Human Trafficking

Across in the dark sea with Jesus, the disciples were getting concerned. The wind started violent and brutal, oh, but He was asleep in the stern. Does He not care that we perish? We're helpless and we're so afraid. But then Jesus arose when they called Him and said, Let them, where is your faith? Because you prayed all night. Called you hello with all your might. Child, you're kind. Have a word with the Master. He knows your voice. Lift your head, it's time to rejoice. Child, you're kind. Have a word with the Master. Hello everyone and welcome to Testimony of the Goodness of God. What a great song by the Carr family. Your cries have awoken the masses. See no hope in the distance. You're frightened and nowhere to run. Oh, but now your vessel is filling. You're thinking that you'll surely drown. But you've cried out for help from your Savior. And you know you can't give up now because you prayed all night. Again, welcome to Testimonies of the Goodness of God. We are happy to have you with us today on Testimonies of the Goodness of God. First, we'd like to reach out and thank everyone who has taken the time to listen to our podcast and enjoy them and drop us a line and let us know how they feel about it and things we can improve on and testimonies that they may have to give us. We thank you for all that input. And yes, friends, we're going to have a local testimony coming soon. I can't give you the name yet because we haven't got everything officially set down and settled that we're going to do it. But it's going to be a wonderful testimony. So just keep dropping us a line at tgoodnessofgod at gmail.com or join us on our Facebook page, Testimony of the Goodness of God. And you can reach us through Messenger or leave a post or comment there on our Facebook page. And we're getting ready to expand a little bit and get into other directories for podcasts. Hopefully we can widen our outreach. The folks that are sharing our podcast, I do appreciate it. And like I said, when we first started this, when the Lord put it on my heart, if it saves that one lamb, that one sheep that has wandered astray from the flock and needs the Lord, if it helps that one person, then that's what we're going to do, help that one person. We hope it helps many, many more. But we do appreciate you giving us a listen and a share and a like. Without you, obviously, I wouldn't keep doing them. But we do enjoy all the input and feedback that we get for our show. And digging right into today's testimony, let me set it up first. Her name is Leah Rogers. She's a wonderful young woman who has an incredible testimony to give to us today. She was born to a drug-addicted mother and raped and molested as a child. And at 13, she was removed from her family's home and put into a group home. And it didn't get much better for her there. She ended up leaving that home when she turned 18. And she had a child and then went into exotic dancing. And from there, you can imagine what the story is going to be about. The Lord put a burden on my heart to pray steadfastly for something that is in some circles of the news media. And it's currently in the movies. And it is the trafficking, the human trafficking and trafficking of children for sex or labor or both. And it's just touched my heart. We had a wonderful prayer service at our church last Wednesday, Dots Pentecostal Church. I wish you could have been there to enjoy it. I testified to the fact that the burden was placed on me, and I prayed, and the church just absorbed it. And the Holy Spirit was really with us as we prayed for the people who suffer through this abuse every day, the children. I just can't imagine any human being doing these kind of things to children. It's something that's really touched my heart, and I just felt driven to do one of these podcasts with the testimony of a victim of the child sex trafficking trade and human trafficking trade. And I got this off of 700 Club on their YouTube channel. There's so many out there and doing the research and getting numbers and figures and things together for the podcast. It was just amazing. Out of all the testimonies I've listened to and all the interviews, I don't know, just several, I would say probably over 100, just to do research for this topic, I came across some statistics that are just absolutely mind-boggling to me. That most of the time in our country, while it's true we have, I think in fiscal year 2021, there was 50,000 unaccompanied migrants that came through the southern border unaccompanied. And at this time, they still don't know where most of those children are, and that comes right from our government website to give us that information. But here in the United States, most of it is done by a family member. They're selling their children into labor, slave labor, and things of that nature, needing that quick money to buy their drugs and alcohol. And then a lot of it is these young, impressionable children at 14, 15 years old that are rebellious at home and just take up and leave home. And they get hooked up with someone who is showering them with money, fancy cars, beautiful clothes, letting them drink, letting them do their drugs. And then once they grab them and get that hold on them through those caveat of things, the drugs, et cetera, they've got their hold on them. And they start threatening to kill their family if they don't cooperate and do as they tell them. And it's just horrific, the things that I've listened to. And there's no reason not to believe them. I can't believe that someone would sit here and try to tell us a story of this factor and it were to be false. And the one thing that I am going to put out, and I hope you share with your friends and family and loved ones, not only our podcast, but this number. It is the National Human Trafficking Hotline. National Human Trafficking Hotline. 