Surviving Human Trafficking: What Happens After the Rescue?

What really happens after someone is rescued from human trafficking?
In this powerful episode of Conversations That Make a Difference, Teresa Velardi sits down with Andi Buerger, JD, international speaker, author, and survivor of child sex trafficking, and Bruce Ladebu, founder of Children’s Rescue Initiative, to uncover the truth most people never hear.
Because rescue is only the beginning.

Andi shares her deeply personal journey from surviving exploitation to becoming a global advocate, helping thousands reclaim their lives and voices. Bruce reveals what he witnessed firsthand, from underground investigations in Eastern Europe to rescuing victims from modern-day slavery, and why this mission became his life’s calling.

Together, they expose the harsh realities survivors face after rescue: trauma, rebuilding identity, finding safety, and learning how to live again. This conversation is raw, eye-opening, and deeply human. As Andi powerfully states: “There is nothing civilized about the exploitation of the weak, the innocent, the vulnerable for selfish gain.”
If you’ve ever wondered how you can make a difference or why this issue matters more than ever, this episode will stay with you.


Join the conversation in the comments. Your awareness matters. Please share so that together we can make the Voices Against Trafficking louder.

Learn more & get involved
Andi Buerger - Voices Against Trafficking: https://voicesagainsttrafficking.com/
Bruce Ladebu - Children’s Rescue Initiative (CRI):
https://thechildrensrescue.org/

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to Conversations That Make a Difference. With your host, Teresa Vellari. We believe that authentic, meaningful, and diverse conversations are the glue that binds us together. Our discussions remind us we have the power to uplift, challenge, strategic, and invite dynamic growth. Are you like me? Feeling like your mind of the taking your hands to life. Join us for conversations filled with gratitude, values, abundance, authenticity, and faith. Here's the host of our show, Teresa Villardi.

SPEAKER_04 0:57

Hey everyone. Welcome to Conversations That Make a Difference. Yes, we have a new look. We have a new space. We got a little fairy running around in the in the uh in the atmosphere, and we have some familiar faces that are here to celebrate the relaunch of Conversations That Make a Difference. I am so excited to have these people here. You know, we always start with a prayer, so I'm going to still continue to say the serenity prayer. If you would join me, God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the can't the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. And it is indeed by God's grace that we are fabulous, blessed, and highly favored, living in our greatness, using our gifts and talents, making a difference in the lives of others with passion and purpose, and all of God's great universe is conspiring in our favor. And together we say Amen. Amen. Amen. Welcome, Andy Berger and Bruce Ladabu. I am excited to have you here. For those who have not seen you before, I'm going to read your bio so that they know who you are, what you do, and why you're here for this conversation today on uh voices with voices against trafficking and Bruce's organization, child childrenrescue.org. Um, and we are gonna talk about what happens after the rescue. So Andy is an international speaker and author and survivor of child sex trafficking herself. She is an advocate and globally for victims for of exploitation. She founded Beulah's Place, rescuing 300 and more teens at risk, and later co-founded Voices Against Trafficking, uniting voices worldwide and defend human to defend human rights. Her books and her internationally are internationally distributed, Voices of Courage magazine empowers survivors and honors human rights champions. In 2025, Voices of Courage television series was set to debut. There's been a little bit of a um a postponement for that, but watch for that to happen in the very near future. Andy's been a guest on my show many times, and this time the conversation will center on the victims and what happens after the rescue. Andy, welcome.

SPEAKER_02 3:26

Thank you, Teresa. I'm so pleased to be here again, and also with uh Bruce because uh this is important work, and we are so grateful to you being such a representative of media out there, getting the word out, and not just you know, the surface type. Today we're gonna talk about something that doesn't really get talked about. Like, okay, we've rescued them now, what, right? Now what?

SPEAKER_04 3:49

Exactly, exactly. And Bruce is gonna speak into that a little bit, I guess, because that's what he does, rescues the children. Um, Bruce has spent his early years as a professional adventurer, explorer, guide, and instructor. While traveling through the newly formed ex-Soviet countries in 1993, he learned about human trafficking. Later, he went underground in Eastern Europe to investigate further. He what he found was disturbing and beyond his ability to comprehend. Finally, in 2009, 2009, Bruce was taken to slave fields in Western Asia, where he witnessed countless people working in hard labor. Before the end of the day, he rescued his first child. Soon after returning to the U.S., Bruce knew it was his lifelong mission to rescue children and adults from labor slavery and sex trafficking. To pursue that mission, he founded Children's Rescue Initiative. It's more than um than an awareness campaign, it's a movement actively fighting the human trafficking epidemic. Over the last 10 years, his organization, highly skilled rescue team, have relentlessly fought for freedom, having rescued victims from around the world and supported them on the road to freedom and recovery. Bruce, thank you for joining us today. I'm so grateful to have you here.

SPEAKER_06 5:23

Yeah, thank you so much for having me back on, and I'm so excited to see Andy again. Yeah. And uh looking forward to our conversation.

