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Fornicating on the Battlefield
Post by Tony
I ask men about their sexual behavior all the time. Most guys are surprisingly honest when anonymity is a factor. We’ve spoken about porn, oral sex, prostitution, lust, marriage, thoughts, immorality, intimacy, desires, homosexuality, masturbation, sexual abuse, incest, greed and idolatry. I’ve eaten meals with pastors, executives, bankers, doctors, religious people, church planters, frat guys, [Continue Reading]
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Lightforce
Post by Tony
Sexual exploitation is a multi-faceted pandemic, and combatting it requires a tremendously creative & adaptive generation. Our friends at Lightforce International use a relational model to reach out to the men and women of Costa Rica (one of many countries that have legalized prostitution). Years ago, their team began to bring food to the people being [Continue Reading]
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Restoring New York
Post by Tony
Wait… sex trafficking happens here? An estimated 18,000 foreign born victims are trafficked each year into the United States, and New York City is one of the leading national hubs for sex trafficking. Trafficking operations take place right in front of our eyes in public locations like massage parlors, brothels, strip clubs, escort services and [Continue Reading]
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What About the Boys?
Post by Tony
I met Wade Landers in the summer of 2009… Our team was preparing for a trip to Southeast Asia to document the sex trade and we decided to stop by Wade’s office in Joplin to get some counsel before leaving. Wade is one of those people who’s been everywhere….literally. I think he’s been to just [Continue Reading]
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Porn’s Nutrition Label
Post by Tony
My good friend Matt Dampier is a Teaching Pastor for Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) at the University of Kentucky. In his tenure at CSF, Matt has had numerous young men confess their addiction and compulsive use of pornography. After years of counseling, ministering and loving people enslaved by porn, he recently decided to compile his [Continue Reading]
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Breaking Chains
Post by Tony
You really need to meet Steven Cass. The man: In his mid twenties, Steven made millions of dollars in investment banking right out of college. His career quickly skyrocketed…right into money laundering, which became his specialty. Over a period of 15 years he laundered unheard amounts of money through Latin America (Colombia Guatemala and Mexico [Continue Reading]
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Rescue in Manila
Post by Tony
We’ve got a massive amount of respect for the people at International Justice Mission. I remember a layover in Bangkok’s airport after a particularly tough trip to Cambodia a few years ago. My teammate and I had been posing undercover as sex tourists in the brothels of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap to gain information [Continue Reading]
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A Voice for the Voiceless
Post by Tony
Do Justice, Love Mercy and Walk Humbly. That’s the heartbeat of Rapha House. Who? This month, our supporters funded Rapha House. Working specifically in Southeast Asia, Rapha exists to love, rescue, and heal children who have been rescued out of slavery and sexual exploitation. They do this by providing safehomes and aftercare programs for young girls who [Continue Reading]
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When You Give, People Go Free
Post by Tony
“I’m so glad you’re out there making people aware…” Those are the words of thousands of people we encounter when we’re out presenting our work. The only problem with that sentiment is that we’re not content with awareness. What if you were at work when somebody rushed in and told you that your house was on fire. [Continue Reading]
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Freedom in Kolkata
Post by Tony
“So what happens when I give money to Unearthed?” This update (and the many that will follow) will answer that question. Who? This month, we had enough funding come in to meet a really cool need with our friends at Free to be Kids. I found out about this organization last summer in Cape Town [Continue Reading]
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The Fourth Wave
Post by Tony
Victor Malarek has spent the last decade interviewing traffickers and their victims. He explains here (in an adapted PBS Frontline interview) about how women are conned into the sex trade, the countries that are supplying the new “fourth wave” of trafficked women, and the failure of governments to help the countless women who are forced into [Continue Reading]
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A Bright Light in a Dark Place
Post by Tony
“The Super Bowl is one of the biggest human trafficking events in the United States,” says Attorney General Greg Abbot… The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that 14,500-17,000 people are trafficked annually into the United States; with 25% of trafficked persons coming through Texas. Based on that estimation, the Dallas police anticipated their annual number [Continue Reading]
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The Super Bowl & Sex Trafficking?
Post by Tony
Whenever a major sporting event is on the horizon, human trafficking resurfaces in the media. Most of the time, it’s hyped – as we experienced first hand for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa this summer…estimates were made that as many as 100,000 women & children would be trafficked into South Africa to work as [Continue Reading]
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The Boy Without a Name
Post by Tony
A little over one year ago, I was in southern Cambodia with a small team on an Island called “Koh Khsach Chunlea” which means “An Island of Widows.” The Pol Pot regime (and his subsequent Khmer Rouge) left behind many enduring legacies. One of the striking reminders of this horrific period are the vast number of women [Continue Reading]
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Unearthed
Post by Tony
In March of 2008 I was working as a composer for a documentary called “Baht.” The storyline in Baht tells the journey of a 15 year-old Cambodian girl named Sophea. Sophea was advised by her parents to take a job in a restaurant across the border in Thailand. Because her family needed the money, she took [Continue Reading]