Grace Vineyard Christian Fellowship

Members of Grace Vineyard were honored to join Theresa Flores in the SOAP Project against human sex trafficking. Theresa’s website traffickfree.com gives a general definition of sex trafficking: forcing, tricking, coercing, threatening or blackmailing someone to perform a commercial sex act (including stripping, porn, etc). The average age of an underage sex worker is 14 years old. In the United States, the average age of entry into sexual exploitation is 12 years old. In her book, The Slave Across the Street, Theresa Flores shares her heart wrenching testimony of being brutally enslaved in sex trafficking as a 15 year old American teenage girl.

During Super Bowl LXV in the City of Arlington, law enforcement estimated tens of thousands of women and children would be brought into the metroplex for sexual exploitation. Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, stated, “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest human trafficking events in the United States.” Many of these trafficked victims will be left in the city after the game to fend for themselves. Concerned citizens and organizations such as Dallas House of Prayer and Traffick 911 joined in prayer to prevent these atrocities. One cannot help but wonder how many children were not abducted and transported into (or out of) the city due to the unprecedented ice storm.

Victims of sex trafficking are often abused in motels. The only amenity mandated by the Board of Health for these rooms is a simple bar of soap. During the SOAP Project, Grace Vineyard joined with Theresa’s team to help deliver 10,000 bars of soap with the National Trafficking Hotline number on them to area motels. We also educated motel staff and residents on how to recognize a victim of sex trafficking.

Grace Vineyard is committed to a continuing partnership with Theresa Flores and the SOAP project. If you would like more information on how you can help or to donate funds for soap, please contact Julie Foster at . If you suspect sex trafficking, please call the National Trafficking Hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

Written by C. Darr