Survivor Story: Luminita

Hello friends,

I wanted to share another Survivor’s story with you. It’s hard to read, but it sheds light on what we’re up against. Yes, Luminita has been rescued out of slavery but now she needs a safe place to heal. Our ultimate goal is to place women like Luminita in The Sanctuary, where they will have everything they need to heal in a safe place. We need your support to reach women like Luminita. You hold the key.

-Kim

As told by Beni Lup, our partner on the ground in Romania:

Two years ago, when she was 20 years old, Luminita’s* cousin suggested she date a businessman visiting from another country. Luminita, believing she would be able to visit the man’s country for a nice vacation, accepted. She was a second-year Business and Management student at her local university in Northern Romania. She had great plans for her life.

A vacation in Western Europe with her new beau seemed like a luxurious adventure.

When the day to start the journey came, he drove a nice car to pick them up. They went downtown and took photos by the fountain in the main square. Suddenly, he stumbled and dropped her phone into the fountain. He fished it out, but the phone had already been ruined.

Luminita didn’t mind.

Like this woman, Luminita is from northern Romania

“The phone I had was old and had scratches all over,” she says. Her companion purchased her a new one, the latest model of her favorite phone. “It was exactly what I wanted. I never thought I would get one. I was very happy. He seemed so nice and gentle and I believed that we would make a great couple,” Luminita remembers. They continued driving west, stopping along the way and taking in the wonders of Europe.

When they finally reached the businessman’s home country, his demeanor changed. The boat that was sent to retrieve them was late, and the business associate wasn’t picking up his phone calls. Luminita remembers her surprise, “I saw another face of this nice man. He was speaking a different language and I didn’t know what he said to the other guy on the phone, but he was visibly angry.”

When his friend finally arrived, apologizing for his tardiness, the businessman asked Luminita to show his friend her new phone. She did so happily. It contained photos of the trip, the food they enjoyed, the hotels, the cities. She had even taken some sensual pictures of herself, which the businessman had winkingly instructed her not to show anyone else.

They went to spend the night at the friend’s hotel. It had a nice view, but it smelled of mold. The trip had exhausted Luminita; she was ready to sleep anywhere. The trio had dinner, and Luminita drank wine before going to bed. When she arrived in her room, she saw a set of red and black lingerie sitting on the bed.

“Put that on,” her boyfriend, the businessman shouted, “I will come back soon.” He closed the door.

The next morning, she woke up. Next to her, she saw the businessman’s friend naked. Fear gripped her. She threw up. As she was retching, the man woke up and slapped her.

"You are mine now, and it cost me a lot to get you. I can do whatever I want to you," he said in broken English. Horrified, Luminita fled the room and ran into the dining room. She saw four other women around the table. Dressed like prostitutes, they all looked pale.

"I had no idea that for the next fourteen months I would be dressed like them, abused by this ugly drunkard and by many other men. I had no idea that I would live in hell,” Luminita says.

One day, Luminita begged God to show her mercy. Soon after, she walked into a building in town to visit a client. When she entered the building, she saw a little sign with a phone number on it. She noted it quickly. Luminita used her client’s phone and dialed the number. When the operator answered, Luminita realized it was a hotline for people being trafficked. She quickly explained her situation. Within ten minutes, four police officers pounded on the door. They rescued her and placed her in an emergency shelter for Survivors of human trafficking.

Luminita is still in that shelter in Western Europe. We want to bring her home to Romania and place her with a long-term, supportive family where she can receive the love and services she needs to heal.

“I’m terrified to stay in this country,” Luminita tells us.

Ultimately, we want to place Luminita in The Sanctuary, where she can have access to all of the care and support that she needs. We want to get The Sanctuary open as soon as humanly possible! Hundreds of Survivors like Luminita need a safe place to go.

You hold the key to freedom for women like Luminita.

*name changed to protect Survivor identity

Survivor Story: Alina

Hello friends,

We are working hard to rescue two Survivors and bring them to Romania sometime in the next two weeks. I wanted to share their stories with you. Alina’s story illustrates the trickery that traffickers use on innocent women, but it also shows just how resourceful Survivors are. Alina is awaiting our call in Western Europe. The Sanctuary is the ideal place for Alina to enter when she returns to Romania, but first we need to fund it. You can unlock the transformation of women like Alina.

-Kim

As told by our partner on the ground in Romania, Beni Lup:

She was studying to be a nurse. Alina* was still in school when she met a man from the city who treated her like royalty. He found her an apartment to rent, helped her with transportation, even gave her money for shopping trips. He proposed to her after a year. Two months later, they got married and she graduated as a certified nurse.

