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BONUS: Bruce Deel on Faith, Action & the Church’s Role in Ending Human Trafficking | Advocate Series Deep Dive | S6, E27
55 Plays21 days ago
About this Episode:
In this bonus episode of the Trafficking Free America Podcast, we take a deeper dive into Episode 1 of the Advocate Series with Bruce Deel, founder and CEO of City of Refuge in Atlanta. Bruce shares powerful stories from his 25+ years of ministry serving people in crisis and explains why the Church must confront human trafficking with courage, compassion, and biblical conviction.
This bonus conversation expands on the Advocate Series—a new 5-part Bible study led by Francis Chan—created by the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking to equip the Church to respond to trafficking in a Christ-centered way.
💡 Learn how one pastor turned a single act of compassion into a movement serving hundreds of survivors—and how your church can take practical steps to join the fight.
🔗 Watch the full Advocate Series for free: AdvocateSeries.com
✝️ Become an Abolitionist: USIAHT.org/Abolitionist
🎧 Subscribe to Trafficking Free America for future Advocate deep dives and new conversations on ending trafficking through faith and action.
🕒 Episode Timestamps
0:00 – Welcome to the Trafficking Free America Podcast
0:33 – Introducing Bruce Deel & City of Refuge
2:22 – The moment that changed everything: helping a woman escape trafficking
3:36 – Why the Church must confront trafficking, not avoid it
5:44 – How fear and ignorance keep churches from engaging
7:13 – Why the Advocate Series matters for pastors and believers
9:06 – The difference between faith-based advocacy and secular training
11:53 – Behind the scenes: Bruce’s first impression of the Advocate Series
13:48 – Why confrontation in the Church is necessary for change
16:23 – Advice for viewers new to the issue of human trafficking
18:03 – Confrontation, conviction, and the call to act
20:19 – What the average Christian can do right now
22:52 – Transforming your heart before taking action
25:57 – How to respond to buyers, traffickers, and victims with grace and truth
28:31 – Guiding group discussions around difficult conversations
30:05 – Handling disclosures or confessions safely in church settings
32:48 – How this series can transform individuals and strengthen the Church
35:18 – Bruce’s closing prayer for the Church and survivors
37:01 – How to watch, download, and get involved
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Advocate Series
00:00:05
Speaker
Hi, welcome back to the Trafficking Free America podcast. My name is Jeremy and I'm going to be hosting this. Over the next few weeks, we're going to be launching some podcast episodes um with guests that are talking about each episode of our new Advocate series. Advocate is a five-part video series that the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking has created to ultimately educate the church about human trafficking and how we should respond to it in a Christ-centered way.
Bruce Diehl's Mission and Encounter with Trafficking Victims
00:00:33
Speaker
Today we're going to be talking with Bruce Diehl. He is ah the pastor and founder of a City of Refuge. a City of Refuge is a faith-based environment that helps individuals and families transition out of crisis.
00:00:46
Speaker
Basically, he was went to Atlanta and to kind of plant a church in some of the urban area of Atlanta and was basically confronted with helping um this lady end her life in trafficking. She was being trafficked and and that kind of ah opened up a whole world of him helping many individuals in many different situations.
00:01:11
Speaker
Ultimately, crisis it surrounds them. He's going to get a little bit into um how he does that and what he does for
Creating Discussion on Human Trafficking with Advocate Series
00:01:19
Speaker
them. But ultimately, we're going to be talking about um advocate and the episode specifically episode one, as we ah dive into the importance of the series, what to expect kind of like before and after episode one, as we get it, as those who are, ah you know, engaging in the series are getting, are diving into it.
00:01:38
Speaker
And what we want to do is ultimately kind of create larger discussion points and, and, and more, ah the the larger ability to and to grasp the content that we're about to um watch, the about the content we're about to consume.
00:01:53
Speaker
And um i I loved this conversation with Bruce, and um I hope you will too.
Bruce's Background and Organizations Combating Trafficking
00:02:00
Speaker
Hey Bruce, thanks for joining us today and talking to us about this Abdicate series. ah The audience probably doesn't know who you are. For those who don't know, i would love for you to introduce yourself and um and tell us how you you know you are currently in the fight combating human trafficking or maybe how you know about human trafficking or why possibly you're talking with us today.
00:02:22
Speaker
Well, sure. Thanks for the opportunity. My name is Bruce Deal. I am the founder and CEO of City of Refuge, a non-profit helping individuals in crisis in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm also chairman of the board for an organization called House of Cherith, which is a survivor program providing resources and services for survivors of sex trafficking exploitation.
00:02:43
Speaker
And I'm the founder of an organization called Most Men Opposing Sex Trafficking. So I've been in the space for a long time, but really intentionally for the past decade. What got you involved in this? Like like um you were a pastor, you know, going to...
