Exodus Blog

Project Exodus featured in Huffington Post Article!

2011-10-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago Project Exodus was blessed to participate in a rock opera by a good friend Nevin James at Pepperdine University. Nevin, a colleague of Project Exodus president Mike Masten from university, created an amazing rock opera telling the story of an American girl caught up into sex trafficking.

During the Saturday evening performance of the opera, the group invited Project Exodus to speak briefly about sex trafficking and its realities here in America. The event was picked up by Huffington Post writer Dr. Caroline Cicero and is now article! Please check the article out and join us in celebrating the awareness we hope this will bring to the youth abolitionist movement and justice seekers everywhere!

Exposing the Sex Trade: The Cause of Choice for a New Generation

3 Steps to Ending Modern Day Slavery

2011-06-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

BY ARLEEN PONCE

In light of the recent ATEST/CNNFreedom forum on human trafficking and release of the 2011 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, it appears fitting to address human trafficking. In 2000, the US introduced the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) and began producing the annual TIP report, rating countries on a three-tier scale regarding their policies against human trafficking.

Eleven years later, we have taken great strides: awareness of human trafficking has skyrocketed, as have anti-trafficking policies worldwide; T-visas have become available in the US for rescued trafficking victims who do not wish to return home; shelters for rescued victims and at-risk individuals are spreading; and there is growing recognition that those enslaved into prostitution are victims, not criminals. The TIP Report has its problems—special interests often play into rankings. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), a panel member at the ATEST/CNNFreedom forum, mentioned this at the forum and was later quoted by the Associated Press expressing disappointment that China was given a political waiver despite its growing trafficking problem. Furthermore, although the reports have increased transparency and allowed sanctions to be imposed on poorly-ranked countries, successfully pressuring many countries to instate anti-trafficking laws, rankings are based on effort (policies) rather than achievement (enforcement.)Foreign countries are often just going through the motions to appease the US.

The main issues facing the spread of human trafficking are: demand, profitability, and supply. The first of these is the enormous global demand for slaves: that for sex slaves is fueled by the increasing objectification of women in pornography, media, and even in real life as many women fail to realize that they are objectifying themselves through their actions. The demand for labor slaves is fueled by the demand for cheap goods and companies’ drive to increase profits despite the human cost. Without demand, traffickers would not stand to gain from exploiting others and slavery would cease to exist. We can decrease demand for cheap, slave-made goods by providing transparency on how goods are produced. Ambassador Luis CdeBaca of the State Department, a panel member at the ATEST/CNNFreedom forum, pointed out that legal slavery in England ended when people boycotted slave-made goods, indicating that there is a precedent for cutting off demand to end slavery. Rep. Smith added that brothels overseas shut down when the military was forbidden from visiting them, reinforcing this idea. The Not for Sale Campaign, a San-Francisco based anti-human trafficking organization, has developed a mobile app called Free2Work. This app provides transparency by rating various companies regarding their production methods, which is the perfect tool to begin a boycott of slave-made goods.

In order to affect demand for sex slaves, we must seek to change the attitudes of consumers, in addition to increasing the penalties (and rigidity with which they are enforced) for those who do visit prostitutes. The objectification of women in any form needs to be stopped (and can only be stopped by those women who have a choice, both in popular culture and in everyday life, respecting themselves), and education should be provided in schools to expose the truth about pimping, prostitution, and exploitation of humans. Project Exodus, an anti-human trafficking nonprofit based in Los Angeles, pioneered this movement by presenting a sample curriculum on this topic to the California State PTA.

The second category that needs to be addressed is profitability for traffickers. The massive monetary benefits of engaging in human trafficking far outweigh the costs. Few traffickers get caught, less are convicted, and the minority receive a sentence worthy of the crime. In order to increase the costs, it is necessary to educate law enforcement and others who are likely to come into contact with a trafficked person—airline attendants, hotel employees, etc., as the DC-based organization Innocents at Risk has begun to do—to ensure a larger percentage of traffickers are caught. We also need to increase the costs of human trafficking through tougher penalties and a more rigorous system that criminalizes pimps, not prostitutes. The aim is to make human trafficking such a dangerous undertaking that few will venture into the field, regardless of the possible payoffs.

Finally, it is necessary to address the huge supply of vulnerable people who can easily be abducted and sold. The majority of those being trafficked come from the poorest populations.

