We all have stories, and each of our stories bring us to different places in life. During Red Light Rebellion classroom presentations, we spend a whole day helping students explore their individual stories. Through various activities they are able to identify the most significant events in life that have shaped who they are.

This is a critical component of how we work to prevent sex trafficking. By helping students recognize how they are personally vulnerable to predators, they can begin to develop resiliency to manipulation.

This last semester one student stayed behind after her class ended to talk with us more about what she wrote down during the activity.  Handing her paper over (students keep their paper to themselves as it is such a personal activity), she had us read the various highlights of the last few years: parents’ divorce, meeting Jesus, a new step-family, parties, heartbreaks, and other regrets. When asked what she saw when she read her story, she broke down crying, “This isn’t me.”

Walking her over to the counselor’s office, we had the opportunity to tell her about Jesus’ love and His ability to heal the broken places in her heart she was running from through parties and boys.

To prevent sex trafficking we have to go beyond simply talking about exploitation; we must address the brokenness that makes us vulnerable to predators in the first place. Whether it is a broken family or fierce independence, when students recognize their personal vulnerabilities to predators they develop resiliency to manipulation surrounding those parts of their stories. And when we can introduce Jesus to their stories, resilience naturally follows.

To learn more about vulnerabilities check out this site: https://acestoohigh.com/.