Interview with a Trafficker

How does a person end up trafficking others? They are not born traffickers, they have a story too. This is my summary of Ro’s interview with a trafficker:

As a baby born in Eastern Europe, he was abandoned by his mom, and his dad would abuse him and would throw knives at him for the littlest mistake. Eventually he stabbed his father. He hurt other people so they couldn’t hurt him. He went to jail, and became top-dog. He stole all the time. He became the drug dealer for that city, and loaned money then enslaved people to repay him. Everyone in the city knew him and was afraid of him.

He had a wife, and used 3 others girls too, who he also sent out to the street to get more money for him. They went, because they didn’t want to lose their position as part of his gang, and he supplied the drugs they needed to numb their pain.

Then a girl he was interested in, invited him to a drug-rehab thing, so he went, and then stayed for a Word study. A lady there gave him money and said “buy yourself something delicious” and he was surprised by her love. Then the Father began to speak to him in crazy ways (like Saul/Paul in the Bible), he meet the Father. He tried to pay for his groceries instead of stealing, and the girl at the store was so shocked and confused. She meet the Father too, because if He could change this man, than He must be real. The man spent some time growing in his relationship with the Father, and then he felt called to go back and reach his family – his gang family. Who better to reach these people, then someone who is already so influential in that community?

The story makes me think of something one speaker said – that guys who have sexually abused others will never change. That was overwhelmingly hopeless information. I thought that with the Father, nothing is impossible? Sure there are lots of Hitler’s in the world who start genocides and murder thousands of people (it happens all of the time in Africa). I have only ever heard of one genocide leader who changed – Saul/Paul (in the Word). Look at what an impact that one life made, even still today as we read his letters in the Word. So yeah, maybe 999 out of 1000 never change, but one does. And maybe more people would too if we weren’t so afraid of them…

What is the most important thing? Loving people – not being distracted by what they do or how they have hurt others. The Father loves the traffickers too. He hates what they do, but loves them. They are His children too…