Tales of Triumph Over Addiction and Exploitation by Embracing Faith

They say the family that prays together stays together, but what happens when faith enters the picture late in the game? My family's journey from chaos to calm reveals the stark contrasts in raising children amidst shifting spiritual tides. Our open discussion traverses the rocky terrain of our past, from substance abuse to incarceration. It's a candid look at how these battles have surprisingly sown seeds of redemption and purpose, showing that even through life's storms, the roots of spirituality can hold firm and guide us to safer shores.

Turning the spotlight on the shadowy world of sexual exploitation, our conversation takes a compassionate approach to unraveling the complex lives of women entangled in the sex industry. We navigate the fine lines that separate various forms of sexual work, and emphasize the importance of understanding and empathy for those who seek to escape these situations. You'll hear powerful stories of healing and love's pivotal role in helping individuals recognize their self-worth. Moreover, the episode discusses actionable steps, stressing the importance of community in supporting those transitioning out of exploitation.

The path to personal transformation can be as twisting as a mountain road, but the view at the summit is breathtaking. I recount my own metamorphosis from grappling with addiction to embracing a life of ministry and outreach. We'll also tackle the heavy subjects my nonprofit work deals with, like human trafficking and abortion recovery, and offer guidance to those who fear a loved one might be facing abuse. Wrapping up, we confront the reality of spiritual warfare in our media-saturated society, arguing for vigilance in the media we consume and the necessity of safeguarding our moral compass. Join us for a conversation that's not just about hope, but about the potent force of faith to uplift and transform.

Chapters

• 0:01 Life Transformation and Helping Others
• 10:41 Discussion on Prostitution and Healing
• 19:17 From Stripping to Ministry
• 27:04 Overcoming No's, Finding Redemption
• 35:06 The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Faith and Thalias podcast. And yeah, so, so what was it?

Speaker 2: 0:09

Now, you lived there for how long before you went to church? Like you all, were married.

Speaker 1: 0:13

Yeah, we were married Seven years, yeah, so we became Christians when our daughter was about three.

Speaker 2: 0:19

So yeah, Because I can only imagine the difference in the house, dynamic, like your home life.

Speaker 1: 0:25

Everything was different. So this is okay. So it was like house, fire, tea room became a Christian, my husband became Christian and then everything changed. So, like our youngest daughter, she only has a life that she's known of two Jesus loving parents raising her mother, two kids. Not so much Now they were protected from any kind of massive drama like what I had, but they were not raising a Christian home for the most part. Our baby very much, that's all she knows. Oh, really, yeah, and I just don't believe the difference.

Speaker 2: 0:57

That's crazy, just like the raising your kids in different times of your life, like our son, my son from the previous marriage. Like when I first got married and first had him, we were very unprepared people and now we like, 15 years later, now we have a little girl and it's like I'm in such a better place in my life. Like it's crazy, like I'm the same Well, not really the same, I've been with a lot of change but like just the different times in life, different seasons of life.

Speaker 1: 1:25

And you're going to recognize again, not that, not that being godly parents means you're going to raise godly great kids, because that's not always the case, but you're going to see play down in her life the benefits of having that and that stability and that security and that spiritual grounding of having two Jesus loving parents that you just can't mimic without Like it's just different.

Speaker 2: 1:48

I had perfect parents I'm talking about like my. I was one of the few kids that still had parents that were together. Yeah, pastors, they raised me in church, read the Bible and all this stuff, but then when I got out of my own but I would be drunk or high they would be telling other people how God existed. It was just like the roots were deep. I just hadn't dug down and allowed God to grow that fruit. Yeah, and it was. I look back. I laugh now, like when I went to jail for the second time, my brain was. I was hopefully developed either by my son or Cortex was not there. No, camaro, though I'm guessing. No, I don't know Camaro, I didn't know what you were wearing. I did live in my car, though I was like Council, and that was that day Even to you. That's it. Hey, thank you. Appreciate it. It wasn't a teatop but I had wheels on it. But, just like in the jail cell, I was handy.

Speaker 2: 2:43

After I sobered up, I went in there high and after I sobered up, I was handing out Bible verses to others. I had not had the cellmates in there. I ended up talking. This guy right below me was raised the same way I was and him and I started talking to this other guy that was in there about Jesus and about the Bible and, like you know, the stereotypical, like it's kind of funny because when you study the word you're like that never happens, but I think God does it when you need it. I would open the Bible. I found on a little window ledge and every verse I read was exactly spoke to me. Yeah, I know that sounds very childish, but in that moment it's exactly what I needed and I was writing them and I was handing them out to other beings. So that's awesome.

Speaker 2: 3:21

And the guy right below me was raised exactly how I was and his, his mom, was from somewhere around Dallas, I don't know where it was at. But we started talking to this guy that knew the bellboss and I had to sell my car to get out. And so we're, we're making the deal he's talking to. The guy's dad was the bellboss and so he's talking to him in the fall, making the deals for us so we can get out, find a way out.

