"Hope, is a terrible thing to lose"
That simple phrase tumbled in and out of my mind as we walked outside of the swinging door late that night. As two of my friends walked out the door I heard yelling and screaming. I rushed out quickly to investigate the noise, and was quickly pushed to the ground with the others. Four men were surrounding us with big guns yelling "Get on your knees! Now!". Those who resisted were roughly thrown down; gentleness was not an attribute for these men. "Get on your knees you scum!" they continued to yell. Although we easily outnumbered the four men who had us captive, they held the deciding factor in our thoughts of escape. The big steel pieces of metal gleamed in the moonlight threateningly as we sat huddled on the ground together. The men jeered and poked us with the ends of their guns, and one man broke away from the pack and went towards a white van. The other three men threw blindfolds at us and told us to put them on, or they would shoot us. Obediently, we put the blindfolds around our eyes and began to try and gather even closer together. However, as soon as we had the blindfolds secured around our eyes, we were jerked up to our feet and herded like cattle towards the white van. We were poked and prodded onto the vehicle, and by this point I did not know who was next to me, only that she was as scared as I. As we were all squished into the back of the van, I thought that maybe escape was possible, if they just left us in the trunk alone. Sadly, I heard the loud clank of the door, and a soldier sitting in the back with us was jeering and trying to scares us even more.
As the car bumped and rolled along slowly, I began to wonder "Why had they attacked us", "why were we singled out?", and worse "what were they going to do with us?". As the van slowed to a stop we all lurched forward on top of one another, but had no time to recover. Already, we were being dragged out of the van and onto squishy, wet ground. I clung to the person beside me, not able to see their face, or even ask a name; we simply held onto one another, realizing we were in this together.
As we were dragged further on, I began to hear screams and shouts. The screams were from two women saying "NO, please, don't do this!" Tears begin to stream down my face out of the fear of the unknown. We were again forced to our knees, all the while the soldiers screamed insults into our faces. I could hear the soldiers discussing that they wanted "a small, scrawny one" and again fear enveloped my being. As the soldier roughly grabbed my arm, I began to shake uncontrollably from being afraid. I was pulled closer and closer to sound of the screaming women and finally forced to a halt. Their screams were terrifying, "No! Please! We haven't done anything! Please don't kill us!" they continued to cry. I felt something cold and heavy being shoved into my hands, and I could hear the soldier telling me to "pull the trigger". Numbly, I pushed the gun away, and it was immediately shoved back into my arms. I could not understand what they were saying. "Pull the trigger!" the soldiers screamed. "Who do you think you are?! Pull the trigger!!" one soldier yelled over and over. I began to struggle against the gun, pushing it away again and again. In the midst of the struggle, I heard a resounding "POP", and it was then that I heard a scream that would resonate in my nightmares forever. I heard the crying of the other woman asking "why?" and I heard the laughter of the four men. It had all happend so quickly; I could not comprehend what had happend. It was then that I realized my hand had been on the trigger, and it had pulled back in the midst the fight. I began to sob uncontrollably. The soldiers laughed at my dismay, enjoying the pain that they had inflicted on so many. I was quickly pushed back with the rest of the group and I could hear another person being dragged up to where the last woman was left screaming. I could hear the soldiers screaming at the person to "pull the trigger!",I could hear the captive struggleing against the gun, I could hear the screaming of the woman over and over, begging for mercy, I could hear the resounding "POP" of the trigger, and finally I could hear the deafening laughter of the soldiers.


*This story was a dramatization that we as a YWAM group were put through Friday night. Although some details of the this story are dramatized, children are forced into the military reguarly. The men were not nearly as rough or mean as I made the story sound, but it was still convicting notheless.

Here are some facts about human trafficking:

Human trafficking is the world's 2nd largest criminal activity after drugs, earning up to $39 billion per year.

App. 900,000 people are trafficked across international borders
80% are female and up to half are minors

Nearly 200,000 people live nslaved at this monet in the US and an additional 17,500 new victims are trafficked across the borders each year.

Modern slaves are expendable. At about $100 a pesron, it ismore costly to care for the enslaved than to replace them.

I debated on whether or not to put this story on the internet. I got the idea of putting this into a story form from one of the dts girls here named Kristi. I did not put it on here to scare you, or to be dramatic, I do so because there needs to be awareness about human trafficking. Sometimes, you have to face things that are hard to deal with. Sometimes you have to put a face to suffering, because that is what will push you into action. I love you guys, and if you have any questions or want to get into action but are not sure how, you can email me at haliE_but101@yahoo.com thanks so much!