What If Fighting Trafficking Starts in Your Church?

Brandon Andres Green, host of Good Neighbor Podcast Tulsa, sits down with AnnMarie Hayden of Fireborne to talk about faith, survivor leadership, and helping people find their role in the fight against exploitation, trafficking, abuse, and oppression.

AnnMarie shares how Fireborne grew from her own lived experience as a survivor of childhood abuse, exploitation, and familial trafficking into a faith-rooted, survivor-led ministry. Her message is clear: no one is called to do everything, but everyone has something they can do.

This conversation challenges the idea that anti-trafficking work only belongs to experts, nonprofits, or people with formal credentials. AnnMarie explains why churches are already close to vulnerable people through food banks, homeless outreach, community care, and everyday relationships, and why those spaces can become powerful points of prevention and support when people are properly equipped.

You’ll also hear AnnMarie talk about the strength of survivor leaders, the danger of assuming survivors are “too broken” to lead, and why lived experience can become wisdom, skill, and purpose. She also shares why good intentions are not always enough, and how churches can learn to respond in ways that protect dignity instead of adding harm.

If you care about faith-based anti-trafficking work, survivor-centered support, church outreach, or practical ways to serve people in vulnerable places, this conversation gives you a grounded place to start.

You do not have to do everything. But you do have a role.

Transcript

Welcome And Fireborne Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Brandon Andris Green.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast Live. Are you looking for a faith-based survivor movement built around freedom, healing, and restored voices? Well, one might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Anne Marie Hayden with Fireborne. Anne-Marie, how's it going?

SPEAKER_01 0:34

It's going great, Brandon. I'm glad to be here.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Thanks, yeah. That means a lot. We're excited to learn all about you, Fireborn, and the mission behind this faith-based survivor-led movement.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Well, thank you. You do a lot yourself. I'm honored to be here with you and to share a little bit about what we do.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Thanks, that means a lot.

Fireborne Mission And Model

SPEAKER_02 0:55

Will you tell us a little bit about Fireborne? What really inspired you to start this?

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Well, for as you've as you've said, that uh Fireborne is a survivor-led, it's faith-rooted ministry. We focus on equipping people to become a part of the solution to exploitation. Um, and we work at the intersection of lived experience, community, and church. Um, it really for us, it's the the heart is about moving people and um from awareness to understanding to action. And um, there was a long time that I believed that um the those of us that were working in this, and I've seen it, uh, that are working in this movement, um, have to do everything. A lot of nonprofits are out there doing everything with very little. Um, but I don't believe that everyone anyone is called to do everything, um, but that everyone has something they can do. So much of what we do is about helping people discover what their role is, discover what their gifts and their talents are. Um, and if they they hate this thing that we call exploitation and trafficking and abuse and oppression, um, that they can do something about it. They've been gifted to do just that. Um, and so equipping them to release them to actually do something with it is really the heart behind Fireborn.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Wow.

Anne Marie’s Survivor Story

SPEAKER_02 2:22

I'm super curious, Anne Marie. How did you even get into this type of work in the first place?

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Well, I come by it honestly. Um, my journey uh started long before Fireborne. Uh, the name, the idea, um, the solution uh came about. I'm a survivor of uh childhood abuse, of exploitation and trafficking, uh, familial trafficking. And for a lot of my life I was surviving. Um, it wasn't until in my 40s that I really began to understand healing and freedom in a completely new way. Um, and it's because God started to do a work in me that changed not only how I saw my story, but how I saw myself, um, my identity and who I was. Um, and began to see that um my story just wasn't something that I had survived, but it was something that God could use. So I began serving in ministry at my local church. Um, I then began working in ministry at my local church, uh, began working with survivors and awareness events in my uh local area and and truly just learning more. There's always more that can be learned, um, even from my lived experience about exploitation and trafficking. And I kept seeing gaps. That's just the reality of it. I saw survivors with incredible wisdom who weren't always being heard. I saw churches who genuinely wanted to help, but didn't always know how. Um, I saw communities full of people who cared deeply but had no idea what their specific role was. So Fireborn really grew out of that. It was this realization that maybe my role wasn't to do all the work. Um, maybe my role was to help equip other people to do the work. Um, that's what ministry is, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:22

And so good Emmerin.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Yeah. So that's that's what Fireborne is. That's how I came about it.

Misconceptions About Survivor Leaders

SPEAKER_02 4:28

It's great. So, what's a common misconception that you think people have about, let's say, survivor advocacy?

SPEAKER_01 4:38

About survivor advocacy, I'm I'm not sure. I I think that people are challenged with survivor leaders. I'll I'll say that. Um, I think that a lot of people think that survivors are too broken and um maybe too weak. Um, a lot of times uh that that victim mentality is projected um onto a survivor uh as if they could not have been vulnerable to the same experiences that I had, or that I didn't learn something from the experiences I had. I survived. We survived a lot of things, and in surviving a lot of those things, um I gained a lot of skills. Uh, and those skills are transferable. Um, and those skills are being put to use uh in corporate America across the world right now. That's my day job. Um, and then I and in ministry, God is using that also to reach people, to connect people to their God-given gifts and to connect them to organizations that are doing good work but are trying to do it all alone. And they need people. We need churches, we need communities, we need people activated, but we need it all activated from an informed place and from their place. We all have a space, we all have a seat, we all have gifts and talents. And when we're operating from those gifts and talents, we're operating in the spirits, and we're so much more powerful than we could ever hope or imagine.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

Wow, what a good word. You're giving me goose bumps. So, who are the people you most hope to, let's say, reach and empower through Fireborne? I mean, obviously we've established survivors, but is there an actual demographic you're going after?