00:02:57
Speaker
the Atlanta area, something like that, right? Like, yeah. So i went downtown actually on a six month assignment to close a little church and a young lady in crisis walked up at the end of our service about five or six weeks in and,
00:03:10
Speaker
Her words to me were, I've been hooking and stripping 14 years. Can you help me get out of the life? So that sort of introduced us to a dark, shadowy place that we had not engaged in very much. And so we assisted her with getting out of a really tough trafficking environment that week. And that introduced us to a lot of other folks that had experienced that.
00:03:30
Speaker
Ten years ago, had a dramatic encounter with a young lady that had been rescued after being locked up for three years. And ah she made this statement to me, Jeremy. She said, you have to take me to the courthouse and wipe away the fact I ever existed, change my name, social security number, birth certificate, because they'll find me and they'll kill me.
00:03:48
Speaker
And so out of that, we launched our recovery program. And over the last 10 years, have the privilege and blessing of serving over 900 women that have been rescued or escaped from trafficking and exploitation environments.
00:04:01
Speaker
what like So you know someone comes to you, says all this, like what made you feel that you needed to begin this whole organization just because of this one person?
00:04:12
Speaker
There was desperation in her voice. I knew we had to do something immediately. As a result of that encounter, I started doing my own ah checking and investigating in Metro Atlanta, where we're from, about the number of programs available.
00:04:25
Speaker
and found out that there are there are not nearly enough program beds, long-term trauma-informed care beds for survivors in the country. So, you know, the reports are all over the board, but one report from the FBI says that ah that a minimum of a hundred of a million Americans will be trafficked inside the borders this year, not counting internationals that may come in.
00:04:46
Speaker
And there are only less than a thousand high performing trauma informed care beds available in the United States through nonprofit organizations. So when you start doing the math, these these individuals do not have enough resources and and and enough places available for them to go.
00:05:02
Speaker
So we elected to be a bit of a remedy for that situation. Now, um we kind of get and when it. Well, I won't jump in that far. um Well, let me, um i'm I'm curious, like, as your mindset of a pastor, of just like you were, you felt like um a call to go to Atlanta inside more of an urban and um environment and start spreading the gospel as any pastor would. Like, well, before you felt like you were called to, you know, help victims of human trafficking and around that, around that, and, and you know, a little bit more than just that, but a little bit more, um but like,
00:05:38
Speaker
What was your original mission when you went there?
Challenges for Churches in Addressing Human Trafficking
00:05:41
Speaker
And then how did it change? How did God change that mindset? Yeah, well, the original mission, I had been in traditional ministry 14 years at that time. I'd been on staff of churches as a youth pastor, associate pastor, executive pastor.
00:05:54
Speaker
And I was going downtown to close a little church to sell the property. it was down just a few folks and and limited resources. And it just happened to be located in a neighborhood where there was a lot of poverty, a lot of addiction, a lot of crime, a lot of sex crimes.
00:06:08
Speaker
and And it was sort of God's way of placing me in an environment that I was not necessarily comfortable in and certainly had not been exposed to at the level that this neighborhood exposed me to it.
00:06:19
Speaker
And once my wife Rhonda and I got there with our girls, we understood that this was not a temporary assignment. This was something we were called to. and And we realized as well, and and this I don't mean this to sound derogatory in any way, but we also realized that we had been sent there in a unique fashion because the church at large was unwilling or afraid or hesitant to deal with some of these issues in a straightforward manner.
00:06:46
Speaker
And so, you know, the fact that we were invited to go down for six months has now turned into 26 years because we decided to embrace some of the things in society that church at large simply doesn't embrace.
00:06:59
Speaker
Why do you feel like they're not embracing? Or do you do you think it's like a, do you think it's a hard issue? Or do you think it's like a, um like lack of resources, like not in really knowing how to react? Like what, in your opinion, what's really going on?
00:07:10
Speaker
Well, i'm not I don't think it's a hard issue. i think I think it's more of a fear issue and an unknown issue. So we don't quite know as a church how to deal with sex trafficking, for example, because you know research shows that the same percentage of men who attend church on a weekly basis or don't attend church on a weekly basis, same percentage of them engaged and watching pornography on a weekly basis.
00:07:35
Speaker
right So the issue is inside the church, but the church doesn't want to address that because then it would expose some things about the church that we might be uncomfortable being exposed. Then there's also just this, I don't know how to deal with it. So there's a little bit of naivety, which results in ignorant bliss.
00:07:53
Speaker
Well, I don't know what to do about it, so I'll pray God send somebody else or that the church across town rises up to do it. So i think there's a little bit of a fear that it will expose something inside a church. I think there's also this naivety about it and and um an unwillingness to learn how to deal with it.
Importance of the Advocate Series for Churches
00:08:10
Speaker
Well, that um kind of segments us into, you know, segments that that kind of segues us into um what we're kind of talking about today, which is the Advocate series.
