Proud of Texas volunteers who fight trafficking

For some pastors, caring for the flock can mean taping and floating drywall in Juarez.

Churches across Texas regularly help people rescued from human trafficking, often lending their own time and sweat to keep one of Mexico’s few shelters for trafficking victims running. We see love gleam through their quiet, unpaid efforts, love that these victims desperately need.

A few times a year, Pastor Doug Roberts leads a team of volunteers from Calvary Temple Church in San Antonio across the border to renovate and improve the victims’ homes at the shelter, Renewed International.

Their efforts, unpaid and rarely publicized, give a glimmer of genuine care to people who have known the worst human cruelty. Roberts doesn’t shy from gritty labor. “There’s a girls’ house and a boys’ house, and there’s always something to be done,” he said. “We’re doing grunt work when we’re down there.”

The state of Texas should continue to focus on curbing trafficking, but government action is no substitute for heartfelt volunteer work. A helping hand lent willingly means more than aid required by law.

Calvary Temple isn’t the only church helping out. Renewed International, formerly God 4 Girls, draws most of its support from Texas churches, from Assemblies of God in San Antonio to Abundant New Life Church in Waco to Gospel Lighthouse right here in Dallas. Missionary Jane Christiansen founded the shelter in 2003 as a counseling center for rescued girls before she realized it wasn’t enough.

“We started in Juarez during the femicide, which began about 1993. The average victim was about 15, but there were many younger, some as young as 3,” she said. “I realized we can’t just counsel them and send them back on the streets.”

Since then, Renewed International has grown into a home where girls and boys can lead normal lives, especially thanks to Texan volunteers who haul trailers full of cabinets, lumber and drywall to Juarez to keep the burgeoning home spacious and up to code.

Bureaucracy has blocked their path. Cost cuts have culled the already meager number of trafficking shelters in Mexico, and regulations make it burdensome for those remaining to stay afloat. On one trip, the volunteers spent their time remaking an office out of a carport so the home could comply with government rules and avoid closure.

Despite the uphill climb, the shelter has seen its share of miracles. “They brought in one girl who was 12 years old and eight months pregnant,” Christiansen said. “She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and now they’re both part of our family.”

Newcomers often join on the brink of death: From the hospitals, the shelter has taken in one girl whose throat had been cut and another who was narrowly saved from suicide. Thanks to the Texans who care, they now have a second chance for a normal childhood.

These volunteers are not alone. Texas churches organize countless missions to Mexico yearly, many that directly tackle the human trafficking crisis at the border. We’re proud of volunteers who share the spirit of the Friendly State with the world, and we hope their example will spur others to join their efforts.

— The Dallas Morning News