SPEAKER_04 5:32

It's always good to have you. It's always good to have both of you here. You know, um, Andy, you say that when we allow our children to be sold, to be used as a commodity, to be violated, persecuted, neglected, discarded, and preyed upon by criminal influences, we deteriorate as a civilized community. There is nothing civilized about the exploitation of the weak, innocent, and the vulnerable for selfish gain. That is probably the most true statement that anybody hears today regarding sex trafficking. Although we do know that um there are um lots of kids that have been rescued and but there and but it doesn't discount the um the horror that they went through before they got rescued.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

So absolutely. Um, you know, the the the rescue part is the pivot from the horror that they've lived through and the potential to create a new normal because even when we rescue, there's no guarantee that that particular victim will be a successful survivor, if that makes sense. And it's true, we deteriorate as a society when we say that human life doesn't matter. I'm gonna make some money off of that him or her, you know, that we that we would use ourselves, use the vulnerable, the weak who cannot defend themselves. You know, when I was young and trafficked by family members for 17 years, there no one heard screams or cries, no one was there to investigate. It was a different time. We didn't have that term, but imagine, you know, you pull, as I'm sure Bruce has, you know, a young child out of that situation. There's a lot more that goes into it. And even from the basic things, okay, well, we've rescued them now. What? Okay, well, you have to have safety and shelter of some kind. We used a uh safe house system with volunteers that were vetted, and our our young people would stay between three and five months maximum so we could get them reintegrated, you know, into community. They were older teens, you know, 17, 18, 19, 20. But this the same principle, you got to get them safe, get them sheltered, and and then, you know, what about their their tangible needs, like medical, you know, and dental and vision. And we have a young girl that we are raising money for now because uh the extent of the damage to her optic nerves and her her vision were not fully manifested until about 12 months after her rescue. And the special glasses are not covered, of course. So they're like $400 each pair. And you know, a 20-year-old is gonna need more than one pair. I need more than one pair. But so those are just you know small things, and I know Bruce will talk more about it, but you have involvement with law enforcement. There could be a a chance that maybe that victim's gonna have to testify or or see a perpetrator that actually gets caught. We don't know. It's always different. So there's just a lot more to it, and I'm glad that we're gonna be able to talk more about that today because people need to know it doesn't just stop there.

SPEAKER_04 8:52

Yeah, absolutely. And one of the things that really um really uh gets me is the number of families who traffic their children. Like um just the thought of that is enough to make me sick, you know. So, and you suffered for 17 years in that environ in that environment, and you are an example of um success once you were once you were out. And not only are you not only are you successful um in terms of um what you do for the organization, and you've suffered greatly. I understand that, I know that, and you still have issues, you know, and I can only imagine what life was like before that. But um yeah, it's it's just this is one of the reasons why I support your organization because it makes me so mad. I have to do something, you know.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

We want more people to be mad like you, Teresa. Because here's the thing everybody's all in a TIFF about the abstain files. We want to know who. Well, it's kind of like you know, celebrities and things, you know, they're always interested in it. But why aren't we that upset about the the victim we don't know yet that isn't connected to a celebrity trafficker, okay, or a celebrity exploiter. So we need to kind of adjust, as you said, you know, my life is about truth and hope. Speak the truth about what happens, you know, because I'm on both sides of the coin, but also bring the hope. And, you know, God, God took care of that part in my life, you know, faith, but I also had to do a lot of work. I had three years of, you know, weekly counseling. I going back and figuring out identities and then figuring out how a family could do this, how the people that are supposed to love and protect you, you know, were the orchestrators of all this evil. It's very um confusing to a young child, you know, why why this happens, let alone to the rest of us who are out there saying, how can another human being do this to somebody that little or somebody that vulnerable, whether it's the elderly or children, um, you know, young young people. So uh again, it's so important that we have open conversations without terrifying the public.

SPEAKER_04 11:10

Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, and I'm so glad that you come here to have those conversations. Bruce, tell me a little bit about your organization and what your experience is like. Um, it says you rescued your first child in your bio and in the Soviet Union, I believe, what used to be the Soviet Union. So tell me what your experience was then and how you transformed it into an organization to help those who are surviving now.

SPEAKER_06 11:38

Yeah, thank you, Teresa. And uh before I go on, Andy, thank you for being a survivor and going on to impacting so many uh people in this world. Uh, you're a true hero.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Amen. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_06 11:52

I agree. Um I started um traveling the former Soviet Union way back in the 90s and uh saw some pretty horrific things that I didn't know how to deal with. Tried to figure it out for a long time. How do you go up against organized crime? How do you do all those different things? And uh I couldn't find anybody to teach me. They were just back there, there was just nobody doing this. Uh, and then in 2009, I was actually in Pakistan and uh doing a leaders' conference there and some other things, and they introduced me to the slave fields, and I was I was horrified. It was I felt like I was in biblical times looking across these fields with hundreds of people in modern slavery. And I went we went back to our host home, and uh I we just had an honest conversation. I said, How how can I leave here without getting some children free of that? And and he told me, he says, Nobody's ever done it here, you're gonna die, we're all gonna die, those kind of things. And by the time we had left, we had rescued seven kids. Uh, made them stay in our the host home and made him be an unwilling parent at first, then he caught the vision and and ran with it. And we spent many, many years there, rescued over 2,000 people out of the slave fields, just in that nation alone. And at that time, we uh we uh uh didn't have a survivor care program, so you know, all these people that were rescued were taken to villages and set up uh you know with uh Christian families and churches, and uh and it was fairly successful. We didn't have really anybody running back to the slave fields, that's all they'd ever known. And uh then I was poisoned over there near the contract of my life, and I was poisoned in 2015. Took me a year and a half to recover, and uh uh we decided to start in a new area of the world and went in there and started uh going into brothels and into uh slave you know camps, those kind of things, and started to rescue kids. And we decided, well, we've got to have a good formal uh aftercare program, which we eventually called it survivor care. And the uh the results have been uh been very interesting. We've had a lot of success, but we've had a big learning curve because in a lot of these impoverished nations, there is no counseling centers. They're uh you can't take them to you know anywhere. You've got to uh figure out how to do it. So we would place the victims in really good children's homes where we knew that they're we'd be prayed over, we knew that they would get good biblical teaching. And uh like some of my first rescues in that nation, uh, which was in Asia, we rescued three girls out of a brothel, went in, men were lined up, little short wall with a bed behind it. Men could stand there and actually watch what was going on in the other room. Our team pretty well trained, they separated these men out. Um, and we got the three girls. My son was actually with me, and we walked these girls up and got them into a really, really good children's home. And went back a couple years later, and the young lady who was 13 at that time, uh, she had been in the brothel for two years. She's now in college to be an advocate for trafficking victims. One of the other girls, an 11-year-old, she is the worship leader in a church. Nice. Um, went to see her and she was just singing her heart out, you know. And so we're uh we're revamping a lot of what we have uh uh done trying to make things better. Uh we've made mistakes along the way trying to figure this out. But uh yeah, there's there's many, many layers to survivor care.