00:08:21
Speaker
Now, um ah you were asked to kind of be involved with it. you're in You're in the series and stuff like that as a sort of someone who's in this fight and can kind of speak to it um as as a witness, and as an expert, if you could say.
00:08:35
Speaker
um But like, why why do you feel like, um like before you even saw the series, before you even watched any of it, um did you feel like this was an important thing to do? Well, it's a critical thing to do.
00:08:48
Speaker
You know, it's there comes a point when something that is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world, right? Sex trafficking, the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world.
00:09:00
Speaker
And yet the church rarely talks about it. Church rarely engages in dialogue about it, rarely has programs about it. Sometimes we'll send a check support an organization do it, but it's sort of been that, you know, topic that's off subject somewhere else, let somebody else deal with that. So the Advocate series has been needed for a long time.
00:09:20
Speaker
and And I love the opportunity that churches now have. and And frankly, they'll have to say yes or no to the series, right? I mean, we We will you will guys will make it available and they'll have to be a decision made. But it is something that has been desperately needed for a long time.
00:09:34
Speaker
And the quality of this series is such that it is going to bring not only exposure, but a call to action, which is critical in this in this space. Well, in your opinion, like like like when we were first approached about this, about possibly beginning a series for churches to be educated about human trafficking and whatnot, you know we already have training that exists. There's training that exists in multiple places.
00:09:59
Speaker
why is this any Why is this really any different, in your opinion, than any other training that a church any church member could go put their hands on? Well, there's training in multiple places, but it's training that's available if you go look for it or if you choose to engage in it.
00:10:17
Speaker
When we take a series like Advocate and we put it in a church and a pastor endorses it, and he said, this is something I feel is critically important to our congregation, to the folks who call this church home.
00:10:28
Speaker
Now you have an endorsement from someone that people look up to that they respect as a spiritual leader. I think that's number one key is the endorsement from senior leadership in a local church. The second thing is there is biblical basis for this particular training, right?
00:10:43
Speaker
So the individuals that you have in Advocate series, many of them come from faith places, from places faces places of faith experience and faith vocation. So now it's not just a training on how you recognize trafficking, what are the signs, what are the questions you ask a survivor.
00:10:59
Speaker
It's, hey, this is something we are compelled to do by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And not only is he does he compel us to do it, but he actually gives us some methodology in Scripture about which we can approach this.
00:11:11
Speaker
So I think the fact that it is centered and focused on the church is critical, that will that it will be endorsed by senior leadership is critical, and that it comes from the root of Scripture is critical as
Advocate Series' Approach and Impact on Viewers
00:11:22
Speaker
well.
00:11:22
Speaker
So um before you were watching, before you began watching this series, like um ah you were you were given it as a pre screening. You've seen the latest version. It won't be the final version with a few edits that we made and stuff like that. But what were you anticipating um going ah starting to watch this? Like you knew that Francis Chan was part of it. You knew kind of the basis of it.
00:11:47
Speaker
You actually didn't have a whole lot of knowledge about it before you started watching the whole thing. What were you anticipating? Well, I was anticipating, as I began to watch the Advocate series, I was anticipating ah little bit more sterile presentation because, you know, honestly, most of the presentations that are put together, especially in the faith environment, are unwilling to dive to the deepest, darkest places of trafficking.
00:12:12
Speaker
And with Advocate, you do that. You know, the Advocate series takes us to the survivor's speaking of their pain, their suffering, their trauma in really candid, blunt, sometimes profane terms, right? And and I think that's that's what they feel. That's how they're wired at the moment. That's what that experience has brought to them. The willingness to say those kinds of things and then to put that on a screen in a safe environment, I think is critical.
00:12:36
Speaker
Uh, the law enforcement who is willing to talk about this in very open terms, those who deal from the trauma environment to talk about this. So, you know, i think I was probably prepared for it to be a bit more sterile and, um,
00:12:49
Speaker
and And not quite as confrontational as Advocate has turned out to be. And it's very refreshing to me that it's not sterile. It's very refreshing to me that it is confrontational. And at the end of the day, a decision probably has to be made by the individuals who watch it as to some form of action that they choose to either engage in or not.
00:13:08
Speaker
Yeah. So ah let's talk about that a little bit on the confrontation side of it. You know, um I know that what's interesting about the first episode is it at first, it's it's kind of ah built in in three ways, right? It starts off with like this motivation, like, hey, Wilberforce, you know, ah a Christian man, like the church in many ways, so was ah ah led the way in ending the what we I would say our society views as like the worst time of slavery, the transatlantic slave trade of like, how did we let this go on for so many years?
00:13:42
Speaker
and um and like And we're still dealing with those repercussions today. But like it was it was Wilberforce, some an abolitionist like him who actually began this um this mindset, this culture change around it um And it wasn't just him, you know, that he just like a name and inside the group. but um ah But then it goes into, you know, the ugliness of trafficking and it becomes a little confrontation of like, how is the church going to react to this?