Speaker 2: 3:44

And I ended up kind of getting back in that that kind of groove again with like on the street you know, kind of cause the guy was like you know he'd get out and you'd sell for us and make up some money. I'm like, okay, cool, cause I was a drug dealer already. But that's how I got locked up and I was back to what you know why not. And the kid below me that I started talking about God with. He was supposed to be out waiting for me and come to find out. He actually, when he got out, called his Christian mother and had her come and get him and taken back home where it's supposed to be.

Speaker 1: 4:14

Wow, rains. A little word Me in the jail cell.

Speaker 2: 4:18

You know what I mean. The roots, like that upbringing, even though it looked in that very moment, like my dad told me. He said, if you ever get arrested, you got to find your own way out, and he did it.

Speaker 1: 4:27

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:29

I'm like, oh, come on man. But at the same time it's what I needed. I wouldn't have learned my lesson. And just that constant preaching, teaching of the word that was. It was laying a foundation in my life to where later, when the house will get blown away, god will still be there.

Speaker 1: 4:48

Yeah, I love that. You know, similar to me, I was in church all the time. I heard the Bible stories and my mom was very abusive with the church and we were. We would basically I don't know how many times I was baptized as a little girl because basically every time we would go to a new church we would, you know, get saved, get baptized, and they'd pair a rent, and so for me that was good, because it wasn't me paying the rent of the church, and so I learned a couple of things in that one. I never want to ask for help ever.

Speaker 1: 5:16

Like it was, like I was the bait for that. Even in that, you know, even in the church, I was the bait. I was dirty I would usually chop funky hair dirty and it was like my daughter's hungry, we need soup, we need help, we need rent. So I'm story. I remember being put on display like that and it was horrible, as equally as horrible as being violated sexually. I would say almost different.

Speaker 2: 5:42

Just a different side of shame.

Speaker 1: 5:43

It was awful. So I learned I never will ask for help, and when you're in trouble you go to the church. So then, when here I am, I write Lee, the same friend that said you should go to the gentleman's club. Years before, after our house fire, I said, korean, find a church.

Speaker 2: 6:02

Was she in church or so? Oh, she didn't strip, she didn't go to church, she just give you all kinds of life in butter.

Speaker 1: 6:07

So I made, but ultimately it was that kind of that mentality where I thought, oh my gosh, that's right, I'm in trouble, I need to go church. I didn't run away, but then it was. Then I went to the tea house and they invited me. I didn't go right away but then, but ultimately didn't end up in church and and that's where I got my help.

Speaker 2: 6:24

That is crazy. So what are that? What did that look like with? Like Now you have. By the way, I don't know if I have it in the show those today, but it will be when I repost this video after the live stream is so long, sorry say a lot, so last yeah, so I'll be right, kind of like okay, and so it's Say again say a lot of water, like in the book of songs, like where it like as, like the script is like, say, life.

Speaker 1: 6:48

Yeah, it was in rest.

Speaker 2: 6:50

Yeah, I don't know why, like I know what it is. But yeah, I don't know why it's like a lad. But so you started. I'm assuming, from all the things you went through, you wanted to start something to help. And what specifically is it called? It's it's not sex trafficking something, but it's. Something is very specific on the wording on the website.

Speaker 1: 7:10

So it's it's, it's stabilization stabilization center for women rescued from human trafficking and Ultimately, it's a safe home where women who have been rescued out of the industry or from sex trafficking exploited.

Speaker 1: 7:25

It can come and and what we have found is specifically in like when, when, when a woman's taken off the streets Taking from her pen, from her trafficker, and if she goes straight into a long-term center when they're working on getting their driver's license, getting their kids back, getting a GED, getting a job, that's too much like that's, they say, are going to run, ride back to their trafficker. It's just yeah, because they don't. You know, basically, trauma therapy for a woman in crisis is a disservice to her. She cannot function that way. So we're opening in the stabilization center where she can come in, sleep, get clean, yeah, and be safe and in between the in between, and help her to get for and fight or fly. We will we have a, we will have an LPC on staff as so that she can get emergency Christian counseling, very Christ centered, and and help her to take that pause in that breath, which is what say love means pause and rest that's a pretty, pretty important step.

Speaker 2: 8:27

I think that it is there many places like that, because that seems, it seems I haven't heard of a place like that. That seems Like that it is perfect.

Speaker 1: 8:37

Yeah, I actually just got back from Kentucky this past week, and this is the number one need in this industry is stabilization centers. There's almost none nationwide. We've been told by local law, law enforcement and Tyler that the day we open we will have a wait list there, which is this summer, right?

Speaker 2: 8:54

Yeah, is your objective date.

Speaker 1: 8:55

Yes, lord willing, it will be this summer, but there's nowhere for these women to go, and and so so they don't get rescued.

Speaker 2: 9:04

So is this, is this court Pointed? Is it volunteer, like, how does that work as far?

