**This is the sixth guest blog in a series of posts by the 2018 JuST Faith Summit speakers. Check back for new posts highlighting the critical topics that will be featured at this year’s Faith Summit. Join us, June 20-22 at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, for this exciting Summit. Visit this link to see the full agenda and lineup of speakers.

By Lexie LaVallee, Survivor Leader

“I am weary; exhausted with weeping. My throat is dry, my voice is gone, my eyes are swollen with sorrow and I’m waiting for you, God, to come through for me.” Psalm 69:3

That Psalm could have come from my own pre-teen heart as I was trafficked just across the street from my grandmother. I remember crying out to God in my heart for Him to save me as I looked out the window to the home where my family thought it was just another normal gathering. No one knew I was being raped by the teenager they had been trying to help, and that encounter would turn into a secret trafficking operation just doors down for the next 2-3 years.

I grew up in the Church, and didn’t understand why a God who parted seas, made food fall from the sky and healed people regularly wasn’t there for me. I prayed and cried out to my only hope, but what I wanted to happen (when I wanted it) did not. Have you ever had that happen? Prayed for a miracle, specific outcome, breakthrough, or rescue to only find your prayers fell on deaf ears? I am sure that many of you can relate to feeling that way, regardless of how different our stories, personalities, or beliefs may be.

As Christians, I feel like we face this all the time. Whether it’s our life or something happening around the globe we ask in agony “why?” That question can be a loaded gun to our faith and theology, but it’s driven by the deep wound of disappointment. I believe this is the most common wound the enemy uses to incapacitate us. Anger, unbelief, hurt, shame, guilt, confusion, distrust, and many other heavy emotions can all be wrapped up in disappointment. Feeling it is normal, but it’s what we do after that which will set the trajectory of our lives. It can taint your legacy, or be a launching pad.

[easy-tweet tweet=” Feeling disappointment is normal, but it’s what we do after that which will set the trajectory of our lives. It can taint your legacy, or be a launching pad. – Lexie LaVallee” user=”SharedHope” hashtags=”FaithSummit18″]

For the vast majority of my life I lived in a state of disappointment. In myself, the people who were supposed to protect me, and although I would never admit such a thing, I was disappointed with God. My heart became hardened, and I became fully reliant on myself for provision and care. I 100% believed God was real, and I believed everything the Bible said was true. Just that it wasn’t for me. I felt that if I had been a blind man begging Him for healing, He would have passed me by. Not because I wasn’t worthy, but that I just didn’t matter as much as everyone else.

Here’s how I overcame the lies that bred disappointment: praise and worship.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Here’s how I overcame the lies that bred disappointment: praise and worship. – Lexie Lavallee” user=”Shared Hope” hashtags=”FaithSummit18″]

My vibrant Church in Nashville (The Belonging Co.) really taught me how to do this. My pastors always said, “praise precedes miracles.” This was so contrary to my relationship with God. Just like I didn’t get praise until after I did something worthy of it, I thought it worked the same way for Him. Not that I wasn’t grateful or optimistic, but I never spoke life over the situations in my life that were bringing death to my spirit, mind, and body. I was just sitting around, waiting for Him to come through for me.

Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” And I began to wonder, what if I really meant the words I’m singing in Church. What would it look and feel like to believe it? To trust in His promises over my circumstances. Set aside my disappointment and walk in expectation. That’s what worship did for me. It shifted my heart from a place of unbelief to faith.

Here’s what that looked like in real life. There were a few songs that became anthems at different times. This is what they taught me.

• “Kind” by Amanda Cook taught me of the true character of God. I would listen to it to shift my perspective anytime I felt abandoned, hurt, angry, or punished. That’s not who He is and I knew it because there was so much scripture to back it up.
• “Good Good Father” by Kari Jobe shifted my belief that He wasn’t there for me. I have sung that over and over myself when things aren’t going well. “You are good. You are good. You are good.” Usually powerful prayer and praise flow from that place of trust and truth.
• “God of Miracles” by Jesus Culture grew my faith into really believing in and receiving healing. That it was just as much for me as it was for any of His other kids.
• “You’re Not Finished Yet” by Maggie Reed gave me hope. When situations were so beyond me and out of control. When I had to start taking medication daily for the STD I was left with after being trafficked, I sang the lyrics of this song as I took them every day. “Until I see your promise come. God with all I am, I’ll keep believing that you’re not finished yet. You’re not finished yet.”
• “God’s Great Dance Floor” by Chris Tomlin, “This is Living” by Hillsong Young & Free and “Zeal” by Henry Seely taught me about the fun, lightheartedness, and joy of God. I don’t think we experience that part of God enough. We come to the throne too serious sometimes. He created fun and He wants to have it with us. I found that stepping into that joy kicked depression and anxiety right in the pants and out of my life.