00:14:10
Speaker
um But then Francis starts to get into this idea of like, hey, before we get into this, like, let's let's make sure we don't turn this into a prideful thing. Something that's like, well, I care.
00:14:21
Speaker
Why do others not? And and and and the whole... So I know it was built around ultimately prepping us for this series. Like, so um because we don't get into a whole lot of educational tips and stuff like that, like it almost leaves you at the end of the episode, like, okay, I'm feeling motivated, I guess, but I don't really know what to do next. Like, what what would you say to the audience right now after watching the first episode before getting into the rest of it?
00:14:47
Speaker
Well, I'd say search your heart. You know, how do you feel about the issue? How do you feel about the subject matter? Does this repulse you? Does this break your heart? Does this make you sad? I think some self-evaluation would be critical in this point along the way.
00:15:01
Speaker
For those that are already involved in it, I think fighting against pride certainly would be something that, as Francis alludes to, that we should not even consider Because, you know, if we're called to this and we have a desire to be a part of this and it should be taken as any other ministry responsibility, that it should be an honor and a privilege to do this, not a prideful thing.
00:15:22
Speaker
and And then I think i've coming out of episode one of Advocate, there should be sort of this insatiable desire to see
Encouraging Reflection and Engagement through the Series
00:15:29
Speaker
episode two. Right. I mean, we've set the stage here. that The table's been set. The plates are out now. You know, what's the main course look like? Where are we headed? What's this conversation going to take me to?
00:15:39
Speaker
So I think there should be this desire, especially inside of Christians, believers, to see what's next in the episode. Episode one does a really good job of sort of presenting the issue.
00:15:50
Speaker
um And so now what are some steps we can take upon some issues that we're unaware of that may come in following episodes? You know, that, that leads me to another question. Like, you know, you're someone who's watched this and in the light of like someone who's currently involved in, in combating trafficking, you've, you've been educated already on many things and you're helping educate others.
00:16:10
Speaker
What about someone who's like kind of hearing about this for the first time and in many ways, like, ah like maybe they had a skewed idea of trafficking or didn't know much about it, but this helps, you know, maybe start defining a ah ah new idea for them. Like,
00:16:25
Speaker
It's overwhelming. It's got to be overwhelming for someone who's just kind of hearing about this, stepping into it. And I think many times people just go, i like, obviously, I care about someone being sold, someone being kidnapped, someone being forced, coerced. And I care about that. But what ah am i supposed to do? Like, how do you think this episode is preparing their hearts in that circumstance?
00:16:47
Speaker
Yeah, well, i would I'd caution the viewers of episode one not to be overwhelmed by the material that's presented there, not to be overwhelmed by the stories of the survivors, not to be overwhelmed by the fact that this is the fastest growing criminal enterprise.
00:17:00
Speaker
ah But what is your role? What is your responsibility? So if you if you're brand new to the subject matter and if you've just started to hear a bit about it ah Make up your mind to stay the course. you know don't Don't set it to the side, but stay the course to to watch the rest of the series, episodes of Advocate, and also do your own research to find out because truth of the matter is sex trafficking taking place in every community in our country.
00:17:25
Speaker
So if when individuals watch something like Advocate the series the episode one, they need to understand this is their issue. This is not somebody else's issue. This is not the society's issue. This is not our country's issue. This is your issue.
00:17:39
Speaker
ah Women and sons and daughters in your community are being trafficked. they're being exploited. and And you have a responsibility to be a part of the solution. And so figuring out what your part is and beginning to understand what your role and responsibility is moving forward is something I think every viewer should dive into rather deeply.
00:17:58
Speaker
Well, going back to what you said earlier, but you were you kind almost comforted by the confrontation of this episode. ka Can you let me know what kind of what you mean by that? like what What is good about confrontation in this circumstance?
00:18:09
Speaker
Well, I think we have a tendency, especially as Christ followers, we have a tendency to get into a cadence and a rhythm in our Christian life. So we have our devotional time or we have our small group time and we have our regular worship times that are scheduled into our calendar on a weekly basis. We have these disciplines that we partake of and participate in and it becomes routine sometimes.
00:18:33
Speaker
And if we're not careful, we shy away from things that are confrontational or challenge our regular routine and our regular pace of life as it relates to our spirituality. So when something comes along that confronts me, that's confrontational, that challenges me, i personally want to take a look at that. Why am I challenged by this? Why does this knock me back a step? Why is this not something that I've engaged before?
00:18:59
Speaker
So I think confrontation leads to questions and in question should lead to action. So that's the reason I'm grateful that episode one and the entire series of Advocate will be confrontational.
00:19:10
Speaker
Because that's going to cause me and should cause others to ask questions. Questions should result in us taking some form of action.