Alina was studying to be a nurse before capture.

After they married, he asked to take her family name. It seemed strange to Alina, but she consented. Soon, she noticed that he was often called to court. Her husband chalked it up to his name change, saying it required a lot of paperwork to make his new name official. She felt suspicious, but brushed her doubts aside. After finding out she was pregnant, she forgot about these concerns. Instead, she turned her attention to picking out a name for their baby boy.

Six months later, Alina’s husband announced that he’d purchased a larger apartment for their family in Western Europe. He’d secured a job as the manager of his friend’s hotel in a major city. In the midst of these preparations, he’d even found a job for her, a nursing position at a well-respected hospital. Alina’s parents agreed to care for the baby until they made enough money to pay for the apartment. Alina was ecstatic. Everything was falling into place perfectly.

After their son was born, Alina and her husband left for their new home. Her husband’s friend picked them up from the airport. When her husband started conversing with this friend in the local language, she was shocked. She had no idea her husband spoke anything other than Romanian.

Quickly, the friend dropped Alina and her husband off at the hospital where Alina was to work. The hospital was just as her husband had described: large, sparkling, beautiful. She entered a room to have some standard blood tests run, confirming her health before she could work as a nurse there. But things were not as they appeared...

The next thing she knew, she awoke in a house in the middle of dense forest, surrounded by a fence. Her husband was gone. She has not heard from him since. Instead, a lady and man towered over her. They told her she was going to work in a nightclub.

For the next year and three months, her captors carted her to and from a nightclub in the heart of the city. Twenty other women lived with Alina, all of them “rented out” to nightclubs each night.

One day, another woman in captivity writhed in agony. Alina told her traffickers she was a nurse. “I can take care of her as long as I have medicine,” she implored. An ambulance arrived, whisking Alina, the male trafficker, and the other woman to the hospital. The trafficker told her not to speak to anyone. Alina nodded.

At the emergency room, someone stopped the trafficker at the entrance. Alina saw her chance! She snuck through the door and followed the medical team. Walking through the hospital, she spotted a police officer working with another patient. She made a beeline toward him.

“I want to report a case of human trafficking,” she said, her voice firm. The police officer took her to the station.

Later, she told the officers there, “You have police officers all over the place, but none of them look into our eyes. People being trafficked cannot speak, but we can tell you with our eyes that we are trapped and tortured. Please, look into our eyes. Stop looking at our legs and breasts! Look at our eyes; that is where you can see our pain and desperation."

Alina is safe now -- she’s staying with one of our partners in Western Europe. We want to bring her home. We need your support to reunite her with her family in Romania, to start her journey of healing from this nightmare.

You hold the key to freedom for Survivors like Alina. They have strength, resilience, and courage necessary to survive! We merely provide a place for them to reclaim their lives. The Sanctuary is that place. Let’s get it open as soon as possible.

*name changed to protect Survivor identity.

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A Vision of Healing in Romania

Hello Friends, I wanted to let you know that I am home safe and sound from Romania. Our time was incredibly productive and things are coming together beautifully. 

I thought I’d share a highlight from the trip. It’s one that captures why we’re doing this work: the hope of unlocking Survivors’ transformation.

You may remember Snowy. She was the first child we rescued back in January of this year, just nine months ago. While in Romania, I met her, and it was surreal. She came to us infested with lice, sold by her family, and abused in ways we cannot fathom.

Artwork Courtesy of Hyatt Moore

She is now safe and sound in the home of a pastor’s family. She has the love of a mom and a dad. She has a little sister and a brother, and a dog named Sasha.

In the restaurant, she stood in front of me-- pink cheeks, a strong body, shy, sparkling eyes and a warm smile, looking as healthy as could be. She told me about school and how physics is her favorite class. I could hardly believe my eyes. She skipped around a restaurant with Beni’s daughter, tapping on the fish tank and playing with the fish.

While we ate together, her adoptive father turned to me and said, “Snowy didn’t know much when she came to us. She didn’t know the basic things a child should know. She didn’t even know personal hygiene. This girl has seen horrible things. She knows what pain is from A to Z. 

She has seen too much.

She has been through too much.

But God worked through you at just the right time. Now, we fight for her because she is our child. This is what we are supposed to do; it’s what we are called to do.”

In just nine months, Snowy has come a long way toward healing. Let’s see hundreds, even thousands of women and girls like Snowy brought into freedom!