafficking is not limited to certain places. It is everywhere. Introducing 2BFree who – together with CBN’s Orphans Promise – are on the front line of this fight.

The Problem of Human Trafficking

The problem of human trafficking is, is not limited to certain places or to some continents. It is everywhere. And, mostly, in every city, women are abused in very bad ways. Sometimes they are given for a night with a client, and they can do with them whatever they want with however many men that they want. It is so bad.

What the women experience often is that they are also sold from one trafficker to another trafficker, from one country to another country. So, they are completely disorientated not feeling human anymore.

A New Dream

About 50 years ago, our four sons were old enough to live by themselves and my husband and I were praying to God, ‘God, what is your plan for this part of our lives?’ Or to be specific, I prayed ‘God, what is your dream? When you created me, you had a plan for my life and let it also be my dream.’

To my surprise, I received a dream about slavery. In the dream I realised that it is still there and that it is trafficking and that it’s also in my neighbourhood. I asked God, ‘God, what can I do?’ And, step by step, God led the way. We organised special days with beauty treatments, clothing markets and good food, just the best of the best to let them know that they were valuable, that they were a woman that had to be treated right and also to share God’s love with them.

It was touching for us to see that some women came to us asking, “Why are you doing it?” And some women were even crying. We just had to say, “Because God loves you that much and God wants us to, to be part in sharing his love.”

Teamwork

Together with Orphans Promise, Krista and her ministry, To Be Free, are on the frontline of this fight.

From doing those beauty days and other activities like language courses, education in professions that they chose for themselves, like hairdressing, beauty and sewing, we gave them sewing machines. From there, we got to know the women better.

Sometimes there came questions about housing for the women. At first, we were hesitant to start it, but some situations were so bad that we prayed for God’s guidance in it, and we opened our house.

We use the metaphor of Michelangelo. He created beautiful artwork out of stone. Once, a person asked him, “How are you doing that? How are you creating such beautiful artwork out of stone?” And then he said, “It’s not me creating it, I’m just liberating it out of the stone.”

And that is what we are doing in To Be Free, with the help of God.

Personal Ownership

One of the first times that somebody came to our house was a situation that the care organisation of our city. They asked us to take care of a woman who had become psychotic. She went to a clinic – the police brought her there – and she was there in isolation.

We prayed to God about it and, because of her situation, God really put on our hearts to open our house for her. With the pastoral care, we could share God’s love with her. It was for her very special for her to encounter God as her father.

Although the shelter has seen many women begin the journey to freedom. There are countless others who are still lost in the darkness of their situation. Including a significant increase in women being rescued from satanic sexual cults, having been subjected to horrendous torture and abuse.

A Vision-Led Ministry

Our vision is, not to tell the women what to do or whom they are or what they need, but just to be humble and, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to see what they want and what is good for them. We use the metaphor of Michelangelo. He created beautiful artwork out of stone. Once, a person asked him, “How are you doing that? How are you creating such beautiful artwork out of stone?” And then he said, “It’s not me creating it, I’m just liberating it out of the stone.”

And that is what we are doing in To Be Free, with the help of God. We are walking with the ladies and step-by-step, they discover more and more of who they are, what they want and what is really good for them, and what kind of future they want to have.

Thanks to the CBN, we were able to build our shelter and to refurnish it so that it is more appropriate for the ladies.

To all the sponsors that have given money to CBN and CBN as an organisation, we want to say that we are so grateful for the support because it helps us to make it better for the women. It is also encouraging for us that so many people are sharing this work with us.

The work of 2bfree and other organisations like it would not be possible without your support.

There is so much still to be done. Will you stand with us in our fight against trafficking?

How Can I Help?