Ways to Support the Fight Against Trafficking
00:19:16
Speaker
Well, to kind of point out the elephant in the room, it's like, um ah you know, growing up, right? I felt like um as a pastor's kid, I heard ah a lot, like if ah and for missions, right? Like overseas missions and stuff like that. Like if you feel called, go and bla blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:19:31
Speaker
It always felt so extreme to me. Like, does it mean if I don't go, does it mean I'm a mediocre Christian and here in the States? Like, it so kind of referring it to here, like for someone, maybe some people like Kevin Malone was felt called to create an organization, to do a lot of ah specific fighting, to, to, to help build a safe home, to help do all these things.
00:19:56
Speaker
are we calling every person in the church to do something like that? And if not, um you know, what is the, what is the basic thing as, as a pastor, as a leader, how would you tell your congregation to react to this as far as like actionable steps on going with the extreme of like, let me, let me kind of dedicate my life to this versus like just the everyday person who just should be ah educated about this. Like how, how should we, how should they feel ah ah watching this series? Yeah.
00:20:24
Speaker
Well, I think it's rare when an individual is going to be called completely out of their comfort zone and dive headfirst into something like addressing sex trafficking. that That is not going to be the common response to advocate or any other series.
00:20:37
Speaker
That will happen along the way, and we'll be grateful for that. I think it's more of a call to action for everybody at some level, right? So there's a verse scripture in Isaiah 32, 8 that says, a noble man or woman makes noble plans. A noble man or woman makes noble plans and on noble things they stand, right?
00:20:55
Speaker
And so if we're making noble plans and we're standing on noble things, then every individual, every small group, every family can do something to combat trafficking. That may mean that they partner with an organization that's in the ditch doing this fighting on a daily basis and support them financially. It may mean that they make it a part of their daily prayer list, that they are calling out the names of organizations in this space.
00:21:18
Speaker
It may mean that that they go out into the community, into the strip clubs and into places of adult entertainment and pass out, you know, pass out cards with hotline numbers on it that people who may need to be rescued can call. It may mean ah that they volunteer at the local emergency room when a domestic violence or sex trafficking survivor comes in in difficult medical condition, that they're able to talk to them about a pathway out.
00:21:42
Speaker
It may mean that they take curriculum and educate their middle school and high school students on on the ill effects of pornography and how it leads to trafficking. You know, so there are a myriad of ways that individuals can be involved without ever having to put themselves at risk of a trafficker coming after them or their name being associated necessarily with sex
Compassionate Approach to Trafficking
00:22:02
Speaker
trafficking any anyway. So ah much like any other mission opportunity, there are a whole lot of ways that can be done. But the first thing that has to happen is a step in an investigation as to what those steps are and how can I and my family engage.
00:22:15
Speaker
Outside of the practical things that we can always do. It's something that I've kind of felt and and helping create this series is like um it's it's more than just the actions steps that you take, you know, like obviously like passing out cards um to ah for people to know the human trafficking hotline. Like, obviously, that is good. That's important. That's great.
00:22:34
Speaker
But. is It's also a heart mindset. If you don't have the heart mindset toward like why we're doing this um and and and what is truly going on with um ah with you know buyers, the fact that they exist, that's really truly driving this whole thing.
00:22:52
Speaker
Traffickers exist, and which though that's really the evil that we see is the evil that we see is the trafficker and not seemingly the buyer. And then we often seem to throw victims into this, into this um bad spot if we feel like they are choosing it rather than being forced.
00:23:09
Speaker
um I, do you feel like this series is going to help, you know, put everyone's heart in the right mindset before taking action? And do you think that's important to have?
00:23:22
Speaker
Well, I feel like a lack of judgmental attitude is critical if you're going to be engaged in in fighting something like sex trafficking. Because when you view the girl on the corner, you view the person who is smiling on a sex video, you view individuals and you start to make judgments about who they are, what they're doing, why they're doing it, how they got to that place.
00:23:44
Speaker
ah that prevents us from being able to have the right heart. So somehow being able to come to a place through our own relationship with Christ, being able to come to a place where we view individual, every individual that we see, hear about, the story comes out about as created in the image of God, according to Genesis 1.27. understand that individual is created in the image of God. What led them to this point? What are the circumstances of their life? What troubles and struggles and traumas have they experienced along the way in order to even be in this environment, whether it's of their own decision or they're being controlled by someone else?
00:24:21
Speaker
So sort of having a blank sheet of paper as we walk into this and not already having preconceived notions about what this looks like and why it's happening. And then to start, yes, it's very critical that we dive into an understanding of why men, particularly, are buyers. you know Most reports you read, say, between 95 99% of sex buyers are men.
00:24:44
Speaker
What's broken in that man's life? you know what What is it that's driving him to this place of degradation? with this place of scourge of society, what's driving him there? you know How does a trafficker get to this point? What's so broken in his or her mind and heart and spirit that they would even consider selling a person?
00:25:01
Speaker
Those are critical questions that we have to be willing to ask. We generally don't wanna ask those questions. We just wanna go and care for the person that's been abused or ah raped or assaulted. We just wanna care for them. and we We don't generally wanna dive into the context around that experience.