SPEAKER_04 16:02

In your for in your experience, what I mean, you just said one of these girls was 11, one was 13. What is the average age of the children that you're rescuing, or is there no average age? It just runs the gamut.

SPEAKER_06 16:15

Uh 10 to 12, 13. That's pretty much the the age we're finding in the in the brothels. In the slave camps, it's all age. We rescued a couple uh little girls. The youngest was three out of a sex trafficking situation.

SPEAKER_04 16:32

Oh my lord, I can't even, I can't even imagine. I can't even imagine. But this is not um, this is not um um practice from any one country. This is worldwide, correct? Every single country. And you know, like um, like we were talking before we went live, there are there are lots of organizations who are doing their best to help. And Andy um has one of the best organizations um that I believe is around there. She she is a survivor herself, and she she it's something you have you have to take it personally. You have to have the heart for the children, for the young women who are um freed from this. So, Andy, what makes what makes your organization unique?

SPEAKER_02 17:25

Well, I think uh there are a number of things. Thank you for that, and thanks to Bruce for having the guts to go do that, because that is a hard thing to do to walk into a foreign country and decide that you're gonna take children and money away from criminal predators. So that and I'm so glad you survived that poisoning because that's how how dedicated the criminals are. They will take you out if you mess with their feed chain, right? Um, but back to your question. So, voices against trafficking, one, is all volunteer driven. We have no payroll there. Everything that we take in as a 501c3 uh nonprofit entity goes back to what we do to survivors, to victims, to the programs um that we already have. But also, as you can see, our book, this is our newest book, the third one that we've put out, our first international best-selling title. So we're very grateful that God bless that voices against trafficking because courage is contagious. If we just have a little courage and we band together collectively, let me tell you, it will go like wildfire. And that's what's going to make a difference. That's what's gonna say, hey, I want to support Bruce, I want to support Andy, I want to support, you know, these things, even if I'm not actually the one that goes into that camp and pulls a child out or a young person or a young mother. Um, the other things that we do, we are very much about creating greater public awareness. Okay, the awareness is the start of prevention because first of all, we have to break the myth. We have to get them aware in my neighborhood, your neighborhood, neighborhoods around the world, villages, and then say, okay, give them some tools, give them some education. So in our in our six short years after uh COVID closed our shelter, we've produced three books, um, three magazines, Voices of Courage, and also, you know, a music CD called Broken Treasures, because as human beings, we're all broken, but we're treasures in God's eyes. And so the artists that donated original songs to help empower, inspire, you know, make uh the message of hope uh real to people, we have that. And then, like you said, we got a little delay in our TV program, but we will get there hopefully by the end of the year. Um, but again, we we're using every facet that we can find because adult learners have, you know, are either audio, visual, or a combination. Yeah. So if we can reach somebody with a positive message, that's what we want to do. And then I think thirdly, is uh all of the folks that work with us, everyone who partners with us, you know, we want everyone to win. So whether we partner with Bruce on something or you know, other organizations, we have no ego about, oh, well, we can't do that because that's somebody else's turf. No, it's everybody's turf. Every human being at some point will either know someone who's been affected or they will be affected because it is just that big.

SPEAKER_04 20:17

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And um, so do uh we want to we have a we have a um uh clip from an interview that uh you want to introduce that clip for me?

SPEAKER_02 20:29

Yeah, absolutely. Again, we are talking about partnerships, and so we love people that do great work. And the Tim Tebow Foundation is doing phenomenal work, and this was on Facebook, Teresa found it. I pre thank you for doing that. And we feel it's so important that we want to share it on this show because again, we want people to get as much information as possible. So let's do it.

SPEAKER_04 20:51

Okay, let's show that clip of Tim Tebow. He's being interviewed and giving some information on what this looks like around just our country.

