Christian Ministry leaders share how churches can bridge the gap in caring for victims of human trafficking

There are many organizations set up to save victims of human trafficking, but one such leader says she has found a gap in caring for survivors. Christians say this void can be filled to help people work to recover and reenter society.

Her campaign CEO, Britney Higgs, embarked on a 580-mile trek from Montana to Colorado with her family of six, therapy animals.

“We believe that heaven has a blueprint on how human trafficking can be eradicated. It will come from the body of Christ, and we all need us all to raise this issue,” Higgs told Christian Post.

Higgs began his journey on July 1st at the organization’s Safehouse in Billings, Montana. She will be walking all the way to the department’s emergency shelter for survivors of Denver, Colorado. The goal is to raise $580,000 during a month’s walk and $1,000 for every miles.

On a journey with her is a goat named Freedom, along with Higgs’ husband and four children. Higgs’ husband Sammy, who helped co-found the campaign in 2016, promotes RV where his wife and freedom sleep after walking. Three of the couple’s children are in RVs, while their 14-year-old son is walking with his mother.

By embarking on this fundraising walk, department leaders hope to raise funds to build additional safe homes in Nashville, Tennessee.

“When we were thinking about the third place, we were thinking about the need to raise funds, but we really raised the body of Christ to enter this movement on a national scale,” Higgs told CP. “As you know, there’s such a huge gap in caring for survivors.”

One issue that Higgs noticed with the resources provided to human trafficking victims is that some long-term programs are often not equipped to provide crisis stabilization for survivors who have recently been released from human trafficking situations.

Due to their trauma, survivors in these cases are often not prepared to begin work on the vocational training and skill learning classes that long-term programs provide to victims of human trafficking. In many cases, survivors have not yet moved out of crisis mode, Higgs explains, defeating others trying to heal, and even re-repeat and reconnect with human traffickers.

One way her campaign can help survivors move from crisis mode to independence is through animal therapy. As Higgs explained, when she arrives at the safe home of her Denver organization, her goat, Freedom, serves as a therapeutic animal.

“We’re taking in gardening, animals, anything we can,” she said. “How beautiful is there, using the ground with your hands to make the ground, like when you garden and grow your own vegetables?

“I really believe God created us to enjoy this process,” Higgs said.

“You’re taking care of yourself,” she added. “You’re taking care of something outside of you. Even if it’s just feeding chickens or baby goats, it gives you a purpose to wake up in the morning. They put you outside of yourself, and that’s soothing.”

Her campaign’s safe homes in Colorado and Montana allow survivors to help them move to a longer program before they stay with them for a few weeks. At the time of this interview, Higgs said the organization plans to expand the bed capacity to 25 beds in Denver and 22 beds in Billings.

“And part of this fundraiser will help us do that,” she added.

Throughout her month of walks, Higgs speaks at churches and shares the ministry’s mission to help human trafficking survivors recover and thrive in society.

One of the churches she and her family visited was Face Chapel, Red Lodge, Montana. “The Billings Face Chapel is our large advocate and this is one of their sister churches,” she told CP. “But so far, we’re on the route and we’re looking for more churches to invite us.”

Ministry leaders are urging churches across the country to serve as “safe places” for victims of human trafficking. One way she believes that the congregation can do this is to educate herself on signs of human trafficking and how to report it to authorities.

“We always want our faith community to be more aware of how we find and report trafficking, as it helps us all get better,” Higgs said.

“It helps our law enforcement get better because we get more information about what’s going on in our community,” she continued. “It helps us identify areas that we need most and areas that require emergency stabilization programs.”

Higgs also urged the public to engage in any way possible, emphasizing that “it will take away the national move to combat this issue.”