The Pieces of the Puzzle Are Coming Together

It's amazing to see how the pieces of the puzzle come together when we keep working toward ending slavery in Romania and across the world. Advocates get involved. Key people offer their help when they are moved to compassion. A Freedom Highway is truly being built!

Many survivors come to The Sanctuary needing legal assistance. We've always had to find lawyers around the country to represent these ladies. Some have been able to offer their services pro-bono but others have not had that ability. It has sometimes been a challenge to find help.

About a year and a half ago our European Director, Beni, met a man who is a wonderful leader in Romania. We will call him Joshua. Joshua owns a very successful law farm and was looking for a place to gather his team for a retreat. He asked if he could possibly use the property at The Sanctuary to do some strategic planning with his team for a few days.

He and his team came to The Sanctuary and while they were there, our team shared with him about the work we do to rescue, protect, and restore trafficking survivors.

"They were all shocked and moved by the stories we shared with them," Beni said. This year, our team met up again with Joshua. Since we started to invest in the Sanctuary, Stephen has been watching us. He realized how serious we are about stopping trafficking in Romania. He recently asked Beni to his office.

"They’re all impressed in the work we do, the quality and level of care we plan to provide for survivors," Joshua told Beni at that meeting that he knows the needs the Uncaged team has and he wants to help meet them. "My firm wants to take all the cases you have for survivors in Europe," Joshua told him.

For us, as a center for the assistance and protection of survivors of human trafficking, this means we will have a quality law firm that will represent our survivors in court. We will be able to provide protection and legal assistance to those who need it.

We are so grateful for yet another open door to our ministry, another provision from God. Because someone saw our heart, our passion, and our investment—he chose to get involved. It’s one more piece of the puzzle that is coming together for the Sanctuary. It's one more way we can unlock transformation for survivors!

Child Trafficking Survivor Update: Oceana’s Journey to Restoration

She was only five when a social worker found her under a cardboard box in a country far from home. Oceana was rescued from the situation she had been trafficked into at a tender age. When we first met her, she was non-verbal.

When she met our European Director, Beni Lup, she gave him the only gifts she could find to show her thanks: a little cookie and a magazine she had received on the airplane that brought her home to Romania. When we played Oceana songs in the car on the way to her host family, the word she repeated over and over again was “happiness.”

A year later, she was so excited to go to school for the first time that she woke up her mother in her host home at 5 in the morning. She was shouting, “It’s time for school!” She’s been living with this loving family and seems overjoyed to be a kid again. She lights up when listening to the radio in the car, singing along as best she can.

Beni got to see her again recently and said she is excelling in school, putting words and sentences together, and relating well to other children. She has healed tremendously, but she still has a long way to go. In particular, she has a few serious health issues due to the trauma she suffered.

For survivors of trafficking, rescue is the beginning. Unlocking the cage means freeing survivors from the effects of trauma and equipping each one for a full, sustainable life. We aim for nothing less than total restoration.

Be a part of journeys to restoration as you partner with us. You can be the key that unlocks this kind of transformation!

*Uncaged never reveals the identity of a survivor. Oceana's name and image have been changed.

Why Should You Get Involved?

What kind of behavior do we want to model for our children? It’s a question that motivates parents, leaders, and anyone who is considering what the world will look like for the next generation. Modeling justice for her children is one reason Heather Clark shared she is so passionate about being involved in the work of Uncaged.

“It’s really important for our kids to know the world exists beyond their own faces,” Heather told us. “The life they can see is not the story for everyone in the world.”

Heather and Dan Clark have been around since Uncaged was only a concept. They have watched the organization grow and have been partners since the early days. They were some of the first Key Holders, monthly partners who hold the keys to transformation for human trafficking survivors.

When we asked why they wanted to be a part of this work, Heather said,

“You can’t deny that the Lord is in this. We’ve seen how God has opened doors in terms of opportunity, in favor with the right people, and providing the property for The Sanctuary. If you want to be in the Lord’s will, you don’t have to look very hard. You just figure out where God is moving, and get on that path. The reason anti-trafficking work matters is because it matters to God.”

Heather said she would challenge others to think about the commission we have to carry the burdens of others. She talked about how we sometimes think about our own loads and how heavy they feel. But, what are we responsible for? Other people have what Scripture calls “burdens”—crushing loads they cannot carry on their own. “Being sold into slavery is a crushing load,” she continued. “That is a burden you cannot handle on your own and someone has to help you. You cannot know about these kinds of burdens and then do nothing.”

We asked what Heather would say to someone considering becoming a Key Holder and getting involved in monthly partnership with Uncaged. She said she would tell people how much of a difference a little bit of help makes for women needing freedom from the physical, emotional, and spiritual bondage they are in.

“It’s a direct correlation,” she explained. “The more you give, the more girls we can get out, and the sooner God can redeem their stories and set them back on a path of healing and wholeness.”

She had a final word for those who might already be involved but want to do more: “Double your efforts and get busy!”

Find out how to become a Key Holder today!