I am excited to teach more on this at Faith Summit and hope you’ll be there to worship beside me.  I know there is a breakthrough and so much wisdom for you at this conference.

By Lexie LaVallee, Survivor Leader

**This is the fifth guest blog in a series of posts by the 2018 JuST Faith Summit speakers. Check back for new posts highlighting the critical topics that will be featured at this year’s Faith Summit. Join us, June 20-22 at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, for this exciting Summit. Visit this link to see the full agenda and lineup of speakers.

By Benjamin Nolot, CEO & Founder, Exodus Cry

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” —Anonymous¹

The change I want to see in the world must begin first in me. The reality is, we have all been affected by, and to varying degrees, participated in the toxic culture that helps to perpetuate the commercial sex industry. It’s critical that we achieve personal freedom, not just as a prerequisite to shifting the culture, but also as a means to it. Bringing an end to the commercial sex industry will require us adopting a new way of being in the world.

1. Choose Love

“Love is the great conqueror of lust.” –C.S. Lewis
Our planet is in a great struggle between the forces of love and lust. Lust is the fuel that drives people to visit strip clubs, consume pornography, and pay to have sex with individuals in prostitution.

To the degree we are participating in these activities, we are fueling and perpetuating the commercial sex industry. Participation at any level has consequences at every level. The commercial sex industry operates on a supply and demand basis: without the demand, there would be no supply. It’s as simple as that.

[easy-tweet tweet=”The commercial sex industry operates on a supply and demand basis: without the demand, there would be no supply. – Benjamin Nolot” user=”SharedHope” hashtags=”FaithSummit18″]

Our problem with lust needs a solution. It’s a fire that needs to be extinguished. Just a cursory look across the landscape of our world reveals a globe being swept away in a deluge of lust.

The nature of lust itself is exploitative. It only considers its need to be satisfied, but never the cost that is paid by oneself or others. It gives way to a predatory sexuality where commercialized sex is one of the chief expressions. Make no mistake about it—there is no “love making” in commercial sex; only “lust making.” It is people consuming other people for self-gratification. This is not to suggest that people consuming commercial sex (pornography, stripping, and prostitution) don’t have other issues that may be contributing towards their acting out, but lust is the fuel that puts them into action.

The nature of lust itself is exploitative.

Love, on the other hand, reverences the gift of our common humanity. It says, “You are more valuable than just the body you possess.” Love honors the whole person and desires good for them, even at one’s own expense.

Love is not guided by consumptive compulsions but by respect and dignity. It is the highest way of being in the world—one in which both we, and those around us, are better off. It is the only place of true joy, freedom, and safety. Love is the antitheses of lust in every way.

The call to love sounds simple enough, but it is a monumental undertaking. In 1 Corinthians 13, the famous “love” passage in scripture, the apostle Paul gives a beautiful summation of what characterizes love. “[Love] does not dishonor others…[love] is not self-seeking…[love] always protects…” are some of the things that Paul highlights.

Love is a vision, it is an ethic, it is a way of being in the world, and it is ultimately a choice—a choice to value the freedom, dignity, and well-being of others, even over our own needs or desires. In a world full of loving people, the commercial sex industry would not exist.

We must choose love in every situation where we are tempted by lust. Not only will this bring freedom and joy into our own lives, but it will also bankrupt the commercial sex industry and bring freedom to those who are captive in it.

2. Be Compassionate

The systems of socio-economic, gender, and racial inequality that run across every culture in every society around the world marginalize large segments of the population. These vulnerable populations are the ones who are most frequently preyed upon by pimps, traffickers, and pornographers for exploitation in the commercial sex industry.

This kind of widespread systemic marginalization and exploitation of people would not be possible apart from a culture of complicity. That is, a culture that distances itself rather than identifying with the plight of the vulnerable.

