Explore
Follow Us

The cost of bringing freedom

Some people are in places of great pain. They are chained to this pain in ways that are hard to fathom. Take the sex trade in Cambodia. Mothers raise daughters to become prostitutes and then pimp them out at age 12 or 13 so they can send money home.  This is normal.   If you’re that…
By Seth Barnes
By Seth Barnes
Some people are in places of great pain. They are chained to this pain in ways that are hard to fathom. Take the sex trade in Cambodia. Mothers raise daughters to become prostitutes and then pimp them out at age 12 or 13 so they can send money home.  This is normal.
 
If you’re that mother’s daughter, what are you to think? After the horror of your situation wears off (does it ever really wear off? – most numb their pain with alcohol), after the devastation of being transplanted from the familiarity of your home and village have receded, what do you think about your mom? Does she have any idea of the horror you face every day? Do you hate her? Do you hate yourself?
 
And with no safe place to return to, with nowhere to call home, you’re abandoned to predators. You enter an emotional cage and are chained to your pain. And maybe you do such horrible things that you begin to believe that you deserve it.
 
If some brave soul ever were to believe that you were worth freeing from those chains, even though you didn’t believe it yourself, how would they do it? They set you free to what? You’ve got nowhere to go, no skills, no hope.
 
I think they’d do what Steph Tyrna does every day in Cambodia as she seeks to rescue sex workers. Steph enters the horror. She climbs into the emotional cage with them and puts on their chains and she feels it. And that’s just the start. If the girls are ever to get free, they must first trust Steph and dare to hope. 
 
Here’s what that felt like for Steph this week as she described it in a letter:

“I sat through one of the hardest stories thus far, and as I sat there, I used every ounce of strength to fight back tears of grief and furious screams. Basically, it is a story of ongoing abuse – at the expense of a little girl. I honestly cannot sit back and do nothing about it. I wanted to leave the room screaming. I came home and bawled my eyes out wondering how so much evil can go on.
 
I am currently trying to go through all the proper channels to figure out how to save this little girl from a life of hell here on earth. I am sorry I will not be able to share any of the details right now, as I am not sure yet what is going to happen or how to go about rescuing this little girl. It all needs to be kept confidential at the moment while I am talking to several key people. Its awful, awful awful. And I know that God is grieved by these things 10 times more than I am. It’s just hard. Really hard.

So please keep me in your prayers, but more than me, keep a little innocent girl and her abuser in your prayers. Pray for breakthrough in this situation. Pray for freedom and hope for the little girl. Pray for compassion and pray for the abuser to come to know the Lord.”
Steph and her team are heroes. We need more like her. We can set the captives free, but it takes great courage. If you’re interested in praying for Steph and her team or in joining the fight against the sex trade, please contact me. I can help you get plugged in. It’s not an easy fight – freedom comes with a cost. But it is so worth it.

Comments (6)

  • Soooo incredibly honored to know Steph a hero in this battle… this kingdom bringing assignment we’ve been given. My heart is grieved at what the little girl must be going through, it’s furious at the evil, it is strengthen in prayer and the authority we’ve been given, it intercedes on behalf of my sister – we are backing her in prayer and love…. which is the greatest weapon of all. An abundance of the presence of GOD upon her and through her… He’ll do the work with the willing hands are heart of Steph and the team… Praise God for raising up warriors of faith in this generation… examples of GODLY women fighting back on half of the children of God… THAT’S BEAUTY – THAT’S HONORABLE – THAT’S JESUS here on earth… GLORY… the rawness and realness of their current testimony is what grips our hearts and it’s by HIS BLOOD that VICTORY & FREEDOM WILL BE SEEN!
    thank you for posting this SETH!

    Rev. 12:11 They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
    they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.

  • Rachel,

    I actually thought of you and the little orphan girl in Ukraine after I wrote about Steph. I thought about how you fought for her. I love your fighter’s heart. God put it in you for a reason

  • Thanks Seth. I follow Steph’s blog and those girls I my heroes! I thank God for them.

    “Lord, please raise up a more to rescue those in chains…”

  • Thank you Seth for this story. Yes indeed, Steph and her girls are doing an incredible job out there. I spoke with her last night and could feel and hear the “pain” in her voice. I as her mother of course…cannot ignore the pain she is feeling but can only trust and offer more prayers for strength for her and the struggles that she and the victims are going through. She will fight with all of the power that God gives to her and she will always be a little warrior. Thank you so much for all of the support you have given her! Aloha…Sue

Comments are closed.

Subscribe to Radical Living:

Receive updates on the latest posts as Seth Barnes covers many topics like spiritual formation, what if means to be a christian, how to pray, and more. Radical Living blog is all about a call to excellence in ministry, church, and leadership -as the hands and feet of Jesus.

Seth Barnes

I'm motivated to join God in his global reclamation project. He's on the move, setting his sons and daughters free from their places of captivity. And he's partnering with those of us who have been freed to go and free others.



© Adventures In Missions. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | RSS Feed | Sitemap