This post is part of a series from workshop leaders at our 2013 Women’s Forum. Ann Lovell spoke on ministry to those who are exploited and trafficked in our country and around the world. She showed us what we can do to make a difference.
I consider it one of my greatest opportunities to attend the Lifeway Women’s Forum last year. I loved meeting women from across the U.S. who are passionate about reaching a lost world with God’s Good News. As I led the breakout session on human trafficking, I was inspired and encouraged by the number of women who “get it.”
For me, the fight against human trafficking began in 2010 in a tourist city in Thailand with the audacious prayer, “Lord, please shut down the sex industry in my city.” As I shared my experiences at the forum of how that single prayer grew into an entire ministry to exploited women and children, I met women who are just like me: They have a strong desire to reach out to women who are hurting. They are just looking for a way to begin.
As you lead women in your church to embrace the exploited in your community and around the world, consider these ideas:
- Pray audacious prayers. Then, take audacious action.
- Prayerwalk a red-light district.
- Take gift bags to a strip club.
- Volunteer in a women’s shelter.
- Prepare a meal for a single mother. Babysit her children.
Along the way, teach women to share what God has done in their lives. As women of God share our stories with women in crisis, God is glorified and His Kingdom expands.
If you are leading women to address human trafficking where you live, order copies or download “Confronting the Exploiters,” a Bible study and accompanying prayer guide, at Kingdom Women. Connect with Ann on Facebook, Twitter @annlovell or by email at seoulwriter@gmail.com.
Ann Lovell served 13 years in Asia as a Christian worker in the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand. In Thailand, she and several co-workers initiated a ministry to exploited women in her city’s red-light districts. The ministry, heartweavers, grew to include existing ministries to orphans and juvenile female prisoners. Today, Ann lives in Richmond, Va., where she most enjoys being wife to Joe and mother to Lauren and Alli. She is the author of Confronting the Exploiters, a 6-session Bible study based on Exodus 1-12, and Praying for the Exploited, an accompanying prayer guide. She also authored a series of children’s books called Connie and Friends along with Freedom’s Path, a fictional short story of a young Thai woman caught in the snare of human trafficking. Freedom’s Path is included in the collection, Four, compiled by Timothy Holder.