Poverty leads to disease and lack of health care, desperation, and disempowerment-characteristics that create a population at high risk of being trafficked. Development, education and job creation are vital in reducing poverty. Programs aimed specifically at educating vulnerable populations about human trafficking are also important. Those at risk need to be aware that they are being preyed on, and be given the tools necessary to defend themselves.

Ending modern-day slavery is a massive feat that will require consumers, policymakers, and activists to work together. Demand must be cut off through transparency for products and education of consumers. Profitability of trafficking must be offset with increasingly higher costs. Finally, the supply pool from which traffickers draw their victims must be diminished. These three steps will drastically change our world, which at present demands that the few benefit at the expense of the many.

*Arleen Ponce is a current graduate student of International Relations at the University of California San Diego. She is the former Regional Director for Project Exodus and is currently interning in Washington DC.

Announcing Project Exodus: MALAYSIA!

2010-09-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

God has been working mightily over these last few months with Project Exodus making more leads in cases, establishing new chapters throughout California, and empowering thousands to join the fight against injustice. However one thing stands out amongst the rest.

Today Project Exodus is extremely proud and blessed to announce the launch of Project Exodus: MALAYSIA! Based in Kuala Lumpur, Project Exodus: MALAYSIA is the very first international expansion of Project Exodus!

According to the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report:

"Malaysia is a destination, and to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for women and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced prostitution and for men, women, and children who are in conditions of forced labor. The majority of trafficking victims are foreign workers who migrate willingly to Malaysia from Indonesia, Nepal, India, Thailand, China, the Philippines, Burma, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam in search of greater economic opportunities, some of whom subsequently encounter forced labor or debt bondage at the hands of their employers, employment agents, or informal labor recruiters. While many of Malaysia's trafficking offenders are individual business people, large organized crime syndicates are also behind some of the trafficking of foreigners in Malaysia. "

However, despite the amount of trafficking taking place in the country, little is being done to fight it. Over the next few months, Project Exodus: MALAYSIA will begin to build the connections and infrastructure to fight human trafficking in the country and inform the Malaysian population what they can do to stop slavery.

In order to aid the fight, one of the first objectives of Project Exodus: MALAYSIA will be to establish the country's very first HUMAN TRAFFICKING HOTLINE. Our hopes with this hotline will be to give victims of trafficking in Malaysia an option in trying to escape their bondage. With God's blessing, we know it will be successful.

While we are still in the process of building up the branches infrastructure, they already have an active Facebook page, Twitter, and Blog. We encourage you to support our new branch by following them on the web and praying for them continuously. Furthermore, we encourage you to donate to our organization to help support and give life to the new branch. You can donate to Project Exodus by clicking here: DONATE.

We can't wait to see what the next few weeks and month holds in store for us. We are fully trusting in God in this new expansion and cannot wait to keep you updated! Thank you so much for all those who continue to support and pray for us. We look forward to sharing more justice soon!

Veritas et Aequitas,

The Project Exodus Team

Child Slavery in America: An Unthinkable Crime

2010-08-16T14:10:00.000-07:00

By Mike Masten

President, Project Exodus

It sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie. A young girl is at the mall with her friends when she is approached by a suave older guy who starts putting the moves on her. The young girl, naïve and wanting of attention, eats it up. Over the next few weeks, her “relationship” with this guy soon blossoms into a fairy tale romance: sweet words, tons of attention, and lots of beautiful gifts. The young girl, unaware of what love really is, falls in head first.

[Enter the dramatic music]. One day Mr. Suave shows up stressed. He explains to the girl that he is in financial trouble and that if he doesn’t take care of his “problem” then the fantasy life the two are planning together will never happen. The girl, hesitant but blinded by her love, is willing to do anything to help her man out. After all, it is just this one time. Before she knows it she is in the car headed to a hotel. Awaiting her in the hotel is a much older man with a malicious grin. In minutes her fantasy falls apart. One favor turns to two, then three, then four. By the weeks end her reality is abundantly clear. She is not a princess living a fantasy life; she is a victim of human trafficking in California.

Everyday across California and the United States, young children are being tricked and coerced into a life of sexual exploitation at the hands of heartless traffickers. According to Shared Hope International, at least 100,000 American children are being sexual exploited across the United States today. Contrary to commonly held beliefs, these children are not the sexually promiscuous and rebellious individuals that society has labeled them. Instead, these victims of child sex trafficking are everyday children who are put into extraordinarily evil situations with little voice and little hope to escape.