00:25:17
Speaker
because it may expose something that we were not really excited about being exposed to us, you know about this trafficker was actually sexually assaulted as a three-year-old by his father or somebody in his family or a community member that broke everything in him about what true sexuality and pure sexuality looks like.
00:25:34
Speaker
And so we don't wanna feel compassion for him. We don't wanna feel compassion for the trafficker or for the buyer. We only wanna feel compassion too often for the survivor, for the victim. And so I think a a willingness to be open-minded and open-eyed about the entire fabric of what trafficking is and how we got to this point would be critical for
Group Discussions and Handling Sensitive Confessions
00:25:54
Speaker
the church. And I think i Advocate, the series can help us do that. it It asks the probing questions and it pushes us to the points of discussion that I think can help us start to have conversations that to to this point have been very uncomfortable and will still be uncomfortable, but frankly are necessary.
00:26:11
Speaker
ah love i I love how you kind of touched on that because it almost is like when we're, when, what we want groups to feel when they do this study is like, it's not just what we don't, i what I actually don't want them to do is be like, okay, heard this episode.
00:26:26
Speaker
What should we do now do? Like, what are the action steps to now take? um I want them to discuss like the anger that they might feel toward that buyer, toward that trafficker and how, now, how does Christ want them to react? Yeah.
00:26:39
Speaker
you know, if for, for anyone like leading the study and stuff like that, helping make sure we navigate, you know, that, that like for someone who just would despise a buy. I mean, I, despise the idea of buying.
00:26:57
Speaker
I hate hearing, you know, like a, like someone in, um you know, around me talk about like, Oh yeah. You know, strippers, strip clubs, stuff like that, pornography, like, okay, well, you know, that's, that's the lighter side of things, you know, that's, that's not exactly trafficking and they don't think of it in mindset. Like how, how do we react in society that doesn't, doesn't straight up attack or shame, but possibly does, you know, speak into their life as a cult, like how do we influence cultural change, um,
00:27:31
Speaker
um with the right mindset and how we do this and how can a group leader help their as watching the series how can that group leader help navigate that discussion in your opinion Well, I think the group leader helps navigate this by asking open-ended questions, right? The group leader should not have solid, necessary, set-in-stone opinions themselves going in, right?
00:27:52
Speaker
ah This should be open conversation, dialogue, and investigative talk, right? so So that you know body what do you think the issue in America looks like when it comes to sex trafficking?
00:28:06
Speaker
Frankly, 99% of the people I talk to have no idea what the issue actually looks like, right? And it doesn't make them bad people. They just haven't investigated. They haven't read the the numbers. So what does sex trafficking look like? How big an issue do you think it is? you know How common is it do you think it is in our neighborhood?
00:28:23
Speaker
Just open-ended questions to get the dialogue going. And then to your point, I ask questions, what do you think about buyers? you know What do you think about traffickers? Open those questions. And then you know at some point that facilitator brings that conversation around, well, let's compare what we've just said to the words of Jesus.
00:28:40
Speaker
How did he feel about the tax collector that everybody else looked down upon? you know How did he feel ah feel about the prostitute that everyone else looked down on? How did he feel? And start to compare our own mentality and emotional reactions to the Messiah, the one that we all follow. So I think open-ended questions are critical.
00:28:59
Speaker
And I think a comparison of the answers to the answers we would find in the life of Jesus would be you know a great pathway for small groups and discussion groups to take after they've watched episodes of Advocate.
00:29:10
Speaker
I do have a tough question for you um because ah when we were actually doing a screening of this um amongst the several pastors and leaders, ah someone mentioned how they're like, this this might bring up some...
00:29:24
Speaker
some bravery of possibly someone speaking out of something in their own life as they watch this. um And it could expose things even maybe within the family or church. Like, um you know, we talk about in this, and throughout the series, it's, it's not just, it's not just predators.
00:29:43
Speaker
It's like outside predators or strangers or something like that. It's um it is familial trafficking. And we know that, You know, you mentioned earlier, pornography is in the church. um where A lot of people in the church watch pornography and engage in it.
00:29:57
Speaker
and um And possibly even worse, like some, there are sexual abuse cases within the church, trafficking that happens within the church. f If something is exposed inside a group, inside a family, inside a church, how how should, and yeah as as as ah as a pastor, leader yourself, how how should we biblically go about this that is um that that brings ah reconciliation and justice at the same time?
00:30:26
Speaker
Well, the conversation needs to be had on the front end by from the senior leadership of a church and then those who gonna lead discussion groups about what the response will be if someone comes forward and confesses some level of sexual sin in their life. So number one, there needs to be a plan, right?
