Archive for June, 2010

Andrew Nelson

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | 6:28 PM

Andrew Nelson
Tour Leader
Richfield, Minnesota
Venture Expeditions staff

I’m riding for men like Peter. He was thrown in a Kenyan jail after being accused of stealing a coat – a crime he didn’t commit. Peter is mentally handicapped and didn’t even understand the charges against him. Global incomes for the poor hover around 1 to 2 dollars [...]

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Nathanael Hostetter

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | 6:25 PM

Nathanael Hostetter
Willow Street, Pennsylvania

I’m riding for girls like Devi.  She was released from slavery in a rice mill in an IJM operation when she was only four years old. The International Labor Organization estimates that as many as half of all victims of forced labor are children below 18. Today,  Devi’s not a slave in [...]

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Clara Caruthers

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | 6:21 PM

Clara Caruthers
Shreveport, Louisiana
Student, Stanford University
I’m riding for girls like Luisa.*  She was raped by a neighbor in her impoverished community in Guatemala City – according to the U.N., an estimated one in five women and girls will be victims of rape or attempted rape in their lifetimes.   Luisa has a voice in court, because [...]

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Michael Bowerman

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | 6:20 PM

Michael Bowerman
Buffalo, New York
Small business owner

I’m riding for girls like Salila,* who was trapped in forced prostitution in a major  South Asian city.  The head of India’s Central bureau of Investigation estimated last year that there are as many as 1.2 million children in prostitution in that country alone.  Salila is free because she was [...]

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Mike Barrow

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | 6:18 PM

Mike Barrow
Tour Leader
Elizabethtown, Kentucky

I’m riding for kids like Viswanathan.  He spent his childhood in a rock quarry because his parents were enslaved there – just 2 of the estimated 27 million men, women and children trapped in slavery today.  Viswanathan and the rest of his family are free now – because modern-day abolitionists like you [...]

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Joanne Frank Barrow

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | 6:17 PM

Joanne Frank Barrow
Tour Leader
Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Nurse anesthetist

I’m riding for families like Gopal’s.  Gopal and his wife raised three young children at the rock quarry where they were enslaved for 15 years.  This family represents just a few of the 15 million people experts have estimated are trapped in forced labor in India.  The family is now [...]

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Lisa Rudzik

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | 3:01 PM

Lisa Rudzik
Tallahassee, Florida
Instructional aide, barista

I’m riding for girls like Charito.*  She was trafficked into forced prostitution at age 14 after she stopped receiving wages from her employer and grew desperate looking for a new job.  There are a lot of ways that traffickers entrap their victims – but what all the victims have in common [...]

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David Nanne

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | 3:00 PM

David Nanne
Pakenham, Ontario, Canada
Engineer

I’m riding for girls like Masuzyo.*  At six years old, she was raped by her neighbor in Lusaka, Zambia.  Her parents pressed charges, but the case didn’t move forward – the justice system just didn’t function the way it should to protect her.  According to the U.N., 4 billion people aren’t adequately [...]

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Deborah Go

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | 2:59 PM

Deborah Go
Tour Leader
Lake Forest, California
Student, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

I’m riding for girls like Kunthy, who was one of the estimated nearly 2 million children exploited in the global sex industry.  Kunthy was rescued from the Cambodian brothel where she had been trafficked through an operation conducted by IJM and local police.  In freedom, she [...]

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Merry Chadwick

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | 2:52 PM

Merry Chadwick
Anchorage, Alaska
High school teacher
I’m riding for people like Gowshik* and Geetha.*  This husband and wife were trapped as slaves in a rice mil until IJM and the local police worked together to  rescue them.   And now, not only are they free, but they are contributing to the economy of their village.  They run a [...]

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Ellen Bruex

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 | 2:44 PM

Ellen Bruex
Portage, Michigan
Art student, Kendall College of Art & Design
I’m riding for women like Ammani.*  She and her husband were held as slaves in a rice mill, with an owner so brutal he refused to let her leave the facility to give birth – so she delivered her baby on the concrete floor of [...]

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Nashville, TN – FREEDOM NIGHT with recording artists Derek Webb & Christa Wells

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 | 9:23 PM

Event Recap »

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Brittney Andrist

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 | 8:20 PM

Brittney Andrist
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Student (criminal justice), Lethbridge College

I’m riding for girls like Alisha,* who was trafficked into forced prostitution at age 12.  According to a recent study, as many as 85% of trafficking victims in India are minors like her.  Alisha  was brought from brothel to brothel before being rescued five years later by local [...]

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