Trafficked
How often do you sit and think about the teenage girls, alone in their rooms, seeking companionship through their phone. Often times, in the dark hours of the night, there is a stranger looking to become their friend. In their innocence, they don’t think about the dangers that could be lurking. All they want is someone to talk to when everyone else has turned in for the night. Sleep won’t come, so they respond to the stranger on the other end, and soon they find they are sharing their world with each other nightly. Seemingly, they form a very special bond, and the urge to meet in person is so strong. Soon, they are making plans for the young, naive girl to sneak out of her parent’s home to slip into an awaiting vehicle to meet her friend.
This is a scene that is all too common, and occurs more often than we truly know, all over the United States. Sadly, the young ladies aren’t meeting their friend, their Prince Charming, but instead will meet their worst nightmare as these innocent ones are sold into sex trafficking.
The film Trafficked allows us a glimpse into the fate of these young ladies at the hands of pimps. When Allison, at the age of Sweet Sixteen, was supposed to be celebrating her birthday with family and friends, instead, she is whisked away where she is kept in a dog cage until time for her to “work.” Allison is hesitant at first until the pimp reaches into his pocket to retrieve a picture of her younger sister. Allison accepts drugs from the pimp that insists upon being called “Daddy.” Her life has been turned upside down by one mistake; trusting someone that “catfished” her online. Numb to her reality, Allison complies with the pimp’s wishes in order to protect her sister.
Meanwhile, Allison’s family hires an outrageously expensive private investigator, Dean Cain, when they feel like the law enforcement officers aren’t taking Allison’s disappearance serious enough. The once soft spoken grandmother gives up her retirement funds in order to find her granddaughter!
The film takes many twists and turns, as a feeling of hopelessness consumes the entire family. In despair, Allison’s father contemplates taking his own life, but just when he needs it the most, the private investigator provides a spark of hope that ignites a fire within her father. Joining forces with the investigator and his team, the father storms into the pimp’s house in search of his daughter!
I won’t tell you how this story ends, in hopes that you will desire to watch the film. Please don’t stop there, though. Help bring awareness to sex trafficking!
This film was particularly hard for me to watch, as I have a sixteen year old daughter who JUST revealed to me two weeks ago that she has been speaking with a young man she “met” online. My heart shatters at the thought of someone catfishing her, seeking to destroy her in this fashion.
As parents, it’s our job to protect them! Yet, due to their innocence, they fall into the hands of people that seek to harm them. We must warn them of the dangers that lurk on the internet!
Thankfully, not all people on the internet are bad! I won’t lump all internet users into the same category, as I have made lifelong friends with people I “met” online. Some have been in my life now for 23 years, and I have been so blessed by their friendship. After this length of time, we have become more like family. But we must not lose sight of the fact that not ALL people seek to bless our lives, and we must not get too comfortable revealing things about ourselves with people we meet online. There is danger lurking when our young ones least expect it.
I’d like to share some resources with you that provide talking points and other beneficial information. Let’s bring awareness to this subject and help prevent young ladies from falling into this trap! If you’re concerned about how to talk to your children, then please review the 10 Easy Conversation Starters at this link.
Help is available for those that may have lived this nightmare and have come out on the other side a survivor! Please reach out to the National Trafficking Sheltered Alliance if you or someone you know have been affected by sex trafficking.
#TraffickedMovieMIN #MomentumInfluencerNetwork
Disclosure: Many thanks to Collide Distribution for providing this product/product information for review. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
FIX IT, LORD!
“It’s not aggressive …”
His voice trailed off as I clutched the phone in my hand, the news assaulting my ears and devastating my heart and soul.
My world seemingly crumbled at my feet, and the tears rushed in like a full waterfall after weeks of rain, placing a tight ball in my throat rendering me unable to speak.
I sat in silence as he continued, “The news isn’t what we had hoped and prayed for, but this is a part of my journey here on earth. What’s that saying? ‘It is what it is’ …”
I struggled to regain my composure and force a response that wouldn’t let on that tears were streaming down my face, but he knew. He always knows.
Immediately, I wanted to swoop in and fix it! I wanted to solve all of his problems and take any and all burdens from him.
And yet …
This one is completely out of my control.