The existence of the commercial sex industry exposes our lack of empathy as a society. We have abandoned vast numbers of people to a life of violence and exploitation inside this ruthless industry. These are not a unique subclass of humans who were born with a special capacity for sexual degradation. These are our sisters and brothers, our daughters and sons.

The commercial sex industry has profited greatly from a society that has become increasingly narcissistic and sociopathic—a society consumed with self-gratification and checked out from the pain of their brothers and sisters.

The existence of the commercial sex industry exposes our lack of empathy as a society.

[easy-tweet tweet=”The existence of the commercial sex industry exposes our lack of empathy as a society. – Benjamin Nolot” user=”SharedHope” hashtags=”FaithSummit18″]

The only possible way to turn the tide on this trend is to become people of compassion. Compassion disrupts exploitation. It allows us to see the deeper truth behind the glamorous cover narrative of the sex industry—that it is actually populated with the most marginalized and defenseless people in the world. There is nothing sexy or attractive about that. Only compassion can bring us to this truth.

Compassion is different from pity in that pity may acknowledge someone’s plight, but compassion causes us to identify with the plight of another. It empathetically connects us to others. We see the truth about their condition and we don’t minimize it, run from it, or give platitudes to it. We feel it along with them.

Compassion forces us to take action. It produces a groaning in us for freedom and a cry for justice. It drives us to the darkest ends of the earth to bring comfort to the afflicted and hope to the hopeless. No person is overlooked by compassion and no passage is too perilous to cross to reach those in need.

Through compassion, we share in the vulnerability, powerlessness, and pain of others. Our solidarity forges a path for hope and healing to emerge. The compassionate ones are beacons of light amidst a dark and hostile planet.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Through compassion, we share in the vulnerability, powerlessness, and pain of others. Our solidarity forges a path for hope and healing to emerge. – Benji Nolot” user=”SharedHope” hashtags=”FaithSummit18″]

Compassion is not merely something we do; it is someone we become. It enables us to truly see, truly feel, and truly act. To be compassionate is to live out the highest essence of our nature. It is to be authentic and fully alive.

Compassion forces us to see people in their humanity and vulnerability as three-dimensional beings. The commercial sex industry would not exist in a world full of compassionate people. We must embrace a compassionate way of being in the world so that others can be saved.

3. Reclaim Your Identity

Much of the way we have come to think about what it means to be a man, or a woman, or a sexual being in this world has been shaped by the culture around us. Men are cast as sexual predators, women are cast as sexual objects, and sex itself is cast as a meaningless recreational act. The confluence of these trends has led to the emergence of the global multi-billion dollar per year commercial sex industry.

It has also robbed us of an authentic identity. The pressure to conform is so great that many of us simply adopt what is expected of us and end up living out performances of who we think we are supposed to be.

It affects every area of our life: from the way we dress to the things we talk about, to whom we date, and how we treat others. What is lost here is a quality of self-possession—a way of being that is not shaped by the messages of the culture but is birthed from a place of deep authenticity and connection to oneself.

As long as we continue to go along with the cultural narrative regarding gender and sexuality, we will lose ourselves and in the process, we will experience dehumanizing and debasing sexual encounters while the commercial sex industry will continue to thrive. In order to put an end to this, we have to reclaim our identity. We have to reconnect with our truest and deepest selves.

We were made for more than the current script that has been written for us. Men were made for more than conquering women sexually. Women were made for more than being conquered for male pleasure. We have a role to play in a grand story woven across time, but our story has been hijacked. It’s time to get it back.

Our world needs real men and real women, not fabrications of the culture. This will require us disavowing the culture’s narrative and constructing a new one. One in which women are respected and valued for the diverse range of gifts they bring into the world, not merely their sexuality.

Reclaiming our identity is the pathway to true freedom and it is a critical step towards abolishing the commercial sex industry.

By Benjamin Nolot, CEO & Founder, Exodus Cry

**This is the third guest blog in a series of posts by the 2018 JuST Faith Summit speakers. Check back for new posts highlighting the critical topics that will be featured at this year’s Faith Summit. Join us, June 20-22 at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, for this exciting Summit. Visit this link to see the full agenda and lineup of speakers.

