Sometimes it’s difficult for us to care about an issue without a personal connection—it feels like someone else’s problem and the solution someone else’s passion. There are so many causes and campaigns to support, so many organizations and ministries that deserve our time and investments, and so many hurting people in the world. We’re forced to pick and choose who to help and where to give. It’s easy to feel like nothing we do is enough, as though we can’t really help or make a difference.
The Judith & David Hayes Endowment to Combat Human Trafficking directly benefits human trafficking victims by supporting ministries like the Baptist Friendship House. They offer support such as transitional housing and therapy. Without assistance, survivors can easily find themselves in dangerous situations again. They need immediate access to things such as transportation, housing, clothes, job training, therapy, and legal assistance. Over the past twelve years, more than $28,000 has been given through the Hayes Endowment to ministries that meet these needs.
Human trafficking is not an isolated problem in a few faraway countries; in fact, international borders aren’t always crossed. This is a domestic issue as well as a global one. Actually, the United States has one of the highest rates of incidents with an estimated 195,000+ annually (according to World Population Review*). The numbers are discouraging, but I believe we can be more useful if we focus on individual people rather than statistics. We can’t help everyone at once, but we can help one person at a time.
The Baptist Friendship House recently received a Hayes Endowment grant from the WMU Foundation. Because of the support of donors like you, they were able to:
• Provide food, clothing, and transportation for two human trafficking survivors
• Help a survivor get out of an abusive situation with food, shelter, clothing, identification, important documents, and access legal assistance
• Help a survivor gain documents and access healthcare
• Purchase items to complete 6,000 backpacks for survivors
• Purchase supplies for WorldCrafts in which our human trafficking survivors learn a trade, become artisans, and gain a fair wage
Right there, your gifts impacted four people who were immediately helped, 6,000 who will receive help soon, and countless others who will be able to now make a living as WorldCrafts artisans.
While ending human trafficking may not be possible, helping individuals escape from that life is. Every dollar you give to the Hayes Endowment goes toward ministries providing clothing, job training, therapy, education, and even employment. While it can be hard to know where to give, especially during this pandemic, any amount will make a direct difference in someone’s life.
If helping human trafficking victims is your missions passion, consider becoming a monthly donor to the Hayes Endowment. When you commit to give at least $25 a month, you will receive a Find Your Missions Passion mug to remind you daily of the lives your gift will impact.
Written by Janis Ezell, design & marketing specialist for the WMU Foundation.
*Estimated numbers vary from 15,000-325,000 depending on source.