Activating Churches With Trauma-Informed Care

SPEAKER_01 6:28

For me, I there is. Um, I'm going after faith leaders. Um, and that doesn't mean just your lead pastor at a church. Um, that could be your Christian man who's running a business, it could be your Christian mom who's running a family. Um, I'm going after faith leaders because as faith leaders, we are already in a position to be equipped by the Holy Spirit. Um, we're closer to that, and it is our job, it is our great commission to do go and help those that are oppressed. Uh, so I'm I'm looking to help those that are already trying to do those things reach that next level. I think that's the easiest audience for me to reach right now. There are there's more work to be done, and there's people out there reaching other spaces of it, but I believe that God's plan A for oppression, exploitation, and abuse is the church. And that's the Big C church. And so that's you and me and Jill and John and all of us out there who call ourselves faith leaders because we call ourselves Christians.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

And how are you connecting with these faith leaders?

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Uh, there's a few strategies that I've deployed. So I just I operate uh, you know, in a very open space where I share who I am wherever I go. Uh so it doesn't matter if I'm working in a boardroom or if I'm working in a church room. Um, I'm Anne Marie, the leader, and I'm talking about my Christian faith. I'm talking about my lived experience, and I'm encouraging people to work to live with purpose and to live on purpose. Um, so from that, naturally, you know, this becomes relationships that then become an engagement where people are looking to learn more. And if you're impassioned about ending exploitation, there's a place for you there. You have giftings that you can lend to it. And God has gifted me with connections, with people that are doing amazing work that would love to have more people on board with them. So whether it's you're really good at driving a car, and therefore you could teach somebody to drive a car, you're really good at math, and you could teach somebody math, or you're really good at, you know, sending out letters. I mean, there's all kinds of ways people can help in this movement. Um, they just one, we need to focus in on what we can individually do, and then try to mobilize that. I'm a really big proponent of what is God already placed in your hands. So when I meet with churches, for instance, I meet with church staffs or I meet with board regencies and I say, What are you already doing? What are you do you already have a food bank? Do you are you already doing homeless outreach? What are you already doing that we can go ahead and begin informing? Because what we know about trafficking and exploitation is that it begins with vulnerabilities. And where churches are reaching those that are vulnerable, they have the opportunity to engage with those that are either at risk or already being victimized by these predators. So, how can we equip them to see it and then do something about it? And do something about it from a healthy place. Um, I love, I love my local church and I love their intentions, but sometimes good intentions hurt. Um, and so if you don't know better, you can't do better. And so I'm here to say that that God, that Jesus Christ has shown us exactly how to do this. Jesus was trauma-informed. We hear about being trauma-informed all the way, all the time. Well, Jesus was trauma-informed. He asked questions, he presented uh opportunities, he waited for people to make those choices, and he loved them anyway. So I want to encourage the church that you don't have to be this uh this clinical certified, whatever it might be. They just need to be Jesus. And when we do that, we see people coming into the church that don't look on the outside, what they're starting to look like on the inside. And instead of going out the back door, they're sitting and they're staying and they're they're they're being discipled. And soon, like me, we're making disciples.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

Amen.

Trafficking In Plain Sight

SPEAKER_02 10:51

We found there is a uh way to share these stories and and maybe even bring awareness in such a way that awakes people up while still protecting the survivors' dignity.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Yeah, I'm not a big I'm not a big person to promote, and that's maybe some of my challenges. Um, I I believe what I am called to do is really to link up with other survivors so that we can go out there and and and equip more churches, more community members, more people in this movement, and then that will happen. Am I a part of um still reaching those that are being victimized? I go on outreach on a regular basis, so yes. Um I a part of the journey of those that have decided, you know, to start exploring options that might look different than what their story has been so far. I am, and I've seen miracle after miracle. Um it's not my miracle to share, but it's God's. And he inevitably he's brought some of those things about, more so on a one-to-one basis than on a public uh basis. But for me, it's about people, you either know that trafficking is real or you don't. Um, and this day and age, most of us know that trafficking is real. Do we know that it's existing in our backyard? I was trafficked right there in Oklahoma, right there in Tulsa by my mother. And I went to school and I went to church and I went to all these places, and nobody knew. Nobody knew what was going on. But here's the big thing, Brandon. Nobody really wanted to know. What I was was the dirty poor girl who wanted way too much attention. Um, and so people steered clear of me rather than leaning in. And so I challenge churches and I challenge faith leaders to lean into those messy situations. Jesus did. Um, because when we lean into them, we we block a predator from leaning into them.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

That's so good. Ann Marie, what's one thing you would want our listeners to really remember about your message with Fireborne?

Your Role And How To Connect

SPEAKER_01 13:07

Ooh, one thing, one thing, one thing. I think um I think one thing I want people to remember about Fireborn is that you have a role. Um, you don't have to start a nonprofit. Um, you don't have to become an expert even in trafficking, um, you don't have to do everything, but you can do something. Fireborne is really about equipping people to recognize what God has already placed in their hands and helping them use it well. Um, because equip people, equip people. Um, transformation then multiplies. Um, and that's how we begin to take um take and hold ground, right?

SPEAKER_02 13:48

Amen. So, how can listeners learn more about Fireborn, maybe get involved and support the movement?

SPEAKER_01 13:56

We do have a website, so that's the best way to get a hold of us, see what's going on. Um, there's there's a way that you can contact me through the website also. So I would encourage everyone to go to Fireborn, and that's Fireborn with an E because we carry the fire. We're not from the fire, but we carry the fire. So it's F-I-R-E-B-O-R-N-E.org.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

I love it. Well, I am Maria, I so appreciate you being on the show. I know you're a busy woman. We wish you and Fireborn the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Thank you, Brendan, and I'm so grateful for you and for this opportunity to share.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gmptulsa.com. That's gmptulsa.com or call 918 361 6356.