00:30:41
Speaker
We don't just respond to those kinds of situations on the fly. There needs to be a plan. ah Secondly, confidentiality is critical, obviously, in small group discussion, unless there's a minor involved, unless there's abuse taking place, right? So um ministers and those of us that are that are licensed in ministry, we're mandated reporters. So individuals need to know that if they bring something up as it relates to a child or abuse that we're mandated reporters, that has to be shared elsewhere.
00:31:09
Speaker
So the ground rules need to be established in small groups pretty clearly. i spoke at a men's conference this past weekend. And after the conference, there was a line of men to confess to me their sexual sins.
00:31:22
Speaker
Right. I mean, a line saying this is my issue, this my issue, this is my issue. Thankfully, the place I spoke had a plan in place. They have a counseling center where we were able to direct them in the right ah place to go and and talk through that and begin to deal with that in their own life.
00:31:37
Speaker
So having having a policy of some sort in place for all the group leaders, how they manage that and and helping people to understand the ground rules that there are mandated issues that might come up here and understanding um that the small group should be a place of trust and confidentiality.
00:31:55
Speaker
um And frankly, I don't think there should be a lot of public confession of these kind of things. I think there should be private conversation that takes place after the private after the public group
Personal Growth and Ministry through the Series
00:32:08
Speaker
setting. So in a church environment or small group environment, those should open the door.
00:32:13
Speaker
and make confession and dialogue comfortable. But then that actual confession dialogue about issues, I think should take place in a private context with one or two or three trusted advisors.
00:32:25
Speaker
as as As someone who might be listening to this before watching episode two, what what final word would you kind of um give them an encouragement as they as they watch this? As not something as just a, here, we need to fight trafficking and encouragement of getting involved and stuff like that.
00:32:41
Speaker
What about what what encouragement can you give for their personal lives to be impacted by this series? Yeah, I think the series has the incredible potential of making every individual who watches it a better person.
00:32:54
Speaker
And if we become a better person, then we have greater potential of impacting those who are not yet in a place of betterment in their own life. So watching this series exposes darkness, it exposes pain, it exposes suffering and trauma.
00:33:08
Speaker
But if we watch it with an open heart and mind and we're prayerful as we watch the series, then we're going to come out of this better informed, better equipped to do something about it, and just overall better people from a spiritual and and emotional place.
00:33:22
Speaker
And then that will give us the tools and resources we need to go and really minister those that are in the broken, weary, worn out. places of life. So I think Advocate has an incredible potential to make individuals inside the church a better better individuals, better families, which in return in turn will automatically make the church a better place and a place of more healing, ah more acceptance of the hurting and the broken and the weary and those that may not look sound or smell like us along the way.
Conclusion and Call to Action for the Advocate Series
00:33:49
Speaker
Amen. All right. Well, Bruce, thank you so much for taking some time to just discuss this. And and thank you for your involvement in this Advocate series. We're really excited about launching this as as we're recording this right now. um This is before the official launch. um And I'll be 100% honest. we we we We're leaving this up to God as to see how how much this will happen.
00:34:12
Speaker
be distributed amongst the church and, and the, and the interest level of, of church leaders actually taking this on. Um, you know, ah we we kind of expect those who are in the fight to kind of like grasp this series, but as we all know, there's not a lot of those in the church. Um, and so, um, you know, i would appreciate maybe if closing out in some prayer of like, um,
00:34:35
Speaker
how how God can use this series to ah to talk to his people, to talk to his um um to the but to to talk to the church about how to truly, yeah, change, help change culture, help influence culture, and help um truly end human trafficking and and many other things that are involved in human trafficking.
00:34:55
Speaker
Honored to be a part and glad to close in prayer, so. Father, we are grateful today for your grace, your mercy, and your love toward us. We're also grateful for justice, for you. Help us to understand that there are some things that are wrong that need to be made right in our own individual lives and collectively as a society.
00:35:13
Speaker
And Advocate gives us the opportunity to address justice in really powerful ways. It is absolutely wrong that sons and daughters, men and women, are being sexually trafficked. being sold, ah being abused. It's 100% wrong, and we want to be a part of correcting that.
00:35:28
Speaker
And so I pray now for every senior pastor, every senior church leadership member that will have the opportunity to review and and take a look at this material and make a decision as whether or not it'll be a part of their church. And I pray that the answer will be yes. I pray for every church member, every congregant in any place across our country that has the opportunity to view the Advocate series.
00:35:50
Speaker
that their hearts would not only be moved and touched, but they would be changed and they would choose to make a directional difference in their life and the lives of those around you. Father, I'm honored and blessed to be a part of this group. And I thank you for Jeremy, for Kevin and Francis and for others who have invested their time and talent into this incredibly important message that the church has to embrace.
00:36:12
Speaker
and has to move forward with. For every everyone who's being trafficked right now, we pray blessings of protection over them. For every buyer, we pray that you would cause them to turn away. For every trafficker, cause them to turn away.