Speaker 1: 9:10

as getting a little bit. Oh, so some will get, someone will get the option and he doesn't mind. So there's so much miss Conceptions out there and and and not truth untrue, so I don't know which. They admit Sex trafficking doesn't look like what you think. It looks like like we have. Like if you've seen the movie Sound the freedom, freedom, that's not what sex trafficking really looks like. I mean, that's not not saying that that's not valid, but there's a lot more to it.

Speaker 2: 9:36

It's just that we're doing it in.

Speaker 1: 9:37

In America Sex trafficking is huge, like America's, one of the number one nations in the world for sex trafficking.

Speaker 2: 9:46

So when you say sex trafficking because you're saying it's kind of a different, different definition what to the people? What are you say or what would be a greater definition, or an example, examples of what actually so, but not just so. You have a definition, but sure be able to see and say, yeah, something's going on here.

Speaker 1: 10:08

So I would say I don't know that the formal, you know web source dictionary definition, but I would say for any child, male or female, and and woman or man that is exploited for sexual purposes, for gain, and that could be trade for trade like you Was a kid right any kind of anything in exchange of or for not.

Speaker 2: 10:31

I'm asking this for clarity because you didn't have a pimp or anything right, I did not, you just did it yourself. I did it myself. But you would still consider that other category of sex trafficking because you were selling yourself. Was prostitution without a pimp the same thing or is it? Is it different? It?

Speaker 1: 10:46

I mean it's a gray line, so some people today would call that base traffic by myself I don't know, it's a play on words.

Speaker 2: 10:54

Would you accept someone, even who like?

Speaker 1: 10:56

was the correct, infinitely accept someone who was prostituting herself without a pimp.

Speaker 2: 11:00

Yes, so criteria for the definition kind of, or the, the, the example you gave, you'll accept all of those that fall underneath that.

Speaker 1: 11:09

I would say yes, as long as we have space for them. Any woman that's been sexually exploited either by herself or by a pimp or a sex trafficker whatever title you want to put on that yeah, rescue out of the sex industry, we would take now what?

Speaker 2: 11:27

How deep does that have to go? And I'm asking this like and then it's kind of a stupid question, so you wouldn't take, I guess they're not not really selling themselves what they are. Is Stripper allowed? Because that's kind of, I mean, you're, you're exploiting your own body to make money, but I don't. Does that fall into the same category, or is that just? I mean, that's an occupation.

Speaker 1: 11:50

It would be case by case. I would say very few strippers are just strippers. First off, Okay. I've been in the industry, yeah, and I would have classed my sense I, in fact, that was very, very vocal that I wasn't a prostitute. But I'm promising you that's what I was.

Speaker 2: 12:04

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 12:04

I just took my money on a stage. Yeah very few. Strippers are just dancers with little clothes. Yeah that's just not real.

Speaker 2: 12:15

They may start off that way it starts all that way.

Speaker 1: 12:17

I thought it was a cocktail waitress, right, but I ended up in and again, I didn't have. I was unlocking the streets of you know it back in the day, local street, downtown dialer with you know packy clothes, when I was selling my body for money yeah, that's prostitution.

Speaker 2: 12:33

So when someone is because I don't be open it up and if anybody knows someone that's in the night was sitting up, right, let me get back with my camera Ball lousy in here. But if somebody is, somebody knows somebody who is in that world and chances are somebody watching probably does like, like, how would you convince somebody who, like you, would argue that you're not doing that? Yeah, what would that conversation look? Or what would be? Because you were there, did it take counseling for you to realize that? Or was it like a revelation that maybe the Lord gave you that? Okay, I do have a problem, like, if they're copping that lifestyle, they obviously probably didn't get their own purpose, it just kind of happened, right. But how would you have that conversation, especially somebody that you love, that you want to I mean, like a drug addict, you want them to get help. But how do you have that conversation to say, hey, I know this place, let's go talk with somebody like what would be some good.

Speaker 1: 13:38

Yeah. So again, it's everything's case by case and you've got the extreme issues where a young girl has been literally trafficked from her family or boyfriend, from being green, from as early as 10, 11 years old and the grooming process can take three to five years before they're fully trafficked and they may start off with photos and just being exploited and they're emotionally trauma bonded and so it could start that way. Or it could be like me selling myself at a strip club, looking fairly innocent in the eyes of you know, like I'm just a stripper, so it could look so different depending on it. If you know someone in the industry that it's either stripping or selling themselves, whatever that looks like, we're saying they're not going to want, they have to want it, they have to at some point feel that they have some value. That doesn't involve selling their body.

Speaker 1: 14:35

Yeah, however, that looks like like for me it was at the T-ring.

Speaker 1: 14:39

It was for the first time love and affection didn't cost me my body, first time ever, my whole life and it I began to see that there was, that I had value.

Speaker 1: 14:53

That didn't, that didn't require me to give some creep, something right, and so I would say, just, if you have someone that's in that industry just keep loving them, keep telling them that they have value and that there are other options. You, I don't, I mean obviously you can give them a flyer, but for the most part it takes nine to 12 touches for a woman to begin to say I'm ready. And that means potentially a girl could come to a drop-in center. We're not a drop-in center, but like a drop-in center where they can get a hot meal and a bath and maybe antibiotics and and the love of Jesus, 12 times before she's like I don't want to do this anymore, wow. And so it's actually go to the relationship. It's all about relationship and and being okay that and you're not okay, obviously, but say my leaves, but you have planted that seed and you, we have to trust the Lord to water it and bring them back.

