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Recently when preparing to co-preach on a Freedom Sunday, I was asked, “How have you sustained this work the past twelve years?” In preparation to respond to this during our message, I spent time reflecting on this familiar passage. I’ve known the story for years, since I was a kid. Now, it speaks to me in a deeply profound way; a new way that only comes when God’s Spirit is moving…

In Exodus 14, we find the story of the Israelites, recently freed slaves from Egypt, camping out in the desert. Plague after plague had finally driven Pharoah to free his workforce and allow the Israelites to escape, so they could find their own land, and worship their God. But, right after freeing them, Pharoah changed his mind.

“We have let them get away, and they will no longer be our slaves!” (Exodus 14:5, CEB)

So Pharoah sends all his chariots and all his horses and pursues them relentlessly. He remembered what he’d known all along; the thing that kept him from releasing them sooner: How would they profit as a nation without exploiting the Israelites?

So these people, the Israelites, having been through years of trauma from their slavery in Egypt, were finally free, but it was a fresh, raw, new freedom that hadn’t even really begun to sink in yet. In this moment, they look to their past, back towards the place they were exploited for years, and see their former slaveholders agressively chasing them. With hundreds of the best chariots. With way more wealth and resources than they had. (They had basically nothing. They were camping, completely homeless in the desert…)

The scripture says they were terrified. Understandably so. The word vulnerable almost seems to be an understatement of their situation – following Moses in the desert into an unknown land with no food, no home, and no protection against their enemies. They were so afraid that they blamed Moses (who led them into their freedom) and accused him of bringing them into the desert to die.

“It would have been better for us to stay slaves.“

And what did Moses say in response to this, to these accusations and to them chosing slavery over the risk of true freedom?

“Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the Lord’s salvation…”

I think Moses knew this would be a difficult, near impossible journey. I am certain he knew that without God they would never find freedom – they would easily be captured again. They weren’t strong enough on their own to step completely away from their former life into what God was planning for them. Moses’ words to them in Exodus 14:14 is a constant reminder to me that God is the one who ultimately does the fighting. He is the one who leads us into true freedom from whatever it is that keeps us enslaved.

For those of us who are fighting human trafficking, we can work ourselves to exhaustion fighting this global issue. It never stops. Around the clock, people are treated horrifically. If we want to change that and be part of bringing freedom, it takes a level of energy and effort that is supernatural. I believe it only comes from God.

We can sometimes start to think that we are the ones leading the fight, or even that we’re alone in our fight. But God invites us to be still. In that stillness, he reminds us that he calls us by name and loves us with a radical love beyond our comprehension. He invites me to clear space in my life so he can speak and bring true freedom – for those enslaved, for me, for you.

It’s our 6th year inviting people – you! – to join us by giving your own money so we can continue this freedom fight.

When we come together and generously release our own financial resources, we share our freedom. We are part of what the Lord uses to fight for others. He is always doing something, and I believe this year, during #FreedomFund2019, he is inviting us back into the desert, to clear some space, because he’s doing something new….

Do you see it?

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Four years ago, well before I came to the Justice Coalition, we partnered with True Organic Products Inc. to launch our very first Freedom Fund campaign. Every year since we began with a modest matching goal of $5000, our network of supporters have responded generously to help us reach the goal! Together, we raised over $63,000 in the first three years to fund our prevention work.

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This year, again with the commitment of True Organic, we set our most ambitious goal ever ($40,000) total in our shortest time period ever (20 days) and once again you have come through with $47,171 raised to date. This means that Freedom Fund has a running total of over $110,000 in four short years! We thank God for each and every person who has given sacrificially in order to bring freedom to the captives and to protect the vulnerable from oppression.

I was able to spend last week in the beautiful Rocky Mountains, giving thanks for a year of growth and expansion in this human trafficking prevention ministry. My heart was full of gratitude and thanksgiving as I considered how far we have come since our humble beginnings as a volunteer prayer meeting. Yet, I couldn’t help but also feel the sadness of empty space, the sorrow of knowing that there are young people right now who are in danger of exploitation who don’t know what true freedom feels like. Thanks to all of you, we have the opportunity to reach out to them with the message of hope. This coming year we will do everything we humanly know how to do and believe that God will do the rest!

– Ryan Townsend, executive director

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A Little Goes a Long Way!

It’s hard to believe that this is the fourth year we have had the opportunity to raise money for our Freedom Fund! Back in 2014, we were just getting started! We had no idea how much we would grow. We began with two part-time staff, lots of awesome volunteers, and the opportunity to raise up to $5,000 that would generously be matched by our partners at True Organic Products.

This time we are aiming to raise $20,000 from Nov. 1 to 20 which will then be matched by True Organic for a total of $40,000!

In the past four years, we have grown in so many ways!  We have solidified our area of focus as a coalition, which I continue to believe is a desperate and urgent need in our community: Prevention. We must PREVENT trafficking from happening by educating everyone we can and surrounding those who are most vulnerable with resources and trusted advocates.

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We have grown from a staff of two part-time employees to employing a full-time Executive Director and three part-time paid staff. We have 10 people trained on our prevention team and numerous other interns and volunteers working on other projects. We are truly growing into a community coalition!

We’re excited this year to launch our Freedom Fund because we know that every dollar given literally changes lives. Every dollar given is part of a movement. We are making the statement that FREEDOM REIGNS. We are backing up that statement with tangible results through sharing our progress towards #JusticeGoals.

We invite you to be part of it this year, whether for the first time or again for the fourth time because every single one of us is needed if we are going to prevent people from being exploited as slaves!

Thank you for catching the vision and running with us! We are deeply grateful to each of you who have given to our Freedom Fund.  And we especially thank True Organic Products, for the fourth year in a row, for leading the way and helping us extend to others the opportunity to invest in freedom for all.

– Jessica Pittman, October 2017

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This year has been groundbreaking! We’ve trained 112 people this year through Human Trafficking 101 to take immediate action steps for freedom.

Just 6 months ago, we trained over 50 people with an extended version of our 101 class and followed it with a training for My Life My Choice prevention groups.

This summer we led a MLMC class at First Baptist Church and are launching two more this month in group homes.

The girls who attend MLMC groups are generally at the highest risk for exploitation in our community.

They are young, they have often been exploited already, and they are making crucial choices in their lives about who to trust and how to live.

In our session at Juvenile Hall with YFC, 6 of the 12 girls were already victims of sex trafficking. This summer, we ran the program at First Baptist in Fresno. These girls could look back and identify times they were nearly recruited. They are now leaders who have become peer advocates – they are discovering their identity in Christ and seeing how that connects to sex trafficking.

This is just a small glimpse of what we do at the Justice Coalition. We welcome people to our office regularly and provide food, clothing, emergency supplies, encouragement, and long-term help.

We partner with churches who refer victims from their own faith communities to us.

We educate and advocate. We pray fervently that God continues to help us gather partners near and far so we INCREASE OUR IMPACT.

We want all have the opportunity to be free.

This month, we need your help! Please join us and give generously so we can continue expanding this work!

Thanks to our partners at True Organic Products, every dollar is doubled – would you join us?

Start supporting us monthly and your first gift is doubled as well! Just send it to us before November 18th.

– Jessica Pittman, founder.