00:36:23
Speaker
Bring wholeness, bring healing, ah bring restoration to our land, to our families, to our country. ah We ask in Jesus' name, and we bless, advocate the series right now. We bless it ah with the power of your spirit to go forth and do a mighty work. In Jesus' name, amen.
00:36:40
Speaker
Amen. Bruce, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it, brother. Yeah, my honor. Thank you for inviting me. Thank you for being with us on the Trafficking Free America podcast and in the season two of ah continuing and further discussion about our advocate series.
00:36:54
Speaker
um If you have not heard of or don't not know where to download our advocate series, please go to advocate series.com and you will find a link to ultimately access all the videos and Download our study guide.
00:37:08
Speaker
All this is for free. And we also put some additional resources on that website so that you can, as you deep dive into these episodes, you can access our resources to kind of get a better idea on, on, on educating yourself, getting some ideas on how you can get plugged into ultimately ah combating human trafficking.
00:37:29
Speaker
If you feel inspired or you feel God calling you to, to do more. The U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking created this Advocate series to help educate the church so that they know a little bit better of an idea of how they can react in a Christ-centered way on combating human trafficking. And one of the action steps we give is to is to actually become an abolitionist.
00:37:51
Speaker
When I say become an abolitionist, I mean by going to usiaht.org slash abolitionist and signing up to be an abolitionist. It's our abolitionist project. It is ultimately a way for you to subscribe and receive resources. ah ah the most Every time on a daily basis, we're trying to create content and find more resources and more ways to rally and unite ah the church together and others together to um combat human trafficking. And by signing up it as an abolitionist, you get resources right away from us to do that.
00:38:22
Speaker
But we also ask our abolitionists to get involved in one of three ways. It is to either help raise awareness. That could be anything from sharing things on social media, just continuing ah continually continually talking about this with your friends and family, and those who are ah you can influence in your community, possibly even taking our tfc program our TFZ, Trafficking Free Zone Program,
00:38:45
Speaker
bringing that to businesses so that they can become TFC zone, ah trafficking free zones and ah may, or maybe taking this advocate series to churches or other, any group you want to, and, and helping raise awareness.
00:38:59
Speaker
Another way you is to volunteer. If you want to volunteer, we have ah program. We have several programs at the U.S. s Institute Against Human Trafficking that you can actually um ah ah get involved in right away as a volunteer.
00:39:11
Speaker
But also, you know, this is a nationwide thing, and we are ah continually partnering with other organizations such as Safe Homes, foster care agencies that are in pregnancy centers, multiple places, multiple resources that are helping combat human trafficking or hoping helping the marginalized that really affect um you know those who are being groomed or brought into human trafficking.
00:39:35
Speaker
And so if you are if your heart is to volunteer, if you want to spend your time doing that, we want to help get you plugged in. So by signing up as an abolitionist, and if you want to volunteer, you can actually schedule a consultation meeting with our team at the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking to help get plugged in in the right way, like where where you're located, as well as your time, as well as your talents and skills and heart.
00:39:58
Speaker
We help try to partner you with the right or right with the right organization to to start start getting involved. And the third aspect is helping raise raise funds. um You know, even making this advocate series is thousands of dollars, ah ah creating content and helping raise awareness on a continual basis costs a lot of money. These organizations that we're going to help you help plug you into.
00:40:20
Speaker
Everyone needs funds to help make this happen. um we are fighting a $150 billion dollars industry. And if we're coming in with um with ah pennies compared to that, it's going to be a longer haul, right? It's going to be a harder fight and and it's going to take longer and there's going to be more victims.
00:40:38
Speaker
um Money is definitely not power, but money is ah natural resource to help those who are being marginalized. This entire thing started with money and we can combat it with good.
00:40:50
Speaker
um If you have a talent for raising money, I want you to help us raise money. I want you to help fundraise, whether it's giving yourself, whether it's getting others rallied around this to give to the U.S. s and Institute Against Human Trafficking, or it's rallying around your local organization that you know is combating human trafficking and you can help them.
00:41:09
Speaker
Ultimately, we need you to help raise funds. Ignoring the fact that funds are a need is ignoring the fact that people are in need.
00:41:19
Speaker
These funds will help those people. And I want you to make sure I want to make sure you're researching. And if you want to talk to the U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking to help make sure you're choosing a good organization that's truly putting you know their money where their mouth is, um that's another thing we're trying to help do.
00:41:37
Speaker
We're trying to weed out those who are doing good compared to those who are maybe just, you know, exploiting the fight against human trafficking, which is also real. So, guys, um thank you for listening to the two today's podcast. Again, if you're ready to get involved after watching the Advocate series, I encourage you to go to usiahd.org slash abolitionist and actually sign up.
00:42:00
Speaker
um And if you have not watched this advocate series, please go to advocate series.com and download and watch this five video series and then go and sign up to become an abolitionist because I promise you, um you're going to feel pulled into helping in any way possible.
00:42:23
Speaker
Thank you.