You may wonder what helping a victim of human trafficking through Heaven’s Family looks like. Here’s just one example from Myanmar we know will encourage you.

77 is a good number, I think. Reaching out to the outcast, perverse, rough-around-the-edges men of Pattaya, Thailand (often called the sex tourism capital of the world) was not what our partner had in mind when he and his wife, Jaidee (who works to help rescue victims of sex trafficking) settled in Thailand as missionaries more than 20 years ago. After all, it was easy to see young women as the victims, and these men as predators—and yes, many of them were—but God often sees things in a much different way.

Q: What could be better than rescuing a child from human trafficking or slavery? A: Preventing them from becoming victims in the first place!

It was a fairly large house, but we soon learned three families shared it. Our partner Marry and her foster daughter Sanda Htun, now 16, sleep in one bedroom and everyone in the house shares the kitchen and single toilet.

We’re here in beautiful Taunggyi, the capital city of Shan State. Because of its location nestled on top of a ridge 5,000 or so feet above sea level the climate is quite nice—low 70s in the day, mid-40s at night—even though we’re in the tropics. Today our partner took us to a local outdoor-type restaurant where 6 of us ate our fill for around $3.25 each.

Is it worth it? Sometimes we ask ourselves that question. The answer is again a resounding YES. We’ve flown half-way around the world to help protect women and children from human trafficking and slavery. And to reach the remote places where some of the most vulnerable people live, we then had to drive for many hours.

Heat. Hot water. Lights. Electricity—don’t we take it for granted when we lose it, even for an hour?

March 30—just last Friday—a dirty, rail-thin girl gobbled down a grilled cheese sandwich as if she hadn't eaten in days. She asked for more. Her intense, penetrating eyes, full of fear and pain, darted uneasily around the room as she devoured her food. Once her ravenous appetite eased, she began to tell her incredibly sad story.

You know who you are—those who joined us in the fight against human trafficking and slavery in 2017. We’re talking about those of you who sacrificed hard-earned dollars (or pounds or euros or yen…) to rescue women and children from this web of evil, and to encourage and equip those fighting it on the front lines. We’re also talking about those who prayed for us and this life-affirming ministry, whether you were in a position to give financially as you wanted to or not.