Another heart-wrenching day

It's not unusual to experience days that rip your heart out. Days that tears won't stop. Ministering to the homeless and hurting for 19 years has taught me there are more hurting people out there than one could ever imagine. Only God could handle all of them.

This is one of those heart-wrenching weeks. Back-to-back days of sad, heart-rending situations. My heart can't take much more this week.

As I posted yesterday, we found out one of our homeless friends died and another was in CCU after a motorcycle accident. Today, a young woman made a wrong and dangerous decision. A decision that could cost her her life.

Last week we met Michelle. That's not her real name, but for her own protection that's what I'm going to call her. Michelle was coming down from drugs. She was shaky and she had a hard time staying on point. We helped her, talked with with, and prayed with her.

Through the weekend she made progress. Her speech was rational, and on Thursday she prayed to give her life to Jesus. That thrilled us all. In earlier conversations she talked about different religions, and then she experienced the love of Jesus and decided she wanted Him. Michelle told me she knew some women who gave their lives to Jesus and their lives got better. 'It actually works," she said with a surprising inflection in her voice.

As we got to know her better we discovered she was escaping human trafficking from another city. I immediately contacted my friend Gia Hughes of Hope Rising, which is a ministry that brings the hope of Jesus to women who are hurting, helpless and hopeless due to sexual exploitation. It's an awesome ministry here in Dothan, Alabama.

Gia came over and talked with Michelle. She found out more information and got her to a safe place for the weekend. Michelle expressed she wanted out of human trafficking. God brought her to the right place at Love In Action to meet the right person, Gia.

Michelle came to Love In Action today. She looked refreshed and happy. Surely the beginning of a successful rescue, a rarity in the human trafficking world. Not so. She said she wanted to go back to the city and life she ran away from, and she had a bus ticket. No! Why?

Understanding the state of mind women like Michelle are in because of human trafficking is difficult unless you work with them. Even then it's hard to understand. There's an open door to freedom. Run through it!

Though not shackled by physical chains, Michelle and millions of others like her are handcuffed by control, threats and addictions. A complete change in a way of life can be intimidating, especially one as radical as coming out of human trafficking. For non-victims it seems like an easy and simple decision. Oh, if their minds could only see it that way.

Human trafficking is absolutely evil. Once trapped in it, escape is difficult, even when there's an open door to run through.

Some actually make it out ... very few. Statistics show 1 percent of human trafficking victims make it out. There are upwards of 40 million people trapped in human trafficking throughout the world.

Michelle left this afternoon. We are praying she did not board that bus and will reconsider her choice. To know she's going back to the dark, dangerous world of human trafficking is horrifying. Please join us in prayer. God knows her real name. God knows right where she's at.

Seeds of the Gospel have been planted, and she's been shown the love of Jesus. Pray she will receive His love, His deliverance, His healing, His freedom.