Lexi's Story.

As a little girl, I dreamt of someday becoming a princess. My favorite one was Pocahontas. I loved her in all of her splendor—all her strength and bravery. I would prance around my house in my own Pocahontas costume imagining a whole other world surrounding me—one of majesty. I was as free as I could ever be with no thought of pain in the world. I miss those days of blissful childhood and an imagination that the universe could not even contain.

Today, I sit here, now in college with years of reality under my belt—now with the knowledge of six-year-old girls, not filled with the same freedom and imagination I felt, but enslaved by the evils of this world—six-year-old girls caught in trafficking and modern-day slavery. Beautiful women and children are daily being stripped down to nothing—not even holding on to their own emotions. They are being exploited and abused as their tender innocence is being ruthlessly torn to shreds.

How could we let it come to this?

It was my junior year of high school that I was first exposed to the issue of human trafficking in the world. It began with my love of literature. A teacher began to lend me several books—biographies on the oppression of women. I remember doubting that I would take any interest in the books, but borrowing them anyway. I soon found myself lying awake at night, reliving another’s life and story—while my heart was broken apart and a small flame ignited within me.

Looking back, I was a sponge. My every thought began to turn toward this atrocity. I was both angry and broken. Part of me was filled with an intense fire to serve justice to those who take advantage—those who strip away souls—those who take for their own pleasure. Another part of me wept inside—violently hurting for these innocent souls that are never even given the chance to freely live. I began to feel completely confident that I was called to join those crying out for these women and children who had long ago lost their own voices.

At this point, my passion was simply to fight the oppression that existed. I had heard of human trafficking, but I never took any interest in learning about it. God orchestrated events perfectly, however. There was a specific night that my mom and I were given free tickets to an anti-human trafficking event so that I could have a coffee date with Jo Anne Lyon, the speaker. We went, and I cannot recall exact emotions, but that night something inside of me clicked. Through hearing about human trafficking, my call to missions and my passion for the oppression of women and children perfectly connected in this form of social justice.

Since then, I have continued to build upon my knowledge and passion for this problem in the world. I want to raise awareness by bringing God’s truth into the situation—that there is an intrinsic value in every person—and that no human life is another’s possession. I also want to take action in whatever way I can. God has placed this problem upon my heart, and I hope to respond.

Now that I know, I cannot and will not remain silent.