SPEAKER_05 21:03

This fight against trafficking exploitation is one of the worst evils in the world. That is a DOJ law enforcement map. It's called the red dot map. And every red dot on that map is at least one unique IP address of individuals downloading, sharing, distributing child abuse and images under the age of 12. And there's over 111,000 of them just in the U.S. over the last 30 days. It does take place in a lot of areas. But it's overwhelming when you think how much is done by families. People will say, well, that's just over there in those countries, and it's all of those places, and it's not, it's right here in our backyard. Some people will say it's okay, we'll start. They're just downloading this. Sharing and distributing it, but they're not. 55 to 85% are also hands-on offenders, and your average offender has 13 victims in their lifetime. So many of these are brutal, brutal abuse of children. A friend of ours that fights in this space was telling us a 13-year-old girl that was being while someone would stand there and read the Bible to her. And then they would rotate and someone else would come in and read the Bible. She would be going through this horrible evil. Part of the reason that it was believed that they were doing it is so that the worst moment of her life would be associated with God's word. And um that's a lot of evil. One story, I hate to even say it, but by one of the top psychologists that he shared with us is one offender went to a playground and he watched all of the boys and girls. He he picked a certain one and the psychologist, he said, Why did you pick that one? What's the reason why you did it? Why did you select that person? He said, No, I waited and I watched and I tried to find the happiest kid so that I could steal her soul. I hate even sharing that, but it's also why I believe the guys created some of us to put us here so that we could stand in the gap between them so that they would know. More importantly, that Heavenly Father loves them enough, that already stood in the gap for them. And it's our heart that we would rally an army, and maybe we would even declare a national emergency to fight this evil. Our heart is to leverage anything and everything we can so that they can get out of this evil. All of these issues, it is growing. We aren't winning. Like we're losing every day until enough people stand on the line to say, together, we're gonna fight this. We're gonna call it out, we're gonna stand on the line. They're worth it. They were worth it to King Jesus to die for, they're worth it for us to fight for. This fight against trafficking and exploitation.

SPEAKER_03 24:39

That will cause you to pause. That will cause you to pause.

SPEAKER_02 24:45

Absolutely. And he's absolutely right. There are truly families with wealthy and not wealthy who are grooming their own children to be groomers, which generational groomers. And back when I was in that situation, the courts didn't recognize uh the victims of familial trafficking, family trafficking, because the predators are covered by the bloodline. Oh, it's just a misunderstanding. Oh, it's just a problem. Everybody needs to go to counseling or whatever. And and they just didn't consider that the child or children involved actually had a valid, uh, a valid complaint, you know, a valid situation. And so that's why my first suicide attempt, I was five, the second I was eight, the third time I was nine. And then God just continued to give me enough to hold on to. And then after a while, it's like it's a little too late to take my life now because I've already been through so much pain, right? And so, but I knew when I was five, and he met me on that curb before I jumped in front of a car that he when he said he had a plan, I trusted that and he has never failed me. And just like Tim was saying, that predator picked the happiest kid. That is something sick and evil, where you want to steal the soul and the heart of a happy child.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Right? Because they have joy, because they're still innocent.

SPEAKER_04 26:11

Yeah, absolutely. And um, you know, it's it's maddening and it's sad, and it's um uh it's just I have no words when I speak about this, but that video that we just saw really brings um brings the subject to the heart because those children are those children belong to some parents who obviously were some of them were stolen from the parents, some of them were turned over by the parents. And whatever the case is, that child is an innocent child and has and and and has the love of God. And one of the big things about this show is we always talk about faith and how Andy just said, you know, her faith, even as a five-year-old, knowing that God had a plan, took her through horrific issues, horrific events in her life. And I I just Bruce, what do you see? What do you see out there? Can you um relate to a lot of what Tim was talking about just now? And by the way, if you want to donate to Voices Against Trafficking, you can go to voices against trafficking.com, hit the donate button. If you donate to this organization, it's they're gonna use all that money. Like Andy said earlier. There is no one taking a salary from this, not even Andy. Um, she's doing this to help others. Um, and and people are just um literally dying to be rescued, literally, dying to be rescued. And your dollars, no matter how small or how large, can help save lives. So, Bruce, you have been in the trenches, so to speak. And they've even tried to take you out, they tried to poison you. How has um how do you help those who are rescued? And are you still in those trenches? Are you still rescuing kids? Are you providing for them once they are rescued? Let's talk a little bit about your organization a little bit more.

SPEAKER_06 28:18

Oh, I don't think there's a day that goes by that I don't want to start a pedophile elimination service and walk people off the face of the earth. We've we've had opportunities uh to do that. Um overseas, it's so common within in the countries we work in. There are just so many, so many people that go after the young kids. It's just it's beyond comprehension. Um, this little girl, um, I don't know if you can see her, she's very beat up. She's got a broken arm. Uh they're out getting her out today. Uh and her things they're orphans, they were beaten severely. Uh, we get these kind of things on a regular basis: broken bones, uh, people that have been killed. Um I actually walked into a place one time where the slave owner had just beaten two little girls to death, and nothing ever happens to them. And uh and gone out of rages, so many stories that we documented over the years. Uh yeah, and so the answer is yes, we're we're still going out in those places. I was overseas about six weeks ago. We found 25 locations where there was trafficking victims in hotels and cafes, and it was a brand new country for us, brand new place. So we're working on now uh establishing the connections so we can go get them out, but we've got to have the right connections to do it. Um and uh, you know, it's the horror stories uh are beyond there's things that I have seen that I'll never talk about with anybody. So beyond anything. And uh in fact, I wrote this book that just came up, the David Effect. Um uh it's all about vision and mission and courage to carry it out and the passion to carry it out. And uh it's getting great reviews, but uh, that was one of my reasons is because and then the second book that I uh the uh second book to this is called the Shaman Code, after the character in the Bible called Shaman who stood in the bean field and defended it. And it's the entire thing is about courage, and both books have lots of stories about heroes and and uh pretty amazing people around the world and and personal stories and all those. But when I when I was in this originally, Teresa, I could not find other people that wanted to do it. Now there are thousands of organizations, and it's gonna take tens of thousands, tens of thousands of organizations to even make a dent because I'm sure Andy would feel the same. I feel like I'm trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. Yes, yeah, it's just so many. I get we get requests every single day from somewhere in the world. We're getting ready to start a new organization here called Silent Night Rescues, and it's about supporting the police all around the country, uh, you know, investigations and all that. Uh and uh unfortunately you could be going 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and not even make a dent. You know, we need to work together, everybody needs to just join forces, and there should never be a competitive uh ounce of anything in anybody in this business. Right. I don't know if I answered your question or not, but yes, you did.

