'Prayer, Human Trafficking and Chinese Food' by Wendy Andrews

Wendy Andrews, November 2nd, 2007

My roommate Mandy is part of a task force in Kansas City initiated by the Department of Justice.  It’s an incredible coalition between the FBI, local law enforcement, social service agencies, and faith-based groups coming together to fight human trafficking.  It can be hard to believe that there’s much for them to deal with, but real people - mostly women and children - are regularly trafficked into and through Kansas City for forced labor and the commercial sex industry. We know so little of the darkness they’re caught in.

In May, Mandy and I had an amazing opportunity to support this fight in small but practical way.  We found out that 15 Chinese women were about to be recovered from forced prostitution in Asian massage parlors of our rich suburbs. Don't ask how we knew about the FBI raid that ended up freeing these women, but suffice it to say that the favor of God is good.   We, two redheads living in the Midwest of the U.S., waltzed into the police station with pots of steaming homemade Chinese food.  The women devoured our food to the neglect of the deli sandwiches the police had bought them.

You won't believe the response we got after this from the woman who heads up this human trafficking task force.  Tearfully, she said, "When I saw you walk into the police station with that food, I wanted to yell out to the women, 'There's a whole community of people in Kansas City who love you and they don't even know you!'" This woman keeps telling Mandy how moved she was over this simple act.

Because we were privileged to know about the FBI raid before it actually happened, we were able to pray. I don't think I've ever prayed that hard for something in my life. We saw God literally liberate captives and set prisoners free through our prayers, before our very eyes!

A few weeks ago, Mandy got another call asking if we could make some more Chinese food by that afternoon.  We knew this must mean another raid was going down to free more Chinese victims, and so we threw ourselves into cooking.  I delivered it to a shelter, where the woman who leads this trafficking coalition received it.  I was overwhelmed as she invited me to join the task force and collaborate with the authorities. Wholly not expecting this, I heartily said yes, I would be so very honored!  Last week, I met with 15 or so others, as part of this coalition, for the first time.  How in the big wide world did that just happen?

They want an interdisciplinary approach to this issue, so anyone who wants to offer what they have to help is invited to get involved.  I can't believe that we get to help figure out how to fight human trafficking in Kansas City!  Our community will particularly serve these victims at the point of rescue with care kits, ethnically appropriate food, and hospitality, and we will most certainly pray and see God bring answers in the most tangible of ways.

The title and thumbnail image was provided by HAVET via iStock Photos under a content license agreement.