DeAnna Sanders, She Is Safe’s Country Director for Indonesia, and Katy Anderson, our Development Officer for Transformation Groups, were recently in Bali, Indonesia as part of our anti-trafficking and economic empowerment work.
Both DeAnna and Katy work tirelessly throughout the year to improve the work in Indonesia so that more girls and women can be protected, nourished and equipped to change their communities. As they ministered to girls in brothels and restoration homes, they witnessed the the transforming power of God’s love in the hearts and minds of girls who have been abused and exploited.
In the last six months, our local co-workers have been able to counsel 100 women who have been rescued from trafficking, 68 of them have joined groups that will help them build new lives and 26 have taken steps of faith. In addition, we have helped 1,160 people learn about the lures of human trafficking that is all around them. This awareness is a critical first-step in the positive transformation of communities.
As encouraging as these numbers are, our greatest concerns are changed hearts and lives of individuals. DeAnna and Katy met Ning* who is currently being mentored by our co-workers in Bali. Ning has one son who is 9. After her husband divorced her at 21 Ning began working in a nightclub. Over time she was coerced into working in a brothel. Ning was prostituted for five years until she was promoted to the position of pimp.
For 3 years, Ning recruited and sold girls into sex slavery. Then God’s love began to break through. While she was working as a pimp one of our Balinese co-workers made contact with her and the light of Christ shone into her life. Two years ago, our co-workers began mentoring her.
The relationship began to grow. Within a few months Ning began to learn to trust. Of late, Ning has become so confident that she is now introducing her friends who are pimps and prostitutes to her mentor. Ning now hosts a weekly Bible study for her friends and our co-workers and has recently started her own marketing business, fulfilling her longing for a reputable career.
Each month we see more advancement in our work in Indonesia, more girls rescued from brothels, more who are nourished, growing spiritually and reaching out to others. We look forward to continuing to guide these and many other women and girls toward new life in Jesus.
To learn more about DeAnna, Katy and our work in Indonesia, visit our website.
*She Is Safe uses representative names and photos to protect the dignity of women