Speaker 2: 15:55

Jesus gave the same parable Some will, some will plant some water. You know, I mean so hard as this, but it's when we all decide to love those and our church. We have a about eight to 10 women that come from a women's shelter, so they're there trying to get their feet back and we just I talked with the head of my board yesterday, the day before, and we're going to because they all smoke, every single one of them we're going to have a smoking section on the side of the church with a little sand thing so that they can. You know, that's the people we want. We should be wanting to.

Speaker 2: 16:31

I told somebody called me because they were not upset, but just kind of like you know, hey, I see them out. There is that, you know, good bad. I said man, I'd hold their beard at the door and let them come in and get some Jesus and give it back to him on the way out. If, if, if, God did that for me and Jesus died. He said I came for those that are sick, not for those that are healthy.

Speaker 1: 16:52

Right, the church has to be the safe place for broken people to run. We have to. We have to quit kicking people while they're down and and yes, obviously, as God begins to grow in you and mature in you, you're going to start dressing differently. You're going to start hopefully putting down some vices, or at least not smoking at the church. Part of the line Maybe like, but but right now you have to love them where their hands.

Speaker 2: 17:16

Yes, because you don't know right now if you're in the plant, the seed or watering, watering or this could be the hardest thing. You don't know, we just don't know. There's no way for you to know, but you have to be faithful in the little piece of land God gives you Absolutely. And I think this loss loss on some of the churches that they they want the the good, clean type thing and people to come in.

Speaker 1: 17:35

Yeah, you know, they're real pretty oh yeah, and we're in and as Jesus lovers. Unfortunately, we get really good at putting on the cute dresses.

Speaker 2: 17:44

I don't look like that.

Speaker 1: 17:45

I'm going to make it, please don't. And for the most part in nice. Cars with conditioning in Texas and in Christianity can look real pretty oh yeah, but it's not. Christianity is hard as heck man Like. Living a Christian life is so much harder than living on the streets. Yeah, and especially in ministry, because people are always watching and always we, we have got to be. A buffer approach Doesn't mean I'm so far from perfect, as you've seen on the show.

Speaker 1: 18:16

But like we, we have to do better. We have to love people. Love like, not just law like like like. Love wins, not in the liberal sense, but love wins Like what are we wins. It was love that held Jesus to the cross, love, and he loved us so much that he literally paid the most painful ultimate price, so that even in all of that junk I just shared for the past, however long we've been talking, even in that brokenness, you love me and nothing never gave up. You never stopped pursuing me. And now I get to share all of that ugly crap. The doggy for him yeah, my God, that's cool. I mean I can use the ugliest of ugly to somehow wash it all clean and point people to him.

Speaker 2: 19:08

Yeah, for his glory. It doesn't make any sense Like when me and my wife first got married, as she knows this now like she it doesn't I guess her lack of a better time and bears her anymore. But I would. I told her dad and her uncle I don't think we were married yet, we were dating and I just told him everything that I had done and it was like six months to a year before that. I just I was honest, I just told him my meth addiction, you know all that stuff and kind of the whole story. And she heard me tell him in the kitchen. She was like I'm surprised my dad didn't throw you out just because you know it's a dad and you're dating his daughter and all this. But it was like all the other ones.

Speaker 1: 19:44

Yeah, method and date my daughter Woo.

Speaker 2: 19:47

Hey, don't even have a job yet A real job, yeah, and I did never real job at the time, like I was working odd jobs, doing maintenance and things like that for a real estate agent. But it was that, that humility that her dad, after I told my story, he said thank you for sharing. Yeah, like I was, you know, tearing up. I mean, it's still very real to me. Like that was, this month is 10 years ago today.

Speaker 2: 20:14

I was in jail Wow, and I know this marked because, like my dad wouldn't give me out for Easter. And I was like, oh, I got a son, dad, you're not gonna, you know, go low me out, you're not gonna bail me out so I could be with my son on Easter. And he was like, no, I told you, I was like I was trying to use that and it didn't work. But, like our stories are too, shame us but bring glory to God Absolutely. And that's that's why I wanted to have you back, because it was such an amazing story. And also, so what made you? Was it the same friend that told you about stripping in church to told you to go in a ministry? You write books like, how did you get all that?

Speaker 1: 20:53

Because just God, man, like like you just can't make this stuff up right and like it's so extreme I mean everything from early child abuse, exploitation, all of the ugly, to serving in full-time ministry. You just can't make that up. And so I went into. Initially I went into full-time ministry. I served in a student ministry. I love student ministry. From there I went into women's ministry, went to seminary. Like I got an eighth grade education but I have a seminary degree. So that's kind of fun. Graduated summa cum laude was huge. You thought I got my doctorate's flag. I'm like, oh and, by the way, my professor, he said I'd never seen anyone this excited to get an associate's degree before. That was huge. It was huge for me which I did, basically get my GED, obviously, or couldn't go to college at all, but that was huge for me.

