BUIES CREEK, N.C.—When three Campbell University students began a journey of education and empowerment more than three months ago, they had no idea their perseverance would result in reaching more than 200 fellow students and staff members.
Junior education major Lindsay Frye, junior education major John Mark McGee and sophomore psychology major Jordan Zepher attended the PASSION 2012 conference in Atlanta with 20,000 other young adults eager to bridge their faith with social justice. They left stunned and carrying a burden to share the tragedy of a $32 billion industry affecting approximately 27 million people around the world—human trafficking.
Before the first week of the spring semester had finished, the three had contacted Campbell’s campus ministry to see what could be done to spread the word on campus about human trafficking. Six weeks of meetings, brainstorming and praying culminated into a series of events, including a human trafficking exhibit, letters to Congress and a discussion panel with a local sex trafficking recovery organization.
The highlight of the week, they said, was the exhibit in Turner Auditorium, a series of interactive stations, statistics and fictional stories illustrating the causes and effects of human trafficking in the U.S. and around the world.
“My heart was broken by this injustice, and all it took was for me to open my eyes," Zepher said. "That’s what I wanted to do the exhibit. I knew that once others knew what human trafficking is, the indifference for some would be broken. Even it was just one person humbled and burdened by this injustice, it would be enough."
The panel discussion featured executive director Abbi Tenaglia and program coordinator Daphne Meekz of Transforming Hope Ministries, a nonprofit organization in Durham, N.C., which recovers and houses female victims of sex trafficking between the ages of 12 and 17. Zepher’s on-stage interview of Tenaglia and Meekz showed students how they can take action.
“College students can raise awareness and influence others to act,” said McGee. “We can support organizations combating human trafficking, whether financially or prayerfully. We can write our representatives in Congress telling them about human trafficking and its impact in North Carolina.”
Sara Acosta is a student at Campbell University.