Launching the Freedom Highway for Survivors

The darkness of Human Trafficking is vast and deep. Even a million points of light shining on their own cannot overcome it. We need to work in unison as one searing beacon. This is why I am overjoyed that Uncaged is in the process of building the Freedom Highway.

An abolitionist shares at our summit. Face concealed.

You may remember that earlier this year, we gathered 30 freedom fighters at the Sanctuary for our first Freedom Summit. Together, they created an anti-trafficking strategy for all of Europe. As it turns out, the individuals we gathered are in contact with a vast network of Romanians who live all across Europe. Word of the anti-trafficking strategy spread quickly across the continent, activating an alliance. That alliance is the Freedom Highway. On March 6th, over 300 individuals gathered in Western Europe. Each person pledged to support the Freedom Highway and the fight to end trafficking.

Right now, the Freedom Highway includes social workers, healthcare workers, professionals, churches, and even staff at restaurants and hotels. Our European Director is coordinating the Highway. We are ensuring each Freedom Fighter is equipped with 4 key abilities:

1. Recognizing a trafficking survivor

2. Aiding a trafficking survivor in escaping

3. Connecting a trafficking survivor to a safe house

4. Journeying with a trafficking survivor to make sure she remains safe and stable before coming to the Sanctuary.

This work is already bearing astounding fruit. Remember the 58 women tucked in safe houses across Europe? The Freedom Highway found many of them and connected them to us. Freedom Highway members are the ones making sure these survivors stay sane and stable until we can bring them to the Sanctuary. A thousand points of light are coming together. I see it in the Freedom Highway, which is growing stronger every day. I see it in your encouragement of this work. The darkness will not overcome.

We hold the keys to freedom!

Freedom Fighter Spotlight: Antonia

“Of course I’m afraid, because there are people who are bad who can hurt you. But the reality is I’m not actually afraid, because I know people will help me. That’s how the Highway works -- we always have someone so that we can keep going. The survivors need us to do this work.”

Antonia shared this matter-of-factly with an Uncaged staff member one day. She was sitting in the restaurant where she worked in Western Europe. Her shift would start in about an hour.

“I’m taking a few courses right now to make sure I know how to recognize a person who is being trafficked. I know that I see them every day, even here in my job,” she said.

Antonia left Romania 16 years ago and settled in this affluent, Western European country. She worked as staff at a hostel, as a stylist, and many other professions before settling into working with an insurance company and at her current restaurant. Ever since she was young, she wanted to help people. A mutual friend introduced her to our European Director, who told her about the work of Uncaged. Growing up in Romania, she knew about Human Trafficking, but it wasn’t until she spoke with Beni Lup that she learned just how many Romanian survivors were in her home country. Antonia jumped in to help. She connected with a local safe house for survivors of sex trafficking.

“The staff were so relieved, because right then they had two women from Romania and Moldova, but they had very few staff or volunteers who spoke Romanian,” Antonia explained. In those early weeks, staff began to call her whenever one of these two women were having a difficult time. “When I first spoke to ‘Gabriela’ she was so happy to have someone who understood her. I mostly just listened as she talked about her life, about her kids who were back in Moldova. Just talking calmed her so much.”

As Antonia got more involved with the shelter and other Freedom Fighters, she realized that her vocational skills could serve survivors, too. “Many of the survivors have health issues but no paperwork. It can make it really difficult for them to get regular care. I started to work with the shelter to get a few of these women medical insurance so that they could get regular healthcare.”

She has worked to get several survivors insurance, but she wants to do more. In particular, she dreams of using her skills as a stylist to make survivors feel beautiful again. Antonia notes that survivors’ bodies are so mistreated and damaged, it can be hard for them to have confidence in their bodies once they’re free. She wants to make them feel alive, like valuable, gorgeous women again. It all stems from her faith and her deep compassion.

“These are my compatriots,” she said, “They are from my homeland. I want to help them get out of trauma because I know what it feels like to suffer. That’s what motivates me. I want to help them live again.”

The Freedom Highway is activating hundreds of dedicated, courageous people like Antonia. We know that with allies like her and support from people like you, we can end trafficking once and for all!

Unlocking Transformation for 53 Child Survivors

Those of you who have been journeying with me know that Uncaged began with a vision: children in cages being released and healed.

It took me some serious soul-searching and exploring to understand what this vision would look like in real life. Today, you and I know it looks like Uncaged. We are freeing the captives, releasing precious women and children from bondage. Even better, we come alongside these brave survivors to make sure they keep their freedom. We equip them to heal. We’re not just unlocking the cage, we’re destroying it to make sure each survivor is never trapped again.

This month, my heart has been carrying the plight of the millions of children enslaved around the world. Almost half of the survivors in Europe are minors. It turns out that the average child survivor is enslaved at just 13 years old. Just last year, we rescued a child who was much younger, only 3 years old when we found her. Remembering her condition is almost too painful to remember, and I will spare you the details. Let me just say this: it’s time for each one of us to do whatever we can to end this evil right now.

You already know the heartbreaking stories of Oceana, Snowy, and her 4 siblings. You may also recall how much restoration and healing they have already experienced in a few short months with Uncaged. Oceana is in school and loves to learn. Snowy is playing the piano and learning English. Her siblings are dreaming about future careers as florists and dentists. Each one feels loved. Children, like all survivors, are more resilient than we can imagine!

These precious children are just a few of the 53 children, both survivors and children of survivors, that our team has accompanied since 2005. We are ready to do more!

Every child who comes to us, whether they are a trafficking survivor or the child of a trafficking survivor, will participate in our world-class program at The Sanctuary. They will receive trauma therapy, housing, and education. They will even enjoy fun things every kid loves like art, music, and movement therapies. This wraparound approach is what unlocking the cage looks like in real life.

Support from people like you is what makes this transformation possible. We know it takes roughly $16,000 per year to provide holistic support to a survivor of any age. Today, I want to invite you to prayerfully consider coming alongside these children by joining with Uncaged.

Let’s bring freedom to these children once and for all!