Speaker 2: 21:43

Like I'm not in college degree either, but I got two right there from the ministry school exorder and ordained minister. I mean they're just certificates. It's not like I went to college for several years, but to me that means something.

Speaker 1: 21:55

It is, it's huge. And so I actually went to full college, like it was, I mean seminary, but like I mean I had to take science and everything and I got a real college degree, now associate's degree, which again was just huge. It wasn't supposed to be the world standard. I should have been again just the hate to be so graphic, but I should have been a washed up or in a dish somewhere at this point in my life, with the nail in your arm and the whole stereotype of it.

Speaker 1: 22:20

That was the enemies designed for me. But God and he rescued me from the ugliest pit, literally of hell, and he had a better plan for me and I accepted it because he hears. The thing is I did have a choice. I could have said I don't want that, and I could have, I could have continued to say no. In fact I did say no for a long time, but I surrender. He gave me. I finally saw true love, jesus love, and once you have that, once you begin to feel that Jesus size void in your heart, nothing else will sustain you. And so I surrendered into ministry, went to seminary, served in student ministry, served in women's ministry and in that process of women's ministry I got involved with abortion recovery and ran that nonprofit for a little over five years Christ centered abortion recovery education in Tyler Still love them deeply wrote my book. I had actually been writing my book for a while over 10 years but was lost, wandering around. I didn't know how to write and so I got signed on with my publisher. What's?

Speaker 1: 23:29

the name of that book Unwanted. No More from Exploited to Embraced by God. Okay.

Speaker 2: 23:34

Yeah, is that the one you said you're gonna give away? Yeah, yes, I will give a copy away. Hold on, tell them about it right quick, we'll get the camera on you, tell them about it and then walk them through what they can expect.

Speaker 1: 23:44

Yeah, so it's in my memoir. It was released in 2019. My redemption press publishers and you can get it anywhere books are sold, but we are getting a one free copy away and I'll just need your address, whoever wins, and we will all sign it and get it to you.

Speaker 2: 24:03

That would be a great gift to give to somebody too, especially somebody who you know. Some of the greatest tools are conversations that you don't have to have yourself. Absolutely Like is somebody that maybe in this world or maybe they're a stripper and you don't know about anything else, and you've heard her story. You're like, okay, well, I thought there was something else there. I don't know, god loves strippers too. Yeah, I mean obviously. Yeah, I mean he came for us to our centers, which nobody's ever been born, that has not been a center. So she was. When we were talking off camera. Before we started, she said I'll give away free book. I said awesome. So if you'll comment, if you're watching on Instagram or Facebook, if you'll comment and like the video, we will give out that free book. Next month we'll do a drawing and we'll get that free to you. So does your. I know you said you just got back from Kentucky. Does your husband travel around with you? What does he do now?

Speaker 1: 25:01

Sometimes he does, but not very much because he's a gunsmith and Tyler and people want their guns fixed pretty quickly, so he stays pretty busy, but he does. But my gosh, he's my biggest, like I mean I'll say cheerleader, but he doesn't wear a pom-poms.

Speaker 2: 25:18

But he's too manly.

Speaker 1: 25:19

He's too manly, he's like you, a man, man, man. So I was a gunsmith, yeah, but yeah, he's a gunsmith and so yeah, he stays real busy but supports me absolutely. Any crazy thing the Lord ever does. He's like let's do it, let's do it. And from the very first time I told my story publicly until I just like, I thought so, like I was in the nonprofit world brand, nonprofit abortion recovery in ministry, and then I began Lord transition that to where I was a full-time speaker, traveling all over the world, really speaking, telling my story, selling books, writing another book, wrote a few parts of other books, chapters and other books contributed and I thought that was forever, like I thought I was done in the I mean, it was full-time ministry, but just look different.

Speaker 1: 26:11

And then this past Thanksgiving I've been supporting Salem financially a little bit and prayerfully, cause I knew kind of what was happening and what's the idea that a friend of mine would probably at some point be the executive director, and again, not thinking anything that I would be involved other than supporting and I'm passionate about what they're doing. And we met for coffee and basically she said I believe the Lord told me you're supposed to be the executive director and like I'm at this point, like I mean not to toot my own horn, cause it was all the Lord, but my calendar was booked for 2024. Even into 2025, I'm like I don't have time for a job, like not an executive director job where you have to meet with people and get training and open the shelter, and like there's no way I can do that. And I said I'll pray about it. But I know the war is gonna say no and the I didn't say no.

Speaker 1: 27:09

And I remember I was driving home from the coffee shop and I called him and first of all, I prayed, fully expecting a no. I had been in also this weird season for a year and a half where everything I wanted to do, the Lord said no. And I was pretty tuned in to hearing no from the Lord and it made me mad. So I'm not like to be told no like anybody else does it. And then, but I'm like, okay, I'll pray about it. And I prayed, and so the car prayed and I didn't hear no and I was like, yeah, well, that's weird.