1-800-373-7888. 1-888-373-7888. I might have said 1-800 to start that out, but it's 1-888-373-7888. It is the Human Trafficking Hotline. It doesn't hurt to call if you suspect something. If you know of a little girl or a little boy that's going through something like that or have suspicions that they may be being used in the labor or sex trade in your area. And last year's statistics, I'm sorry, two years ago in 2021, the great state of Ohio, where our podcast emanates from, had over 1,100 calls into the hotline. And a little over, let's see here, 291 of the 1,161 calls came from Ohio, and 291 of them were verified cases where a defendant or a person, a perpetrator, was actually charged and a person saved. And they've got statistics if you go to their website, humantraffickinghotline.org, and they've got statistics for every state. And it's just, there's no state in the United States that is immune from this. It's tragic. And I think even more tragic is I do watch a lot of the news channels, and I surf. I'm just trying to get different opinions on things, the cable news networks and the national media. And the only thing I've witnessed in the last 30 days is how they want to discredit a movie, The Sound of Freedom, which we haven't, I haven't watched. I've watched the trailer, and I've heard and spoke to people who have watched the movie. And all they've done is discredit the movie as part of a conspiracy theory. I don't understand that. This is not a conspiracy theory. This is conspiracy theory. This is real life. This is happening. This is the kind of evil. And, of course, in the end of days, the Bible tells us in Scripture that good will be seen as evil and evil will be seen as good. And I think this certainly is the case. But that's the podcast for today. It's kind of a downer, but I think it ends on a high note because we know that she called out to Christ. And her cries awoke the masters as the song started out for us today. And praise God, she was saved. And she now is an advocate for other victims of this kind of trade. And there's so many more testimonies out there. And if you know anyone that has one, get in contact with me through our email or through Messenger. If you happen to know me and know my phone number, give me a call or send me a text. And I'll share that testimony quickly, within a day or two, because that's just the awareness I think needs to be out to the people. And I think the people need to start contacting their lawmakers and just trying to understand why isn't this being taken more seriously by our country, our leadership. And as citizens, that's about all we can do is pray for them and continue to pray for them. And then if we see something, say something, to use one of the taglines here in the past. So without further ado, let me start the podcast here. Again, this is Leah. And I think you will enjoy it. I was afraid. I was so skinny, so unhealthy. I felt like people think I'm just nasty. I'm just a prostitute that no one cares about me. Leah Rogers was a victim of sex trafficking. I did try to escape several times, and I never could get away. And the abuse, the hits, became harder and harder to a point where I blacked out a couple times with the hits. And then that's when I just knew, I said, I can't protect myself. I can't fight him. Leah had been an easy target. Born out of wedlock, she grew up with her drug-addicted mother. The only father figures she knew were the men in her mother's life who, at times, beat and molested Leah. So that's what I thought love was. That's what I thought attention from a man was. It was normal to me. Leah was 13 when Child Protective Services put her into a group home where she spent five troubled years. By the time she aged out at 18, she had a one-year-old daughter. With no money and nowhere to turn, she took a job as an exotic dancer. The only thing that I knew is that guys liked me for one thing, and that was my body. So I was like, you know, hey, guys have touched me my whole life. That's the big deal. For the next six years, she made her living as a stripper. One night, she met a man at the club she thought was her Prince Charming. Honestly, he was so sweet. He would shower me with gifts. He knew how to say all the right things. He always made me feel wanted. But after a few dates, he became possessive and eventually took her phone and IDs. When Leah resisted, he exploded. Started hitting me several times in my face where both my eyes were so swollen and black that I couldn't even see out of them. And pulled out all my hair, like skin bald. He started to burn me with cigarettes all down my arms and my legs. He made me feel like if he didn't do that, then he wouldn't get beat. If he just listened, then he wouldn't get hit. After months of brainwashing and abuse, Leah gave up fighting. He branded her with a tattoo with his property and forced her into prostitution, something he had planned all along. He would tell me, if you leave me, I'm going to find you and I'm going to kill you. If I can't find