Their traffickers, aka “pimps”, are masters of deception and coercion. Understanding their vulnerabilities, traffickers focus their recruitment efforts on young children. It is for this reason that, according to the US Department of Justice, the average age an individual enters into prostitution in the US is between 12 and 14 years old. Skilled in the worst ways, traffickers are able to identify children who come from broken homes, have a history of sexual abuse, or have low self-esteems. Their recruitment grounds match their victim’s demographic: malls, schools, parks, churches…even Facebook and MySpace. One look at Craigslist will show the success traffickers are having. The crime is out of control.

Today the parents of America are faced with an unbelievable situation: the enslavement of our children. However, despite the magnitude and nature of the crime, there is hope. By becoming aware of the techniques pimps use to recruit children and by becoming more involved in their child’s life, a parent can be a first line of defense against traffickers and for their children. Our children have learned that slavery ended in the United States in 1865. Let’s make sure this remains true.

This article was originally written for the California Parent Teacher Association and will be published in the CA PTA's newsletter. Project Exodus recently acted as a consultant on a Child Human Trafficking Resolution that was just recently passed by the CA PTA and is working on getting an Anti-Human Trafficking Educational Curriculum established in California schools.

We need more Project Exodus Ministry Teams!

2010-07-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

Are you a passionate Christian with an absolute heart for justice and victims of human trafficking? Are you frustrated by the lack of opportunities to tangibly fight the issue of human trafficking? Do you long to do MORE to fight for the freedom of millions enslaved? Well we have some good news for you! Project Exodus is currently in great need of MORE PXMTs to go out and find human trafficking in the United States!

The concept of Project Exodus is simple: create teams, find victims of human trafficking, free slaves. It stands to reason thus that the more Project Exodus teams we have, the more victims of human trafficking we can find and thus the more slaves we can free!

However, being a volunteer organization, our success is (to an extent) based off of the amount of volunteer participation we have within our organization. Therefore if people do not volunteer to start Project Exodus teams, Project Exodus can't go out and search for victims of human trafficking.

A Project Exodus Ministry Team (PXMT) is a self-sufficient group that conducts anti-human trafficking activities under the guidance and supervision of Project Exodus. In short, our PXMTs are the groups that go out and FIND slavery in our community and create intelligence reports that help guide law enforcement in shutting down trafficking locations.

In order to help guide and encourage individuals in starting a PXMT, Project Exodus has created an awesome packet explaining the ins and outs of a PXMT and how you can go about starting one! If you are a member of a church community, a university or just a part of a passionate community of believers that want to make a difference, then we really REALLY encourage you to take a look at our packet and consider starting a PXMT!

Slavery does not have to be a permanent fixture in our society! You CAN make a difference! If you are ready to dedicate your time to the freedom of others, then check out the packet and consider starting a PXMT. If after prayer you feel called, then please contact us at freedom@project-exodus.org and our team members will start immediately working with you to get the process started and get you fighting slavery soon!

History is presenting us with an opportunity to be part of the modern underground railroad. Few answered the call back in the day. Let us not make this mistake again! Answer God's call to freedom and create a PXMT today!

Fight slavery from home: Project Exodus Prayer Teams

2010-06-16T12:30:00.001-07:00

At Project Exodus we are constantly thinking of ways to engage people in the fight against slavery. While training teams of volunteers to investigate human trafficking within their communities is undoubtedly important, it truly only covers half of the issue. In truth, human trafficking is as much (if not more) of a spiritual battle than it is a physical battle. Understanding this, our teams constantly engage in prayer while out in the field. But this is not enough.

Increasingly understanding the importance of prayer, Project Exodus is proud to introduce Project Exodus Prayer Teams! The idea behind Project Exodus Prayer Teams (PXPTs) is simple: the more people we have praying, the more effective we can be in the fight against human trafficking. The best part? Anyone, ANYWHERE, can start a prayer team!

To help people who are interested in joining us in prayer, we have created a PXPT Packet. The packet not only goes over the process of starting a PXPT (which is really easy) but also some of the deeper concepts of prayer as well as the nature of human trafficking. We have no doubt that this packet will greatly aid anyone who wants to join in and fight human trafficking through the power of prayer!

You can download the packet here: Project Exodus Prayer Packet.

