Year-End Report: Trafficked Children (2018)

In partnership with ZOE International, we provide holistic Christian care and restoration for rescued trafficked children in Thailand.

2018 Expansion Snapshot: ZOE Thailand

We have seen many more people come to Christ—well over 1,000 people this year alone! We reached over 5,000 people through our human trafficking prevention programs. We partnered with law enforcement officers from the USA who provided tactical training for elite TICAC officers who conduct rescue and who ZOE serves alongside.

We are finding continued favor—ZOE received numerous awards from several Thai government agencies for our outstanding work in anti-human trafficking. We also became the first non-profit in Northern Thailand to be officially licensed as a Child Protection Center for human trafficking. We have also been able to partner with local pastors all around Thailand through our Mercy Network Ministry and empower them to reach their community.

​We rejoice that 135 children/youth survivors are flourishing and healing under our care. Many teens are healing and finding a new life in our new Child Rescue Center. We have received many requests to take more children into our center. But recently we could not accept any more children because we just don't have enough staff to care for them all. We are praying for more funding so we can hire more staff.

Testimony of One Girl’s Journey from Rescue to Healing

It’s hard for me to tell my story. Before I came to live at ZOE my life was not good. Many times I felt like I wanted to get out, but I never could. I felt trapped. I knew that children shouldn’t be doing what I was doing but whenever I got a small amount of money, it gave me what I needed to survive. For a while, that little bit of money numbed my pain. ​
To survive, I tried to block out anyone who would show me real love. I no longer cared how anyone else felt. I just focused on the money, but deep down I was not happy. I felt like my life had no value, so I would just keep doing the same things. I was ashamed, broken and lonely.

Coming to ZOE really changed my life. I learned that I am VALUABLE in God's sight. It was strange at first because I wasn’t used to people being kind and caring. I was welcomed into a warm and loving family and the longer I stayed, the more I grew to love the ZOE staff and the mothers so much. They helped me learn many new things. For the first time I saw and understood what real love looks like. I learned about forgiving and sharing. I learned that my life is important… that I am important.

It is hard to explain how different I feel and how much I love God. I understand how much He loves me and I am trying to change the way I had thought about myself and now I have new thoughts about the future.

There are many things that I want to thank God for. God does more than I ever think He can. Even just the other day, I was worried because I thought I would need to leave ZOE and go somewhere else, but I wasn’t ready to leave and I was scared. I kept praying to God. I did not want to go but I knew I would be ok because I knew that God would be with me. When one of the ZOE staff came and reassured me that I could continue to live at ZOE, I knew God had answered my prayers.

I will now be able to finish my grade level at the ZOE Learning Center and then in the future I want to study Business Administration. I would like to become an expert in English. These are the new thoughts I have about my future.

I know that sometimes I still make mistakes. I know it will take time to change, but I want to try. Thank you God for rescuing me!

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Originally published by ZOE