Dear Ministry Partners,
I’m on my way home from Russia after various flight cancellations and re-routes due to this volcanic ash cloud. Hopefully by the time you get this I’ll be headed toward US soil.
While on this trip, I heard a powerful story that is weighing on my heart to share with you. It is an encouragement and a strong reminder that girls absolutely MUST be protected from sex trafficking. Not optional. Here’s the story.
This week, I met with “Masha,” a bright young lady who visits our Ministry Center in Kostroma.
She told me about the day some professional women came to her technical school in Kostroma and promised her a new job with lots of money, clothes, and jewelry.
Instead, they trapped her in a rundown apartment, beat her when she asked questions, and forced her to work in a strip club.
Scared and alone, Masha was terrified at what came next. “You’ll have sex with 10 men each day,” they told her. But before that, some men would come to her apartment to “teach her” what to do.
Masha managed to escape the apartment and ran to the HopeChest Ministry Center for help. Our staff immediately called the authorities, and brought her to a safe place to live.
Fortunately, Masha avoided a life of forced prostitution and stolen dignity, thanks to the intervention of the HopeChest Ministry Center in Kostroma.
My wife and I have seven children-including two daughters from Russia-and the thought of them being raped makes me extremely angry. When I heard Masha’s story I wanted to do something to protect her, like I would protect my own children.
I urge you to continue praying for orphans impacted by sex trafficking. Stopping something this big will take awareness, courage, and funding. If you would like to make a gift to support HopeChest’s Ministry Centers, please click the donate button in this e-mail.
Today, you also have a unique opportunity to help protect and defend girls like Masha. Buying a Mother’s Day Gift from HopeChest is just one way to join the fight against sex trafficking and forced prostitution and provide a safe haven for orphaned girls in their time of greatest need.
This Mothers Day, Children’s HopeChest is partnering with AdoptionFathers.com to bring you the Love Goes Around necklace. This beautiful, limited edition, hand-made necklace will make an incredibly meaningful Mother’s Day gift.
When you buy this necklace for your mother, wife, sister, or daughter, proceeds will go directly to support young women like Masha, and other girls who benefit from programs at the Ministry Centers. Each necklace provides one of the following:
- 2 weeks of direct assistance for a women in our Young Mothers Program
- Nearly 1 month of mentorship, counseling, and discipleship at our Ministry Center
It may not seem like much, but this necklace is a symbol. It serves as a conversation piece, allowing you to share information about how sex trafficking impacts over 2 million children who are raped for money day after day after day.
Who knows what doors God will open?
This is a creative way to help support orphan girls and BREAK THE CHAIN of sex trafficking in Russia. They are at the greatest risk, and the Ministry Center is there to stop the horrors of sex trafficking before they start. You can do something to help these girls. Pray. Give. Educate your friends. Join mein fighting for girls like Masha.
I’ll be home in a few days and back in the office. If you want to hear more about our ministry efforts to help end sex trafficking before it starts, send me back an e-mail.
For the Fatherless,
Tom Davis
CEO, HopeChest