Finally, Project Exodus seeks to create a prayer network so that prayer requests can be communicated to all individuals involved with PXPTs. Through unified prayer and the power of Christ, we are certain that we change the tide in the war against trafficking! If you would like to be part of our prayer network, please email us at freedom@project-exodus.org and put PRAYER in the subject line! Amen!

Experiencing Evil: an Analogy

2010-06-08T13:57:00.001-07:00

Working for God is an interesting thing. Through one may think they have specialty, one finds that when you offer your service to God, He uses you in extraordinary ways that can be totally unexpected.

As of late, we have been going through an intense kind of spiritual development and growth at Project Exodus. The root of this growth came from the discovery about two months ago that many of our leaders were going through spiritual attacks related to their involvement in our ministry. Now the goal of this writing is not to inform you as to what spiritual warfare is or even the way in which it has been affecting our organization. If you want to learn more about spiritual warfare, there are some great books out there, the most instructive of which of course is the Bible. Instead, the point of this writing is simply to observe a commonality in the type of warfare we have been witnessing, mainly the way in which Satan works.

After an initial case, the executive staff at Project Exodus began screening our leaders for areas of spiritual conflict in their lives (spiritual conflict simply being an area where the individual had experienced some sort of injustice or evil and had not yet given it to Christ for healing). While I do not care to go into the details of what we discovered, what I do want to discuss is, as I mentioned, the commonalities of the cases resulting in clear evidence of the way in which Satan operates within the lives of humans.

Distilling all the stories of the last two months to their essence, we discovered that many of our leaders had indeed gone through some sort of experience with injustice and evil and, due to the fact that they had never received true healing for these wounds, were now experiencing attacks that targeted their past wounds. In essence, experiences that had taken places years prior were now points of weakness as they sought to fight injustice directly. Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit we have been overcoming these wounds but have also learned something critical to the work we do: ie how Satan's attacks work.

The best way to illustrate the method of which I am speaking is simply to use an analogy of something we are all familiar with: a dagger. Simply put, when someone experiences an injustice or evil (any encounter with Satan and his means), they suffer from a wound much like a human who is struck with a dagger suffers from a wound. Now in a traditional sense, we recognize that when someone suffers from a wound, they need to undergo healing. Sometimes the wound is superficial, and can quickly be recovered from. Other times, such as in the case of serious stabbings and attacks, the wound can result in serious mutilation that can take often months or even years to heal from. For the sake of our analogy, we can assume that minor experiences of evil may result in what we may call a "scratch" where as serious encounters with evil (ie a victim of human trafficking or of rape) result in full on gashes and deep wounds.

Now, for the most part, these flesh wounds can often be healed. Sometimes it just requires a band-aid, other times for more severe wounds, intensive surgery must first take place. Indeed there may be scarring, but for the most part we are able to fully close these wounds. Once a wound is closed, the victim then begins of process of moving past the wounds, remembering the scars but not letting these scars define them. Normalcy then pursues and the individual begins living life as well as they can. And thus ends the way that we traditionally understand wounds and victims.

The truth of the matter however is that such a story only covers half of what is actually going on with the victim. Indeed everything above is quite true and accurate, but is only half of the picture. From our experiences, studies, and revelations from the Holy Spirit, we have discovered while the above is true, there is an additional dimension to the wound that, up until this point, we ourselves and in fact many others, have all together overlooked. In our case, we found that though many of the individuals within our organization had experienced some kind of evil and had gone through the traditional "healing" process, they were still being affected by their old wounds, to the point that these wounds were seemingly as fresh as they were the moment they received them. Thankfully after much prayer and examination, we discovered an answer.

As it turns out, when an individual has an experience with evil, they are not simply receiving just a physical type wound but also a type of infection or poison as a result of contact with cette evil. Using the analogy of the dagger, not only is the dagger capable of leaving a wound, but it also has a poison on the blade that upon contact with the individual, immediately infects them. Now whereas we traditionally seek to heal the physical wound we see, we sometimes altogether are not even aware that an infection or poison may have taken place as well. Thus the poison is ignored, and left to freely dwell within the occupant. And though we do not detect this poison or infection, if left unhealed, it will slowly work its way into other facets of the occupants life, poisoning those facets and causing pain and suffering all the time.

I hope by this point I am not being too vague in my description. If however I am, let me attempt to summarize. When someone has an encounter with evil, they receive both a metaphorical physical wound and an infection or poison. Traditionally we are trained to deal with the physical wound but often over look the infection or poison and thus allow it to remain. However, if left unhealed, this poison finds its way into different facets of the occupant's life and poisons them as well, causing pain and suffering. To give an example: a girl suffers from abandonment early in life and thus seeks out destructive relationships later on.

