Hope From S.O.A.P.

    This past month, some of our Church’s youth had the opportunity to attend Illinois State Youth Convention in Peoria, IL. The theme of the Event was ‘Make Every Minute Count.’ There were a few changes this year to the convention: a new venue, a new city, a new format of events. But the one change that deserves special mention was the ‘I Love Youth’ Saturday night offering. Throughout the years this offering was collected to specifically go toward youth events and programs in the State of Illinois. But this past convention a change was made. State Minister, Eric Livingston, came to the platform on Saturday and shared a new direction for our offering that evening.

   You may be surprised because few are aware of the existence of this epidemic that is cutting across the fabric of our nation. Even the language that is used to describe this problem masks its true nature. What am I referring to? There are thousands of adolescents within the United States being forced against their will into human trafficking. This is the clinical way of describing it. Putting it bluntly, our young people are being enslaved into prostitution under threat of their lives and/or the lives of their loved ones. In big cities and small towns alike, American teenagers are being forced into slavery. It is estimated that thousands of adolescents & teenagers in the State of Illinois are currently involved in sex trafficking while over 100,000 American youth are being sexually trafficked in the United States right now.

   Where does the hope come in? Former victim now turned activist, Theresa Flores has initiated a campaign to combat this heinous crime on our children. At fifteen years of age, she was drugged, raped and tortured for two long years; kept in bondage, forced to pay back an impossible debt all the while living at home attempting to keep her family safe. She attended school during the day along side of her abusers, only to be called into ‘service’ late each night while her unknowing family slept. Her initiative S.O.A.P. stands for Saving Our Adolescents from Prostitution is an Outreach that aims to distribute thousands of bars of soap with the National Human Trafficking Hotline number and key identifying questions FREE to local motels. 

   In addition, volunteers talk to motel owners and managers and provide them with a quick overview of what is happening to young girls in their rooms. When a young person calls that hotline number, someone is immediately dispatched to rescue them from their situation. And for a donation of $125.00, one can purchase 1,000 bars of soap labeled accordingly.  

   Our Church of God youth in the State of Illinois in one offering raised $1,600 for this cause which purchased close to 13,000 labeled bars of soap. Praise God for their generosity and desire to help those enslaved become free! For more information on this epidemic, you may visit www.traffickfree.com.