you, I'm going to kill your mother. To protect her daughter and her mother, who was now clean and a Christian, Leah stayed. She sent her daughter to live with her brother. For the next three years, her captor dragged her across the Southwest, while at the same time recruiting other girls. Then Leah became pregnant with his son, and his grip tightened. But the abuse continued after that, and he was still making me work. I felt like I was trapped. There was no way out. Two weeks after that, my son, he took me to his mom's house. I wasn't allowed to see my son unless it was with supervision. I wasn't allowed to take him nowhere, and he would use that against me. Then in 2011, one of Leah's johns pulled a gun and threatened to kill her. She convinced him to let her live, but the trauma left her more desperate for escape. Leah cried out to a God she barely knew. My God, if you're real, please help me. Please help me. I just cried. I said, I don't know how to escape. I don't know how to leave. But I need your help. Save me. Save me. Two weeks later, Leah was with her pimp as he was trying to recruit two girls. They turned out to be undercover cops and took both of them into custody. Afraid of what might happen to her son, Leah said nothing in her defense. As a result, she was charged with 21 felonies, the same as the trafficker who had been holding her hostage. I was just screaming and crying. I was mad at God. But while awaiting trial in jail, Leah continued talking to God and began reading the Bible and attending chapel. I started to wake up early in the morning, like at five in the morning, before the whole dorm woke up. I started to pray and sing aloud. The feeling that I had when I talked to him, when I read the Word, like it was something that no one's ever gave me. The love that I felt from God was a love that I felt from no human being to this day. Leah had been in jail for six months when she gave her life to Christ. All the hurt, all the anger, all the pain, all the scars, all the suffering was his. I started to trust him. I knew that whatever happened, he knew what was best for me, and he was protecting me, and he was my father, and he loved me. And I believed that with all my heart. Still concerned for her son, Leah kept silent and signed a plea deal for a seven-year sentence. Then a week later, she received a postcard. It was from her trafficker's family. On the back was written, I have your son. She called her mother, who went immediately to pick him up. Once he was safe, Leah showed the postcard to her lawyer and agreed to testify. Using the postcard as evidence, the lawyer appealed her case, and the judge dropped all charges. My lawyer came up to me, and he said, are you ready to go home? And I just started crying. Only God, after you sign a plea for seven years, can make the judge turn his heart around and say, no, we're giving this girl a chance. You know, that had to be him. After completing a court-ordered rehabilitation program, Leah was reunited with her children. Today, she's an educator with the Sex Trafficking Institute and runs the Help Her Stand Foundation, an organization that counsels and advocates for sex trafficking victims. That means everything, because it means what I went through was not in vain. It's the purpose behind my story. Now I'm free. Now I can talk, and I can tell my story, and I'm not scared, because I have someone that's going to protect me that's better than any human, which is God. Wow, what a wonderful testimony there at the end. And I love how she described being in a jailhouse, getting up first before anyone else, reading the Word of God, singing praise hymns to the Lord, and finding Him and describing the love that she felt from just reading the Word and singing hymns to Him and praise to Him, how she'd never felt love like that before in her life. And we know that, don't we? As Christians, we know the love of God. We know what He has for us and the things He does for us. We praise God that she learned it. She had to go through an awful lot to find it. But when she cried out, He heard her cries. And, friends, He'll hear your cries. And I hope this testimony helps everyone and kind of opens your eyes and maybe pay more attention to it in the news or around you. And if you see something, say something. And, again, I want to share the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 1-888-373-7888. 1-888-373-7888. And if you see something, say something. Well, friends, I hope you've enjoyed the testimony. And we ask you to share it with as many people as you can. Let people know about it. Let people know about us. This is our seventh episode, I believe. And we're just trying to get our name out there and trying to spread the Word of God and His greatness and His goodness to us through testimonies from folks of all walks of life, all kinds of trials and tribulations. The finished usually seems the same. God. God is always there for you. He's always going to be there for you. And when you don't think He's there, He's there. And just read your Scripture. Read your Bible. Go to your Bible studies. Go to church. And start fellowshipping with like-minded individuals. And it's just a wonderful, wonderful life to live for the Lord. Drop us a line. Give us your comments. keygoodnessofgod at gmail.com or testimonies of the goodness of God on our Facebook page. And we look forward to hearing from you. And until next time, friends, stay blessed.