So why mention all of this? Simple...because there is a cure: CHRIST! At the end of the day, while we as humans can do as much counseling and advising as possible to reduce the physical wounds, the only way in which the poison or infection can be healed is through the blood of Christ! And thus we realize the total picture! There are two sides to every scenario: a worldly side and a spiritual side. Due to our lack of faith, we (humans I mean) tend to deal with everything mainly from a worldly point of view, regardless of our religious affiliation. Christian or not, we have more reliance on the way of the world than we do of the Way of God. Thus while we may achieve notable progress on our own (I truly believe that counseling is a gift God has given us to deal with these issues), if we continue to ignore the true dynamics of this world, we will continue to overlook spiritual dynamics of every wound and thus never truly receive healing. It is not until we give these things over to Christ and allow HIM to touch these issues that one will ever receive true healing. So, at the end of the day, we learn the same lesson we always learn: that it is all about Christ. Christ alone is enough. Victory is only with Him.

Determination

2010-04-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

We always have to smile when some people after three weeks of being involved with our organization ask, "Why haven't we busted a trafficking spot yet?". We don't blame them for the question. We understand their urgency. We get their frustration. We admire their zeal. And, we share in it all.

The truth of the matter though is that anti-trafficking work is tough. Criminals aren't stupid and often plans don't work out the way we want them. A case in point:

The other night two of our teams merged for an intricate multi-location investigation. The intelligence of these locations was daunting: men in charge of women, all women extremely young, reports of the women looking "haggard and disconnected" according to a John. Needless to say, Project Exodus leadership was eager to catch these criminals in the act. Our gut said trafficking and we spent hours prepping for the night. Our strategy was flawless; one even General Patton would admire. The time came and we began the operation, hopes high for victory and freedom.

The beginning of the night went off without a hitch. All volunteers got into assigned positions, communication was good, all points were covered. Previous investigations let us know the exact time and place everything would happen. It was all perfect. We would catch the act at the first location and then would move into location at the second location. We just had to wait.

Before we knew it zero hour was upon us. It was only a matter of moments until the car that took the women away arrived and we all waited in anxious anticipation. And waited....and waited...and waited. After thirty minutes of waiting we realized that if we waited any longer, we were going to miss all the activity at our second location. Being that the second location was a high priority, we didn't want to miss our opportunity.

After some deliberation, we decided to pull off half the teams and rush over to second location. If our timing was right, we would all be able to get into position just in time to see everything happen. The call went out, we reorganized all the teams, quickly gave the new strategy, and went on our way. Our volunteers were excellent and responded like well trained troops.

We arrived at the second location with only 5 minutes to spare. After finding parking the teams quickly headed into their positions. It was all in vain though. As we turned the corner to get into final place, our hearts sank as we saw the place closed for the night and the gates all locked up. Our intelligence was bad. The place closed early that night.

Disappointed, we called the other group that we had left at the first location to get an update. The news was sad. Though this location had consistently acted in the same way for weeks on end, this particular night they decided to approach the parlor from a different direction. Had all our teams been there, this would have been no problem. But being that we pulled off half of them, we left a blind spot that the criminals by chance happened to use. In essence we saw nothing and the whole operation was for not. Our groups rendezvoused at the assigned meeting point, we debriefed and prayed, and everyone went home...frustrated and feeling a little defeated.

Even though we meticulously planned the evening, we walked away empty handed. Despite weeks of intel gathering and preparation, unforeseen circumstances threw off the entire night. Two simple time changes on behalf of the locations blew hours of preparation and planning on our behalf. Were we disappointed? Yes. Were we defeated? Not at all.

The lesson from the night was clear: though you might think you have all your bases covered, when in the field things can change in a moment. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. But win you lose, you pick yourself back up and you try again.

God is good and we have faith that He will reward our determination. We know that He wants us to try again and again and again until we get it. We have faith that He will bring His justice.

Human trafficking is not going to vanish over night. God has called us not only to be active in seeking His justice but also to be determined. With a crime so monstrous as human trafficking, it is only going to be through faithful determination that we will see its end. And determined we are and will be until the end.