We spoke for a few more minutes, trying to make peace with this news that no one ever wants to hear. Then as we ended the call, I broke down completely with gut wrenching sobs escaping my lips. There was no stopping the wailing cries that were coming from what felt like my toes traveling up to escape, while the pain reflected on my face.
I didn’t care about anything at that moment, except this dear person’s life and survival!
Trying to process the news that took the breath right out of my lungs, I could feel the anger rising within me.
“WHY, GOD?!?! WHY HIM?!?!
We PRAYED to you! We asked YOU for good results from the biopsy, not THIS!
Why would you take a good man … and put him through SO MUCH in his lifetime!?
With fists and teeth clenched, I yelled out WHY, GOD!?!
YOU SAID all we needed was faith as small as a mustard seed, and we have MORE than that. Yet, you allowed this!
It’s not fair! Why do the bad people in the world seem to skate by without any thing bad happening to them? And yet this man … you make suffer.”
Anger is a very strong emotion! Although we are taught not to question God, it is only human nature to do so! It isn’t a sin, by the way. And, He can handle it. He IS God, after all.
The important thing is to get it all out; yell, scream, cry, even shake your fists at God!
Just DO NOT turn from Him!
And we won’t!
After having a meltdown or two, fussing and reasoning with God … I finally gathered all of the shattered pieces of my heart and turned them back over to Him.
“Help him, Lord … heal him on THIS side of Heaven! We want to keep him here with us. Please, God … please!”
Faith Under Fire
My husband and I just recently watched Faith Under Fire. Dean Cain not only stars in this very powerful movie, but he is a co-producer along with Kevin Sorbo.
The movie begins with a lot of action as firefighters go into a burning building to rescue a little girl. They were successful in locating her, and one firefighter emerges from the building, that is almost engulfed in flames at this point, carrying the little girl in his arms. The crowd that had started to gather began to cheer, and the mother was moved to tears that her daughter was saved from a horrible death.
Sadly, in this movie, another firefighter’s wife is stricken with cancer and passes away. Shortly thereafter, his only child, a daughter, is also diagnosed with cancer. It was a hard movie to watch, as you can imagine. However, the message in this movie is so incredibly powerful and worth putting yourself through the emotional turmoil one is bound to feel when watching a movie like this.
When things of this nature happen, people either turn TO God or turn AWAY from God. It is sad to think of anyone turning away from God when He is the only one that can help them through such a horrible life event. For the non-believers, how do they even have hope to carry on without knowing our Lord and Savior?
Personally, I know someone very close to me that endured a horrifically tragic event in their life, one that resulted in them losing their own daughter. This individual turned away from God because he was mad. He said he asked God to take care of his little girl, but he didn’t mean THIS way. It took a few years before this individual recognized that the only way He would see his beloved daughter again is if he turned back to God, as He gave us all the gift of eternal life through His son, Jesus Christ. This story had somewhat of a happy ending in that this father returned to God and his faith, and He will be reunited in Heaven one sweet day with his daughter.
Sadly, this holiday season, a boating friend of ours just endured the tragic loss of his son. Just as equally horrific was the fact that he took his own life. At only 22 years old, with seemingly having his whole life ahead of him, he chose to end his life. No one knows the emotional turmoil one must feel inside to take such drastic measures. We can only know that their suffering was more than they felt they could handle. The father of this young man has surprised us in that before this tragedy occurred, he wasn’t one to talk about his faith. However, the days following his son’s death, he has spoken of finding peace in the knowledge that he will be reunited with his son one day in Glory. This father is clinging to his faith to see him through one of the hardest times in his life.
THAT is what this movie is all about.
We can surely understand, as much as humanly possible without having endured a loss such as this, both father’s reactions above. The father that grew angry with God for allowing his daughter to pass is no less of a man than the father that was clinging to his faith to get him through losing his son. Both men are justified in their reactions, and it isn’t a sin to be mad at God. He can take it! He knows the heartbreak that this father felt, same as in the movie. Both fathers were hurting right down to the very core of their beings. And in the end, both fathers returned to their faith and to Jesus.
I encourage you to not only watch this movie but pray for those that have lost loved ones. This holiday season is really hard for those facing it without their precious loved ones. Hold them close to your hearts and pray for them at this time. May GOD comfort as only He can!
#FaithUnderFireMIN
Many thanks to Universal Pictures Home Entertainment for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Momentum Influencers in the last 30 days, from the same blog, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.