Speaker 1: 27:42

I didn't hear a yes but I didn't hear a no, and so I called my husband and I was like, babe, oh, my goodness, this is what she wants. And he was like, well, I can't think of anyone better to lead that. And I'm like what's the joke? Man, you're supposed to be on my side. I was like literally what the joke? And he was like, well, let's pray about it. But it's a no brainer Like why wouldn't you say yes to that? And so we prayed and together prayed and thank you, lord, for praying husband and faithful, faithful prayer warrior. And it didn't take long at all and all of a sudden I started getting all this confirmation that I was supposed to say yes, and again, like after a year and a half of nothing but no's from the Lord, it was like what's a joke Are you doing? Like this is not okay, this is not our plan. And I'll just say like there's a lot to think. I have grand babies now and I like the freedom of going to serve women and serving in this.

Speaker 2: 28:43

It's got whatever you want.

Speaker 1: 28:44

You know I'm home, I can prepare these talks and share the gospel to hundreds of people at a time, thousands of people at a time sometimes, and that's great. I love that and I didn't necessarily want to give that up, to be kind of back to a full time, traditional job. But the Lord made it very clear and then it was really funny because and that's why I sing, like all these things where I think that just subconsciously I had anything that had to do with like sex trafficking, human trafficking, exploitation, I would avoid it at all costs. For the last several years, really, yeah, which was not necessarily like intentional, like for sure it wasn't intentional but I was. But I started recognizing. I'm like please, let's try to get my attention about all this. And I was like no, not in that, not in that. And ministry's hard. And specifically like abortion recovery, I would say I was working with the hardest of hard women. You cannot in the life of your unborn child and walk away okay.

Speaker 2: 29:48

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 29:49

So hard, so heavy all the time, and I would say this is like that on steroids, because most of these women will have had multiple abortions. So you have that trauma. On top of you have the anchor babies, where the traffickers will allow them to have a child and then use that as an anchor to make the woman exploit herself more, to bring in more money to try to protect her child, like there's so much more into it and there's just so much more ugliness, and it's an ugly thing.

Speaker 2: 30:26

Yeah, I'm sorry. You said you wrote the one book and the second one is the one you're still working on.

Speaker 1: 30:31

The second one I'm working on now is called a shamed no more and in the tagline on that one. So the first one is from exploited to embraced by God. This one is from the pole to the pew, to the pulpit.

Speaker 2: 30:44

That would have been a good thought. That would come. I did street to street to. When I say street to the church or something. Yeah, I would try grabbing his attention. Yeah, Not, a guy called me. He was like because it said no little girl should ever have to go through this. And this guy called me he's like man, should my little girl watch this? I said no, it's not for a child. It's not what I'm trying to say.

Speaker 1: 31:02

No, no, no, no. If you don't, let's protect her from that. So.

Speaker 2: 31:09

Someone in it, someone who's gone through it. I guess kind of a closing statement. What would you first of all speak to the women out there? Or, if they have children, if there's a man in their life that's doing the unspeakable things, what would you say to them? How would you encourage them in that situation?

Speaker 1: 31:28

Yeah. So I would say, first off, if you are aware of someone you love, whether it's your own child or your niece or your nephew or whoever if you suspect that something's going on, your gut is seldom wrong. Yeah, like, pay attention to the size. You know. I heard somebody raise a site. The best way to stay informed is to stay curious. And you know, you keep your eyes open and if every time you see this little girl and your gut says something's not right, something's probably not right, start digging.

Speaker 1: 32:02

Start digging, ask the questions and, for crying out loud, do something about it. Um, I mean, I had teachers and I'm no blame, because what could they do, I don't know, but I had teachers I know had to recognize, like their number. Very specifically, I was in, I think, kindergarten and I don't remember anything sexually happening at this time, but because of stories I'm certain there were and I remember at one point I was in kindergarten and I was terrified to let go of my sister and like we had to be literally physically separated.

Speaker 1: 32:34

And I just remember crying and crying and crying. Because I did, because she was my safe person. And again, like there's some. There's some natural detachment issues that children go through, Like when you're, when you leave your toddler, and they care like they cry. That's a thing. But I'm talking like extreme and like I was terrified to be without her cause. She was my safety net and so, like, keep your eyes open and and and validate their feelings and their fears.

Speaker 1: 32:59

Um, if you're in it, if you are being sold, most women who are in sexual exploitation and any kind of form do not understand that they are a victim. They they really sincerely don't. And you're like, well, how can that be? They really don't know that they are being victimized. I never understood literally even in full time ministry, growing through seminary, running nonprofits, serving the Lord, that my dad was one of my primary abusers. Like you put up these defense things in your brain for protection, and you do. You cannot always understand that you're being sold. It's, it's. It doesn't make sense, but it's just true. So most people in those lifestyles do not understand what the truth is.