SPEAKER_04 32:02

And I'm I I love the title of your book. Um, and so so one of the things that I I I was impressed with between the conversation that we're having right now and the video that of um the United States and the number of people who are just in the United States, hundreds of thousands of people are somehow, somehow involved in this and child exploitation. And um and just multiply that by how many countries are there in the world?

SPEAKER_02 32:37

Just multiply 195, I think.

SPEAKER_04 32:40

Well, so that's that's that's more than my brain can do math for at this particular moment. Millions, probably billions of kids and um and people who have been exploited. Bruce, thank you for what you have done and what you continue to do. It takes uh courage. I don't think courage actually is a strong enough word to um to say what you need in order to be able to do the work that you're doing. And the same thing for Andy, you know, you you are you're out there in the trenches doing what what needs to be done in order to be able to bring these children home, home to themselves because they have no, they don't know who they are, they don't know who they are, and that's that's um that's um so so so sad to me. So sad. But um, you know, some of the things that um people who who watch my show most of them know that I also have a publishing company, Authentic Endeavors Publishing, and some of the ways that you can support uh Voice Against Trafficking and Um Bruce's organization, you can buy the books, just buy the books. Um we have um the daily gift book series is um part of the sales from daily gift book series or going to Voices Against Trafficking. We have gratitude, hope, kindness, friendship. Friendship is friendship even something any of these people know about? I don't think so.

SPEAKER_02 34:14

I don't think I never had friends when I was growing up because it was all controlled.

SPEAKER_04 34:19

Yeah, exactly. And a daily gift of peace. Andy, Andy Berger wrote the forward for this book. So all of these books, whatever, whatever comes in from the sale of these books, a portion of it goes to voices against trafficking. And there are ways that you can, like I said, donate. And Bruce, if you want to give away for people to get involved in your organization, is there a link where they can donate money to the cause that you are so passionate about?

SPEAKER_06 34:47

Yeah, they can go on to the children'srescue.org. Uh, we have a donate place on there. Uh, all my books are available on Amazon or on our website. Um and yeah, so I appreciate you asking.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

I love the title, Bruce. Sorry, Teresa, the the David effect, because really, but it in life, you only need one stone if it's the right stone and you have the courage behind it to throw it, right? Yeah. He doesn't need our help. But you know what? That one stone can make a big difference. And collectively, if we're that stone, we can at least turn the tide more in favor of the victims and and survivors instead of the predators who seem to get all the breaks in life. And um, you know, we need to we need to do more about that. And I know um it seems like that ocean that Bruce is talking about is endless, and and to some extent it is. You know, we're not going to take care of all of it. We're not going to get rid of human depravity because we're all flawed. You know, we were all came into this life that way. But that one starfish that we throw back into the ocean, that whole generation of starfish will be forever changed. You know, I look at, gosh, it was only 300 kids in our area alone, you know, but that's 300 generations, you know, 12 of them went to college from homeless and and and you know, desperate to, you know, college graduates who are changing their world and before they have their babies and their, you know, their partnerships and stuff like that. So what Bruce does, what we do, what so many of our members do, you know, with voices, collectively we are that that stone. And that's what we want to do because we know we have enough faith for it to go as far as God will allow it to go. But we need everybody on board. And like you said, Teresa, you may have $2 this month. It'll help. Trust me. That's either some food or some gas or something that we need, school supplies. Um, I'm sure Bruce can use anything as well, because international countries they don't have the same economy we do. You know, so maybe $5 from us could be the equivalent of $30 to them. Um, you know, we have work in Pakistan as well, and also Uganda and Ivory Coast and Mexico. So we are supporting the ones that have are supporting orphans, you know, of human trafficking and war. We have adult orphans who are raising orphans. And uh, as a friend of mine said, that's poetic humanity, right? The ones who have nothing are the ones that are most generous, usually. And I'm with Bruce in terms of there are things I wish I didn't know. I would never tell anyone because they wouldn't be able to absorb it. Um but when you're called, it's not working, you know, it's you're called, you cannot not do it. Sorry for the double nugget of English teachers, but yeah, yeah, there you go. You know, it is that compelling. I'm at that age and stage where I can't do as much as I'd like to. I cannot do, you know, a lot in the live rescue anymore, but it's okay. And there are residual effects. Uh, we are working with some folks that that have identified scientifically that even one sexual assault on a child can lead up to one or more of 73 different illnesses, diseases, and cancers. It's proven. You know, I have a lot of issues, you know, autoimmune, all the stuff, things that I've been through. But then there are things that weren't caused by that. But just think about that child who's five, who's had that experience, just one. And maybe she becomes 25, you know, 30-ish, has health issues, but there will never be that correlation unless doctors and and health providers are trained and made aware that some of these things can be caused from that. Now, you know, you you may not be able to fix that as that physician, but you know, there are ways to recommend, you know, special counseling. Um, sexual uh assault is a very intimate act, and so not every counselor can handle that or can advise someone. I had to go through two counselors before the there was that one who said, Andy, this is gonna take a while. It's complicated, but if you're willing to work, willing to work, I'm willing to be here. And if we get to three years and we're not, you know, where we want to be, either I'm not doing my job or you're not doing the work. Yeah. So we have to give that opportunity so that they can get their mental, spiritual, physical, all the capacity they have as a human being that had the courage to survive to get to where they need to do. That little girl you told breaks my heart. I'm trying not to cry because I remember what it was like being a kid and being hurt that badly. And um, you know, so thank you for saving her.