By Michelle Thielen, E-RYT,  Founder, YogaFaith International, Complex Trauma Specialist

Survivor Story:

During the second session with a new therapist, she told me to close my eyes and “just breathe”. I remember thinking okay, today might be the day that I could actually do either of these things in the presence of someone else. I was terrified to try. If I could only do one of these things it would be incredible, and I know she was only trying to help me, but she was asking me to the two things I dread the most.

I have been unable to close my eyes unless I’m alone, exhausted and going to sleep.

Every time I hear the word ‘breathe’ I cringe.

My abusers would always tell me to  “just close my eyes and breathe”. I heard this everyday for I don’t even know how many years. I don’t want to close my eyes. I don’t want to breathe.

Today the word breath or breathe remind me of the days I was immobile and being sexually assaulted day after day, night after night. The smell of alcohol and the breath in my ears.

I don’t want to close my eyes.

I don’t want to breathe.

—

Many survivors can identify with feelings and experiences like this survivor’s story.  This is why many of our trauma students have found the unity of breath with body movement, along with the focus on Scripture meditations and Christ, very therapeutic and healing.

At YogaFaith we want to help survivors as well as equip others to aid in the healing efforts on a local and global scale. So often the attempts to help are innocent and good, but the truth is that we must handle all types of trauma with loving care so as to not cause triggers or create more trauma.

[easy-tweet tweet=”So often the attempts to help are innocent and good, but the truth is that we must handle all types of trauma with loving care so as to not cause triggers or create more trauma.” user=”sharedhope” hashtags=”FaithSummit2018″]

Every person and every trauma is unique. Connecting breath with body, as you see in this person’s story, requires that we must take a different approach to interoception (the sense that helps you understand and feel what’s going on inside your body). We used other words for breath with this student such as; inhale, airflow, exhale and air. At YogaFaith we have the freedom to talk about Holy Spirit, because Spirit means breath and inspiration, we can say things such as; “Bring in His Spirit, inhale inspiration, inhale Spirit.”

YogaFaith has had the incredible opportunity to help hundreds of trafficked and abused survivors all around the world. Because poverty breeds human trafficking, we have traveled to many third world countries to visit and assist with trafficked survivors as young as five years old. In many cases, the mothers are the ones to sell their daughters to attempt to find a way to survive. Though these facts are difficult to understand and heartbreaking, they happen every single day. One needs not have to go to a third world country; these things are happening in our own backyards in America

When we combine healing and somatic experiences with Jesus at the center of all we do, survivors of trafficking and other types of trauma can find true healing through the blood of Christ.

In Acts 17:28 scripture declares that we live, breathe, move and have our being in and through Christ. Matthew 22:37 Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”.

This whole body worship is what we have the privilege and honor to introduce to survivors of various types of trauma of all ages, shapes, gender, color, and religions.

Survivors are introduced to a man named Jesus for the very first time, or they reconnect with Him. Our prayer is that through the postures of prayer, breath work and time together, they find true healing, peace and joy. We have observed this so many times and there is nothing quite like it. We see smiles and hear laughter. We hear the word “Hallelujah” sung with songs playing in what is usually a foreign language to who we are working with.

God is so great and He is the Master Physician.

Nothing is impossible with Him.

Healing from the Inside Out session at JuST Faith Summit will provide simple, real and practical methods to connect broken fragments of the self that happen with trauma. We will explore interoception, connection internally with self and God, and externally with others.

3 Things You Can Do in Response:

1. Pray.
   • Pray for all the abused and their abusers. [Even the abusers are made in the image of God]
   • Ask God to show how He wants to use you specifically.
2. Donate to any organization on the Front Lines.
   • YogaFaith and Shared Hope International are two organizations combating human trafficking.
   • Help a local shelter; Donate items, resources or your time
3. Attend the JuST Faith Summit June 20-22, 2018 at Bethel University, St. Paul, MN. Enjoy a night of incredible worship, amazing day sessions and experience Trauma Sensitive YogaFaith with Founder Michelle Thielen.

By Michelle Thielen, E-RYT,  Founder, YogaFaith International, Complex Trauma Specialist

**This is the second guest blog in a series of posts by the 2018 JuST Faith Summit speakers. Check back for new posts highlighting the critical topics that will be featured at this year’s Faith Summit. Join us, June 20-22 at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, for this exciting Summit. Visit this link to see the full agenda and lineup of speakers.