Speaker 1: 33:49

Yeah, and I just want you to know that if you're at the rock bottom and you're ready and you're like I cannot keep doing this life and you need help, please, please, reach out our website. We have several ways you can get to us. But say, let E T Xcom say little life choicesorg and Google us on social media Facebook and find my own. Social media is linked to everything. Bj Garrett, I'm most like, I have everything, but I'm most active on Facebook. But please, reach out. You are not alone. There is hope and healing. It doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't even honestly matter what's been done to you. There is hope and healing through Jesus Christ. And that sounds real foreign maybe to you and this alieness that you might be going through, but I promise you if you will just reach out to us, reach out, there is true hope and redemption through Jesus Christ.

Speaker 2: 34:45

Amen, amen. Now we're going to have an offering for that, so make it there. That was good. Right there I was, with the adults and myself Taken me out. Well, thank you so much for coming out. Do you have any closing thoughts, or was it?

Speaker 1: 35:01

And no, I would just say I would anyone that's watching this please be praying. The spiritual warfare is real, and someone recently told me that we are. We are dealing with an evil force, though, that many of us can't comprehend, and then we're dealing with an enemy that knows the creator better than we do Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 35:21

And if someone out of the same person actually brought up a statistic that, first off, the way that every single human can fall as it was, sexual sin, which is bisexual exploitation, is so prominent and it's getting worse, not better. It's also at our fingertips, everywhere we turn. You cannot watch a cartoon without a sexual cartoon, without a sexual commercial coming on. You can't walk through the mall without Victoria telling us her secrets, like like it's a real thing, right? So never thought of it that way. You're right, you're like it's, it's literally everywhere. And um, and we have to put up some safeguards and we got to do better as the church.

Speaker 1: 36:06

Yeah, I was going to say this is. This was a sounding to me a heartbreaking, but it's predicted by somebody that did some research that 50 Shades of Gray is the most red book in the church, even over the Bible in the church, in the church. And so when you ask, how could this be? How could a girl be sold into sex slavery? How could a girl be traded for groceries by her mom, when we're reading things and putting things in, these, your activity is exactly what we're saying is wrong.

Speaker 1: 36:40

Exactly, yeah, because there's this emotional dopamine thing that comes through that feels good in the moment, yeah, and it becomes very addictive, um social media is good about that too Absolutely Popping up things in your feed that you're like how'd this get there?

Speaker 2: 36:56

Yeah, it just tries to. If I don't, like, I go to my computer and I don't log in to YouTube yet, but it has, like, the videos and all that stuff. Yeah, most of them are something sexual. Yeah, every single one of them.

Speaker 1: 37:07

Yeah, and now husband prays the Lord again. That's not been his struggle, but he, you know he'll watch the reels like we all do. You know the scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. You know dolphin kissing somebody. You know somebody falling, you know cast ringing from a ceiling fan, whatever, just whatever. And then Nikki woman, I don't know where, I don't know where.

Speaker 2: 37:26

Like just the content I've been searched for this.

Speaker 1: 37:29

I haven't Googled this, it's just thrown in our feeds on purpose and then we can do a whole nother talk talk show on. You know protecting your children from social media and Fortnite games, predators, that that's where predators are going, and you're not even lying about it anymore, like you used to have to pretend that you were some hot 16 year old guy with a Camaro. Right Now you know you don't have to do that. Now you can literally be a scumbag stuff bag, disgusting 57 year old pervert and everybody's okay with it.

Speaker 2: 37:57

It's okay with it.

Speaker 1: 37:59

And in the outside and now it's like, um, oh, what's it called? Like they're not even calling. I'm in a note. What's it called? Sorry, oh, they're now called minor attracted person. Oh yeah, what's in town? They're a pedophile. They're child rapists.

Speaker 2: 38:13

They have their own a little flag. You know like it's disgusting. Yeah, so like. And it's just they're making it as a preference instead of a pedophile. Yeah, like, what is wrong with this world?

Speaker 1: 38:25

Discuss. It's not okay. No, not at all.

Speaker 2: 38:27

Not okay, not at all.

Speaker 1: 38:28

Not okay. So, anyways, another little sermon, sorry, great yes.

Speaker 2: 38:33

Well, yes, well, but yeah, we found out very quickly that we had to. We were that, true. So now, thank you, have Instagram or something like that, and maybe, well, if you, if you have a Gmail, you can have a YouTube. Yeah, and they found out quickly on that, like, oh my gosh, what's going on? Yeah, yeah, I never would have thought my child, even though I was a little teenager, a little boy, just you know, you don't want to, ever want to think that your kids or even your spouses, you know, but have issues with that. Yeah, but it's everywhere, it's almost.

Speaker 2: 39:06

You have to be very intentional, like, even actually pre-sist. Like two weeks ago, about a, about a year ago, I was having like this pool, like towards pornography. I wasn't watching it, but it was like something like had it's hooks in me, it kept trying to pull me in that direction and my wife walks through, and it was some show I was working out in the living room and I think it was called was it Teen Wolf or something like that A show with, like werewolves and which that kind of stuff usually is pretty sexual anyways, vampires and things use it pretty sexual.

