Barbara Charles and her husband, Todd, served with OMS in Ecuador for several years. As they were preparing to go, Barb had the opportunity to participate in a HOPE61 training. Several years after it happened, Barb shared with us an experience her oldest daughter, Olivia, a college student at the time, had when she moved to a new area.
Barb and Olivia’s story:
When we lived in Ecuador, Olivia moved to Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. On move-in day, after she had settled in, she went to a local store to pick up a few things for her dorm room. As she shopped, she was approached by a nicely dressed woman in her 40s.
The woman said, “You look familiar. Do I know you?”
Olivia, trying to be polite, responded, “I’m new to the area. I just moved here to attend the university. But my cousin lives in the area, and we’ve attended church with her before. Maybe you know me from church.”
The woman said, “Oh, maybe … do you go to that church?”
Olivia, again, wanting to be polite, replied, “No, I’m looking for a new church because I just moved here.”
To which the woman said, “Oh, I’m looking for a church too. Maybe we could go together. Maybe we could find a church community together.”
And so, Olivia gave the woman her cell number. Then she paid for her supplies and returned to her room. But immediately the woman began texting her, saying, “Hey, can we meet?”
During the conversation at the store, Olivia had also mentioned that she needed a job, and the woman had said, “Oh I have a friend who’s hiring. I can hook you up with a job.”
The woman began insisting that she meet. “Can I pick you up?” “Can I meet you here?”
The following day, thankfully, Olivia called me and told me about meeting this woman. Because I had previously gone through the HOPE61 training, I immediately recognized what is often a scam used by traffickers to draw in young women. I immediately said, “Olivia, no, this is not good. Her interest in you is way over the top. Just stop.” I was able to persuade her to delete the woman’s number.
I immediately called my brother, who is a police officer in another community. He said, “Yeah, this is not good.” He called Olivia too, and said, “No, you need to not have any more contact with this woman.”
We were very thankful … thankful to God that Olivia, even though the woman was being friendly with her, did feel in her spirit that this may not be right, which led her to share with me. And we were thankful that I had completed the training and could recognize what was potentially happening.
It’s important to know that trafficking is not just happening in other countries around the world. It’s happening in communities in the United States too. Would-be traffickers know how to profile and look for these young people who are searching for community.
It’s vital to be aware.