SPEAKER_04 39:49

Yeah, thank you, Bruce, for the work that you do for saving these children. So when um I love that the fact I love the fact that when you rescue them, you put them in homes that are God-centered, faith, faith abounds in these homes so that these children can um to can learn more about who God is and that um that it's not him that's causing the problem. It's not him that caused it to happen or create or created the thoughts within the people who have abused them. Um, what kind of um what kind I know you've you mentioned two of them. One is a worship leader and the other one is, tell me again.

SPEAKER_06 40:32

She's in in uh college too.

SPEAKER_04 40:35

Yeah. So um do a lot of the children, a lot of the children um know themselves what it means to be loved by another human being and not have to be um assaulted and in the in what these people would call in the name of love because it's what they love to do, and it's just it's just ridiculously um evil. So do they actually come away um from the situation and find good relationships, build friendships and and that sort of thing, so that they can go through life in a, I don't want to say normal, because relatively, let's see, relatively a new normal. A new normal. Let's go there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 41:24

Well, let me give you an example. We were in a specific country doing uh rescues in different locations. We found out that on the mountainside there was a truck stop where uh some little girls were where the truckers were stopping, and these girls were nine, ten, eleven years old, not very old. And uh, so we went up. Uh, it was a dangerous situation. There was a lot of you know machetes and probably weapons. We went in and got these little girls out. Um I won't tell you all the details, but uh we got them down uh into a uh whole new location into a really good home with a pastor and his wife and family. And they were when we got them in the van, uh we always have a female there to interpret in their language and talk to them immediately so they don't think they're being trafficked to some strange looking people. Um and uh so we got them there and we dropped them off. Um there was a lot of details to all that, like getting information uh things. But we went back about three months later, and we got up to where the house was, and I saw these little girls in school uniforms, and they were in the yard playing and laughing and and running around. And I looked at them and I thought, oh, I wonder who they are, and I didn't recognize them. They were the same girls we rescued. Uh they were playing and they were laughing and they were in school. Uh and uh whatever took place in that house, the love that those those parents uh you know gave them, uh there was so much healing. And I we we've noticed that the children who are born into slavery have a quicker healing rate than the ones that are kidnapped, traumatized, yeah, and and uh so we've we've tried tried to figure out the specific um you know methods of counsel, you know, for that. But uh a lot of the ones we've because we've rescued kids that are second generation, third generation slaves. That's all they've ever known, you know, and they get out and all of a sudden they have freedom, and there's just a different type of healing with them. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

Yeah, that's very true, even from my perspective with the kids that we rescued, because the ones that remembered being happy and innocent and joyful, and then that that incident or that. That you know, pattern began, they remember what it was like before. Someone like me, it was never that way. So all I ever knew was what was happening to me. And it, you're right, Bruce, very much so. That's why counselors really need to know their stuff when they deal with these uh traumatized victims, because it is different when you've never known anything else except the horror, or you remember what it was like when you were happy, and now you have this horrible thing, and now you have to start over again trying to create a new normal, you know. So those survivors are the heroes, the ones that that stick it out and say, I want this so bad, I'll do whatever it takes if you can help me.

SPEAKER_04 44:43

Yeah, and it takes a lot of courage to do that. It takes a lot of courage for them to do that because when you know something and you you fall victim to the patterns in your life, regardless of whether, what whatever it is, um, it's really hard to get out. And in order to be able to process their way through all of this, as you say, they need specific counselors that have been trained to um to treat them literally with kid gloves, you know, and what they where they go in terms of this children's experience and how they can um you know help them to to break free, even in their in their minds, from from some of what they have experienced. I love the story that you told about those girls, Bruce. I love the story. That is just hope. Yeah, yeah, hope, exactly, with a capital H definitely brings hope too, and there is hope for this. You know, we talk about we talk about this and the um the um insanity of how big this is, but for everyone that is rescued, that's one that is not in the trade anymore, you know. So uh and it makes a difference because every single one of us makes a difference to God Almighty, and so do each of those children, each of those people that are enslaved by um by this horrific practice. You know, they say that um there is no slavery anymore. You'll talk to people who say there is no slavery anymore. Like, I might are you going through life with blinders on? Right. You know, all you have to do is all you have to do is open any any platform and it's right in front of your eyes. It's right in front of your eyes. So yeah, denial, denial is not gonna make it go away.