Speaker 2: 39:39

But, and my wife was like this is pretty sexual, like whatever was on the TV, I wouldn't pay any attention.

Speaker 2: 39:45

And I was wondering and when I took that out of the equation and started actually paying attention, but when I was watching it almost immediately went away Cause I didn't have that in the background being said to me, when I didn't realize that I preach it now because I have a understanding of it but, like, what you ingest is what ends up coming out through your actions every time, and I didn't realize that something passively on the TV was affecting something very personal and it was becoming a mountain, that I was having a clock, and it was really crazy. It is, but they're trying to. I mean, they're after our kids. We already know that we can talk about that for a while too.

Speaker 1: 40:23

I know, but it's real and because here the thing is that the younger you are, the more vulnerable you are, and the earlier they can get them emotionally attached to something or someone, the longer they have them. I mean, like you can sell drugs to somebody two or three times a day, you can sell a woman 15 times a day.

Speaker 2: 40:46

Wow.

Speaker 1: 40:46

More profit. Yeah, you know.

Speaker 2: 40:49

That's good, so keep your eyes open. Yeah, is that it? No more closing thoughts.

Speaker 1: 40:57

People say where do I start? Start with your circle. You don't have to have this huge campaign. Start in your circle, start talking about the things. Be curious, be nosy. Like we need that nosy neighbor mentality again. Like not in a creepy way, like, no, don't be a creeper. Don't be a creeper, but keep your eyes open when you see something, say something.

Speaker 1: 41:18

You know, sometimes we get this idea like see something, do something that could be dangerous, like don't do something, but say something, call somebody. Call the, you know, if you like, my daughter is a flight attendant. She literally witnessed a full on sex ring at a hotel that she was put in by the airline Right now in the hall, and it was just like, oh my gosh, mom, what do I do? And so I'm like texting her the number. I'm like this is where you call, reported, like, if you see something, say something. It's happening under your nose, as I promise you. I was in Tyler, texas, when my mom was trading me for groceries.

Speaker 2: 41:51

Yeah, which is crazy to think of.

Speaker 1: 41:53

Yeah, texas is number two in the nation for sex trafficking, really, next to only California, and Houston is the number one city of sex trafficking. Wow, in the nation, wow, right now, right now online. There are 55 million children at risk for human trafficking, and I'm not talking about just because they're alive, like seriously at risk. There's problems at home, there's finances, there's foster care, whatever. There's 55 million at risk youth, grades K through 12 at risk for human trafficking.

Speaker 2: 42:28

Wow.

Speaker 1: 42:28

At any given minute, there's 199,000 pedophiles predators online trying to get your children right now all the time Sounds like they need to get a job. Why would they? Sex trafficking pays a lot.

Speaker 2: 42:43

Ooh, I guess. So yeah, I didn't think about that. I told my kid the other day. I said the reason we need to know where you are is because people are crazy. Yes, they'll come snatch you up and we'll never know. Yeah, we'd have no idea, cause we didn't know where you were. At last, no information, yeah.

Speaker 1: 43:02

And I will say just a valid. That's valid and boys and girls do get snatched, but that's almost like less than 3% is snatched, it's like taken. That's not generally what happens. It's my posts on Instagram. I just broke up with my boyfriend. I hate my parents. I just failed my test. Those are the key things emotional traumas. Fies them when they're weak, and then exploits them, fies them when they're weak, and exploits them.

Speaker 2: 43:28

Wow, man.

Speaker 1: 43:31

Yeah, they don't even. I'm telling you. They don't even have to pretend they're cute without Camaro anymore. They just she ain't getting all that Camaro. I know it's the Camaro for me and like you, like this, but it's like it's literally. They don't have to lie, they just have to show up. And which again? I will just again, and I know we gotta end this at some point. But parents need to be involved. Love your kids, show them the attention they need to get attention, and they'll find it somewhere.

Speaker 1: 43:58

They're gonna get it somewhere. Take your little girls on dates, take your sons on dates and show up, because they're going to crave it from somebody that's true. And if you don't give it to them, someone will, I promise you.

Speaker 2: 44:11

Yeah, man, that's good.

Speaker 1: 44:13

All right.

Speaker 2: 44:14

That's it.

Speaker 1: 44:14

There you go, the end.

Speaker 2: 44:17

Well, thank you so much for joining us today. If you're watching this live, we greatly appreciate it. If you're watching this on a replay after when we post it on social media, please make sure to go to our YouTube channel like subscribe, hit that bell notification so you can see every time we put out new ones. And BJ, thank you again for coming on Always an honor, Thank you. Share this video, get the word out, Make people aware that this is a real thing. This is a real issue. We have to be willing, as Christians, to love those. They're gonna get the, whether it's children or whether it's adults that are caught up in situations. They need to know that Christians real Christians actually do love them, because that's how. Another love of the father. Once again, thank you so much. We appreciate y'all being here and we will see you next time.

Speaker 1: 45:11

Right Thinking. Thank you,