By Christopher Stollar
Demand Reduction Coordinator, She Has A Name & Author of The Black Lens

Why do men solicit? That’s a complex question, but one we must strive to answer if we’re ever going to reduce the demand for sex trafficking. While some women pay for sex, the fact is, most of that demand is coming from men who struggle with multiple, complex issues.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Why do men solicit? That’s a complex question, but one we must strive to answer if we’re ever going to reduce the demand for sex trafficking. ” user=”sharedhope” hashtags=”FaithSummit2018″]

As the Demand Reduction Coordinator for She Has A Name, I have personally taught dozens of these men through a “John School” program in Ohio. This all-day class is run by licensed counselors, survivors of sex trafficking and other people from the community. It targets men who are mostly first-time offenders with no record of violence.

Why a John School?

The goal of this class and similar programs is to “decrease the demand for prostitution, and hence, reduce the amount of human trafficking and sexual exploitation that occurs,” according to the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s John Schools Report. As of 2013, 50 cities in the United States were operating some form of a John School — including four in Ohio.

She Has A Name is trying to help these men understand the impact of their actions and address the root causes that drove them to solicit. This program aligns directly with our vision — “to see all those impacted by human trafficking restored into society and thriving in their community.” That includes men, even those who solicit.

One of the young men I taught told me he decided to solicit because for years he had been battling loneliness and depression, and “these struggles led me to make the worst decision of my life … Thankfully, I was arrested and stopped short of making a horrible mistake.”

[easy-tweet tweet=”One of the young men I taught told me he decided to solicit because for years he had been battling loneliness and depression, and “these struggles led me to make the worst decision of my life.” user=”sharedhope” hashtags=”FaithSummit2018″]

Why did these men solicit?

That young man is not alone. She Has A Name started collecting data in 2016 on why these specific men decided to solicit, and below is a list of reasons they have given so far in order of the most common response — including “loneliness and depression:”

1. Lack of intimacy: 24 percent
2. Loneliness: 24 percent
3. Depression: 14 percent
4. Pornography: 10 percent
5. Lust: 10 percent
6. Lack of discipline: 5 percent
7. Sexually abused: 5 percent
8. Stress: 5 percent
9. Low sex drive: 5 percent

As you can tell, the reasons men solicit are complex and varied. It’s not just about porn or sex addiction. For at least these men, there are deeper issues of intimacy, depression and loneliness. Of course we should never treat those reasons as excuses or justifications for their crime, but they can help us understand what’s going on behind the scenes with some men so we can point them to helpful solutions.

Has the John School helped?

Almost 200 men have completed the John School program, and we already have once success story. That young man I mentioned graduated from the program, attended She Has A Name’s anti-trafficking training and has since joined a local church. Last year he sent me this letter of encouragement:

“Since this was my first offense and what will be my last, I was allowed to participate in the John School.  I knew going into the program that I wanted to get involved in the fight against human trafficking, but after participating in the program I knew I had to. The program opened my eyes to the world of human trafficking and in my heart I knew I wanted to help in anyway possible.

Through my experience I found a relationship with God and gained a better understanding of the awful world of human trafficking that prior to this experience, I knew nothing about. I wish more than anything I could take back my mistake but in a strange way it’s made me a better person. I now know I can move forward and raise awareness with dreams of ending this horrible issue.”

There are at least nine reasons why men solicit, but this young man’s story is all the reason we need to keep fighting the battle against modern slavery. He is living proof that God can turn even a solicitor into an abolitionist. And at the end of the day, that’s what this fight is all about.

What can I do to help?

Here are three practical ways you can help right now:

1. If you are struggling with any of the issues listed above or know someone who is, find help through a local counselor and/or church support group
2. Support the work of demand reduction groups like Demand Abolition, Fight the New Drug, XXXChurch and Covenant Eyes
3. Attend the 2018 JuST Faith Summit and learn more about this issue in my 9 Reasons Why Men Solicit session

For more information about demand reduction, visit She Has A Name’s website. You can also learn more about Christopher Stollar and his work at http://christopherstollar.com/.

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By Christopher Stollar
Demand Reduction Coordinator, She Has A Name & Author of The Black Lens