On a snowy Saturday morning in March a group of determined individuals attended the ‘Stop Human Trafficking and Abuse‘ event held at St. Andrew’s. Unfortunately, the group was small and Mike McDonnell discusses this in his article on Spiritual Complacency elsewhere in this issue.

Those present learned from trafficking and abuse victims how trafficking and abuse starts, and what can be done to help the victims. It wasn’t easy listening to the harrowing life stories of people directly impacted by these devastating crimes. It did, however, serve to strengthen our resolve to continue raising awareness, and take action wherever we can to fight human trafficking and abuse.

The day was opened by Jeff Butcher, National President of The Brotherhood of St. Andrew co-sponsors of the event with The Diocese of West Missouri.

The all-day event featured four sessions.

Slavery, the Bible, and Gritty Evangelism – The Rev. Dr. Benjamin Thomas from the Saint Francis foundation. Slavery is seen all over the Bible, and the Bible has been used (wrongly) to defend this practice. Fr. Benjamin explained how a biblical theology of humanity stands against any practice of slavery, including human trafficking, and why fighting human trafficking should be viewed as an act of “gritty evangelism.”

Hiding in Plain Sight – Greg Holtmeyer. One in six males are sexually abused by the time they are eighteen. That means approximately twenty-five million males have been sexually abused in this country alone. There is no religion, education level, socioeconomic level that is immune from sexual predators. Greg shared his personal story of childhood sexual abuse, discussed the short term and long term effects of the sexual abuse of males both physical and emotional.

Trafficking Survivor and victim advocate – Christine C. McDonald. Christine told us about the impact of her experience of 20 years as a sex trafficking victim. She began by telling us about her being ‘sold’ at the age of fourteen by her mother in exchange for lodging. Christine’s life-story is hard to listen to. Having escaped from human trafficking she is now an advocate for survivors.

Sex Trafficking – Helen Taylor. Helen described the social and cultural underpinnings of sex trafficking as well as what is being done to abolish commercial sexual exploitation as a whole. She recounted her own personal experiences of helping people trapped in the sex industry.

Gary Allman was the Communications Director with The Diocese of West Missouri from March 2014 through June 2023.