SPEAKER_02 46:35

It's not no, and we have more slavery now than we ever had in this country. We we just can't see it. We don't see the chains, you know. We don't see the chains that are still on some of the survivors, you know, that they still have to unlock the shame, all the things that have been bound to them, the stigma. Um, I never would have told anyone. I rarely let anyone know anything about my personal life, even in business, because I didn't know how to how to present that. How do you tell somebody what happened to you when they think you're a good person on the outside, right? Because I thought I was I was either too stupid or it was my fault for a really long time. And and and unless you had that intercession and intervention, I had a blind faith in God, which is what initially saved me, but the experiential love came in my early 30s, you know, when I changed service, because I had never experienced anyone hugging me safely, especially as a mother figure. And that's what the speaker did that day. She didn't say a word, she didn't know what was going on, she just rocked me back and forth. I was 31 years old, I'd never known that. But in that instant, I knew God was loving me. Yeah, and so that's a long time. And I don't like Bruce, you and everyone else who is in this fight, we don't want kids to have to wait that long to know that.

SPEAKER_04 47:53

No, and then uh I would be remiss if we didn't talk about some of the resources that you each have available to help um people get uh some ways to keep kids safe. You know, we talked earlier about grooming, and we know that um voice against trafficking has uh some literature on grooming and other things. You want to talk about that? And then Bruce, when she's when she's done talk about what resources you have available as well.

SPEAKER_02 48:20

One of the things you can ask for free, electronic copy is our our um prevention packet, and it has a very just four pages, you know, a sheet about grooming, just some basic information so you can understand it, what it is. It goes beyond stranger danger. We're way past that, you know, in this situation. Also, helplines and hotlines and tips for parents on how to keep your kids safe and things that you can do, whether you're a parent or you're the aunt or you're the foster care person or the daycare person. So all of that's in those four to five pages. And so we encourage you uh go to contact on voicesagainstrafficking.com, ask for the prevention packet, and we'll be happy to send that out to you electronically.

SPEAKER_04 49:00

Perfect. Thank you, Bruce. You want to talk a little bit about what you might be able to share with the people who are listening?

SPEAKER_06 49:07

Sure. I I think I would come at it from the angle of teaching your children to be situationally aware. This thing right here is the biggest safety thing that uh, you know, kids walking around, they're they're not looking around. Uh as I think we mentioned earlier, the majority of people that I've talked to here in the US in trafficking situations has been through the internet. Parents need to monitor, put um, there's different programs they can put on. I'm not nothing, I don't remember what the exact programs are right now, but um, and I would teach, I would teach my children martial arts and self-defense and uh walk them around and teach them what to look for, you know. Uh don't be walking out of Walmart or a store with a phone in your face, walking, you know, to your car. Uh so I guess situational awareness is just huge. Uh I worked two cases here uh in my area, and one of the girls, beautiful young lady, she ended up uh in um the Middle East, unfortunately, because she had connected to a guy on the internet. She was lonely, yeah, and um he knew the things to say, he was a Romeo and convinced them that they were in love, and she snuck away and flew to his nation and married her uh him and uh pretty much has no rights now. Um, and uh there's so many cases like that, just many. Uh it's unbelievable how many kids are being lured in through uh you know online programs like Roblox, yes, Instagram, Facebook, all those.

SPEAKER_04 50:59

Yeah, you know, kids think that they're playing with other kids, these video games that are out there, and in the meanwhile, they are just um they're being groomed, if you will, um, to be in a situation where they end up missing or whatever. You know, they think that they're they're other kids and they they do things to uh lure these children in, and it's just it's just maddening that this goes on. It's the only thing I can say about it. But you know, but at the same time that I'm angry about all of these things that are going on, the world has so much happening today. Like there's there's wars and rumors of wars, and we're in Revelation if we want to talk about this in biblical uh conversations. Um, you know, there's a lot of things that are going on that are not of God. And I am gonna continue to put my faith in him that people like Andy and Bruce and and other members of the team from Voices Against Trafficking and Children's Rescue Organization are out there doing the work that has to be done that maybe we don't have the capacity to do. My um my I can use my voice. I can talk about this and and you know make people aware of whatever. So, whatever your gifting is, if you can um do something, anything, anything, whether it's finances, whether it's sharing this video with somebody, getting information, going to voices against trafficking, getting um the the prevention pack, looking at the resources that are available with Bruce, read the books that are are offered to you, Voice Against Trafficking. That's just a that's one of three, I think you have, right, Andy? Three books. Right. That's yeah, that's the newest one. Right. And the David effect, get those books. And then if you want to read some um some stories that will um um help to heal your heart, get uh Daily Gift of Peace. Andy wrote the Daily Gift of Peace forward on that, and it is filled with hope and things that are calming to the reader. Um, it's just one page a day, 250 words, something to take you through um a situation that may you may not think you have peace in your life, um, and you want some of that. And these authors that have contributed to this can offer that to you as well. And then if you're looking for courage, read the David Effect. Right on. Yeah. So we'll put that one up again, too. Read the David Effect, and you know, like you say, David was a little boy with a slingshot who slew the giant and became king. I mean, and did this because he was chosen by God. I believe that each one of us is chosen to do what it is that we have been gifted to do, and I am beyond grateful that each of you steps into your power, your your superpower that God has given you in order to be able to speak out for these children. Last words before we we got five minutes left. So um, Bruce, what what would you like to leave the audience with today? Um what what what would you like them to take away from this as we close down this conversation?

