Tumin: Paving the Road to Freedom

I was in the backseat of a car hurtling down the highway in Romania, headed back to my hotel where I would sleep ALONE. My mind was racing. How on earth was I going to be able to sleep?

After just a short time in Romania, it quickly became apparent that “the bad guys” knew what I was up to. I won’t go into details, but things happened that proved to me that they knew who I was, where I was, and what I was up to. This made me very uncomfortable. Obviously we were dealing with some ruthless and reckless individuals that were capable of incredible acts of violence. These people were capable of horrific things. If they want me “gone,” they could make that happen.

I was shaking with fear in that car. At that moment, I heard a friend’s words in my mind saying, “Kim there are going to be times when you are filled with fear. And it’s ok to FEEL fear .... but it’s not okay to give into fear.” At that moment, I prayed, “Ok God, I am coming to you filled with fear. I need you to surround me with your peace and protection. I will not give into fear, but you have got to help me here.”

An hour later I was crawling into bed, wondering how on earth I would sleep. Oddly enough, I don’t even remember my head hitting the pillow! The next thing I know, I was waking up at 6 am. And I awoke in the midst of a profound dream...

In the dream I was with my “first love” from high school. This was interesting to me as my devotionals in the previous days had talked of how Jesus is to be our first love. In the dream there was a profound, deep and pure love between me and my first love ... like nothing I have ever felt on earth.

He looked at me with incredible love in His eyes and said “Kim, I have a word of blessing for you from my Father.”

I responded, “Oh, what is it?”

With a glint in His eye he said, “Tumin.”

A little confused, I replied, “I don’t know this word. Is it an old Greek or Hebrew word from the Bible?”

He just tilted his head with a grin and said, “You don’t know this word?

At that moment I woke up. I fumbled for my phone and immediately typed “Hebrew translation for Tumin” into the search bar. Nothing came up.

Next I typed “Greek translation for Tumin.” Nothing showed up ... except at the bottom of the screen it said “Romanian translation for Tumin.”

I had goosebumps. I screen captured it quickly and sent it to my European Director immediately with a note, “Can you tell me what this word means?”

He immediately called me and said, “Where did you get this word?”

“You wouldn’t believe it,” I told him. Then I thought about his life, which has been full of incredible miracles. “Well, actually you might believe it,” I said, “It came to me in a dream.”

He replied “Well ‘tum’ is what we pave our roads in, so ‘Tumin’ means paving the road.”

What a moment. I realized, in the midst of fear and total uncertainty, my First Love’s Father was telling me that He was paving a road. In fact as we studied the word a bit more we learned the deeper meaning: the process to fill the cracks in the road, to prepare ways. It comes from the French word “bitumin” which translates to covering the road or making ways.

And my First Love’s Father has been making a way ever since. Paving the FREEDOM HIGHWAY that will bring Romanian trafficking survivors home to Romania where they will experience their healing journey. They are walking down the road to Freedom, paved by their Heavenly Father.

I am so encouraged. He is in this. It is His work. And He has been so faithful in reminding us that He is with us, paving the road.

Thank you for joining us in bringing FREEDOM to His children in cages.

"I learn 5 bible verses and give them a rose."

Every girl dreams of falling in love with a great guy. Someone who spoils her, says romantic things, brings her a single rose, dreams with her about a beautiful new life that they can create together. And that’s exactly what traffickers do. They prey upon that vulnerable, sweet hope of young (and not so young) women. It’s called, "the lover-boy method." These traffickers have it figured out. In fact, they often intentionally look for victims in churches.

Darius, a former trafficker, explained, "They are more innocent and trusting. And of course, virgins fetch a hire price." His scheme worked like this: he learned 5 bible verses to gain acceptance and admiration at church. Then, he would pick one at a time. "I knew that if I told them I loved them 5 times and gave them a rose, they would be mine."

You might think these women are naive. Not exactly. We have had the privilege of rescuing nurses, mature women (age 56!) and even a police woman.

It can happen to anyone. But of course, young women and girls are the most vulnerable. So what’s the solution? EDUCATION. Through our international coalition of freedom fighters, we have access to a curriculum called SPEAK UP. It was designed by a panel of experts to teach school-age children how to protect themselves from becoming victims of trafficking. Kinda important, right?! Now, we have the opportunity to “plug and play” this curriculum into the school system in Romania, blanketing the entire country in this critical education tool. Our team is currently working to translate, contextualize and implement this effective component. And here is where you can help.

We have created a petition encouraging the Romanian government to adopt the SPEAK UP program and make it a regular part of the education system. Remember, 78% of traffic survivors found in Europe are Romanian. They are the most trafficked population in all of Europe! We love Romania and we want to see her beautiful children protected. Help us by signing the petition and sharing this important information with a few friends. It’s time for the good guys to get organized ... and that means US. Together we can begin to turn the tide of trafficking,

KillerDock: How One Family is Fishing for Freedom

The number one question we get from people like you is, “How can I help?” As we approach World Day Against Trafficking, we’re highlighting the ways that freedom fighters around the world are already fighting the evil of Human Trafficking.

Aaron Williamson and family of KillerDock are a perfect example of how you can answer that question. His family owns a sheet metal fabrication company that specializes in building industrial items. All the while, the family loved to fish. They lived on the Alabama coast after all, and fishing was one of the ways they connected. What they didn’t love was cleaning the fish they would catch. They had to do it on makeshift wooden tables or plastic sheets. They realized that they had the unique skills to create a better fish cleaning station. In 2018, that’s exactly what they did, and KillerDock was born. They kept fishing. What they didn’t know was that they would be fishing for freedom soon.

“I had known about human trafficking, but I became aware of it more personally when my Dad’s twin sister told us about Uncaged,” Aaron says. Impassioned, Aaron’s father traveled to an Uncaged event to learn about sex trafficking and about Uncaged’s holistic approach to unlocking transformation. When his dad came back, he wanted to talk to his sons. He wanted to do something as a company to fight human trafficking, but he wasn’t sure exactly how it would play out.

After a few conversations, an idea began to form. “One day we said, ‘what if KillerDock partnered with Uncaged to help support their work?’” Aaron recalls. The business was growing. As people of faith, they knew that they wanted to impact the world, not just worry about the bottom line. “I know that all the resources we have are ultimately given to us by God. We just get to steward them,” Aaron says. As they began to talk to Uncaged, they found more and more connections. Aaron and his family innately understood the healing power of nature, a key element of how Uncaged was utilizing the Sanctuary. They knew what it felt like to be outside, connecting with animals, feeling completely free. Survivors would get the same opportunity when they connected with horses in Equine Therapy or learned agronomy from experts in Europe.

“On the surface, it didn’t go together at first, but we said it didn’t matter. Then, we started to notice what mattered to us in our business had echoes in what Uncaged was doing,” Aaron remarks. Now, KillerDock donates a portion of every sale to bring freedom to survivors. Every KillerDock customer gets a note explaining how their purchase is making an impact on hundreds of women and girls.

When asked what encouragement he would give to other freedom fighters, Aaron is clear. “The atrocities of human trafficking are possibly the worst aspect of our world today. When we find opportunities to give part of our lives to people who are in need, it’s the best version of what it means to be human. Everything we do for people who need love goes farther than what we can imagine. Find your way of showing love to these trafficking survivors.”

We couldn’t have said it better than that. Across the globe, from the mountains to the oceans, freedom fighters are rising up to end this evil. The good guys like people at KillerDock, like me and you, are getting organized to end trafficking once and for all.