Death and Resurrection: An Abolitionist View

2010-04-02T16:31:00.001-07:00

Today till Sunday Christians from all around the world and all walks of life will flock to churches and places of worship to commemorate the most monumental moment to ever take place in the history of planet Earth: the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth: the Son of God.

Undoubtedly Easter weekend means a lot of things to lots of people. For some, it is a time to go to church, listen to a sermon, and have lunch with family. For devout Christians, Easter weekend is rightly remembered as the moment our sins were forgiven and we became justified in the eyes of God. Still others know it simply as a time that they get to gather colored eggs, wear bright clothes and eat lots of chocolate bunnies.

For the Christian abolitionist however, the death and resurrection of Christ holds an additional meaning even beyond forgiveness, justification, Sunday church and Easter eggs. For the Christian abolitionist, the death and resurrection of Christ means victory.

The other day after explaining the magnitude of the modern day slave trade and the challenges that modern day abolitionists face, an individual remarked, "How do you do it? How do you stay positive in the face of such a great evil as slavery? How do you remain motivated and not just give up?". "Simple," I responded, "we already have victory."

What specifically transpired in the three days between Christ's death and resurrection cannot be sure. However, we do know from scripture that a struggle took place and in it Christ proclaimed victory over Satan (1 Peter 3:18-19), taking from him the "keys of Hades and death" (Rev 1:18).

As Christian abolitionist we face an incredible reality. The first is that we live in a world ravished by evil where atrocities such as human trafficking flourish. The second is that, despite this reality, we are VICTORIOUS! Through the death and resurrection of Christ, all authority and power was taken from Satan and given to our King! Even death! Because of the death and resurrection, we became victors, trained soldiers in the ranks of the Kingdom of Heaven, defenders of good and destroyers of evil, abolitionists with a heavenly cause!

Regardless of the way you spend your Easter, as an abolitionist do not forget what this time means to you! Yes go to church, yes spend time with your family, yes even gather eggs and eat chocolate bunnies. But at the end of the day, remember two things more than anything: 1) that because of the death and resurrection yours sins were forgiven and you were justified, and 2) that because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Satan was defeated, all power was taken from him, and victory was proclaimed...especially victory over slavery!

Happy Victory Day!

Veritas et Aequitas,

Mike Masten

President

Project Exodus

A story of justice.

2010-03-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months people have been asking us more and more for updates on the progress of Project Exodus. For those who don't know, Project Exodus is still a relative "baby" organization and has really only been fully public since about September of 2009. That being said, the amount of growth and development that has happened in our organization since then has been incredible.

Like so many organizations, we are extremely proud of all of the developments that happen at Project Exodus. Leading this organization has been a truly amazing experience and it has been a pleasure to see God working in everything we do. Every week our organization is faced with new challenges and opportunities, the likes of which continue to form and mold us. It was thus a no brainer to start a blog plotting the development of Project Exodus.

The mission of this blog is simple: to share the journey of seeking justice with other like minded individuals. We hope to hold little back from this blog, sharing the great successes of our organization as well as the challenges we face. We want this blog to be a real, honest reflection of our organization and we hope that by people reading it, they might find hope and inspiration in their fight against human trafficking.

The fight that we face is one of epic proportions. Human trafficking is a tremendous crime, the roots of which spread across every part of society. We have a lot riding against us. At the same time though, we have a hope that cannot be destroyed. Being a Christian organization, we do everything through Christ, who strengthens us and guides us on our way. The best part is, we already have victory! Christ's death and resurrection proclaimed victory over the darkness and enabled us to take an active role in fight against injustice.

You might ask, "If we already have victory, why are we fighting?". The answer is simple. When the Allies landed in Normandy in WWII, Hitler knew the war was over. Victory was achieved. However it still took a year of intense fighting before Germany officially surrendered. For us, Christ's death and resurrection was D-Day. Victory is ours! However we still have a battle to fight till we have a total surrender of evil.

Make no mistake...this fight will be hard. There will be many casualties and at times it may seem like we are losing. But have peace! For we have already overcome! (Rev 12:11).

Over the coming days, weeks, months and years, we hope that you continue to join Project Exodus in our pursuit of justice. Together we can strengthen and encourage one another, reminding each other of the hope we have and the reason why we fight. And perhaps in our lifetime, we will one day be able to all join together and remember that there used to be a crime called human trafficking, but together through Christ we overcame.

Veritas et Aequitas,

Mike Masten

President

Project Exodus