SPEAKER_06 54:30

Well, trafficking is a global issue where people are transported uh all around the world. You know, they're transported from African nations to the Middle East, all over. It's it's uh what what I like to tell people is uh rescuing a child anywhere is rescuing a child everywhere. Exactly. You know, no matter where we work, it's affecting this whole global thing. Um, there's a lot of people trying to do good work out there, and they're going out and buy trying to buy slaves out of you know, slavery, pay uh doing that, but it actually has the opposite effect. Um, slave owners will take that money and they'll go out and buy more kids out of the out of the slums. So that type of stuff has to change because they're actually becoming a part of that trafficking cycle.

SPEAKER_04 55:24

Uh that's why we're not even realizing it.

SPEAKER_06 55:26

Yeah, we just go and take them. I had I learned the hard way because that's how we started out, you know, 17 years ago is when I started this work. Um and so, you know, it it's it's global. Uh, we we need to think local, act global, uh, and work together to to make a difference. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 55:49

Absolutely. Yeah. Well, and I think too, uh, first of all, if you're out there and any of this has happened to you or resonates with you on a personal level, you're not alone. Um, you are loved by God, by us, you can reach out and we will help you, you know, find help or use one of the neutral hotlines, you know, that we have um on our website, voicesagainstraffing.com. But um one of the other things, like Bruce was saying, we need to be more aware and we need to understand what really works and doesn't work in this fight. Um, one of the things that we're hoping to bring out or at least start a pilot project is uh voices against trafficking, the university tour, so that we can get to universities and campuses all over America, because that's the most dangerous place right now, 18 to 24 for women, uh college campuses of any kind, but um, you know, like many of the people that we've seen in the past, being on those campuses in person, teaching them about situation awareness, giving them um ways to protect themselves, a peer-to-peer vetting, you know, peer-to-peer support, things that they can do to be safe. That's one of the things I'm really passionate about, you know, for this next year is getting to that age group, which will really make the difference in that generation where this topic is, because we know that college kids are being paid to groom, paid to recruit. So we want them to be able to have a stronghold. So if you're interested in helping us with that and you have connections, let us know. But again, you can be a voice of courage in your own village, your own neighborhood, your own community. You see something, say something. There's safe ways to do it. You don't have to rant anyone out, you know, because people say, Well, we thought something was wrong in your family, but we didn't want to say anything. It's like, well, kind of wish you had, but you know, different, different, different place. If you want training, you know, most of our members will do that uh for free virtually or you know, small donation to their organization. So uh we will train, we will do anything if you're a parent or someone in charge of children and you don't know how to open a conversation. Let us help you do an age-appropriate conversation so that your kids know you're not trying to police them, you're trying to protect them. And as a family, we're gonna discuss how we can do that together. Right. You know, I'm starting to cry again. So sorry. I was really emotional. Bruce, you did this to me.

SPEAKER_04 58:20

Well, hey, you know, this is something to get emotional about. If you if this doesn't hit your heart, I don't know what does. I don't either. Yeah, and we will do everything that we can in order to be able to keep getting the word out there. Andy's been on, and Bruce has been on the show a couple of times. Andy's been on many times. And we, for those of you who missed it, we did uh DJs against trafficking last November. We had DJs from around the world, we had panels of people coming talking about uh prevention and all different aspects of what we're discussing here today. And we are planning on doing that again in September. The way you can help us to um get more eyes and ears on this topic and potentially um save uh their own children from being trafficked or um helping um through rescue rescue things that are going on in these organizations by your donations, share this video with other people. This is not one that you want to put a blinder on. You're you know, the see no evil here, no evil, speak, no evil thing. That doesn't work in this show. It doesn't work here. If you see something, say something. And you know, we we will do our best to continue to get the message out there so that um you can either prevent or you can help to um save someone. We had a one of the stories in the in the book, uh before we go, one of the stories in the book is from a young lady who actually um stopped something from happening on a plane because the two people did not match up. They didn't go together. So, you know, uh and just noticing, keeping your eyes opening, open and recognizing when something is off, you know, and and we teach to teach this to your children, you know, and and you got to use it yourself though, too, you know, like you can't put the blinders on, you know, and and put your hands over your ears and pretend that it's not happening because it is, it is alive and well and living all over the world. And people, the organizations like this are doing the very best they can to not only rescue, but to help others, help these people who have been victims to get their life back. And by the way, God's children are not for sale. Not for sale. That's right. That's Jim Caviesel and Sound of Freedom. If you haven't seen that movie, I highly recommend it. It will open your eyes to a lot of things, um, and it will help you to really put into a visual what Bruce has been talking about and how the rescues actually happened. So that's our show for today. This is the first one on the news platform. Yep. Like, share, comment. Make sure that you um put us on your calendar for Tuesdays at 5 p.m. Eastern time. We have a bunch of incredible guests who are part of part of the show and we'll and a bunch of new people who will become part of the show. So thank you for watching, and we'll see you the next time. Have a good day, everyone.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:25

Thank you, Teresa.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:27

That brings us to the close of another episode of Conversations That Make a Difference with host Teresa Vellardi. We want to sincerely thank you for tuning in and sharing your time with us today. Our greatest hope is that today's discussion inspired your personal growth, encouraged you to share your unique gift, and gave you the courage to write your own magnificent story. If this message resonated with you, let's keep the conversation going. Take a moment to like, comment, and subscribe on YouTube and follow us on our Conversations That Make a Difference Facebook page. This will ensure you never miss a moment of inspiration. We air new episodes every Tuesday at 5 p.m. Eastern time. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. It truly helps us reach and empower more people. Until next time, keep making a difference. We look forward to welcoming you back next Tuesday to our next conversation.