Moldova: The Challenge

As many of you know, I’m leaving for Moldova in 3 days. I thought I’d take some time to share some words from HopeChest. I’m hoping this gives you more understanding and details to pray over.

Going to a country where 30,000 women have literally disappeared is hard to describe. There are over 250 brothels in the capital city of Chisinau and one of the greatest targets for sex trafficking are girls who leave the orphanages.

Yet, this is a country filled with secrecy. You don’t see hundreds of young women walking on the street offering themselves to passersby like in Bangkok. Technically, prostitution is illegal in this country under the new government but for years this was the center of women you were shipped into and out of here to various places in the world. It was a clearing-house of sorts where they would receive passports and paperwork.

One of the main ways girls get trapped is attempting to escape from the country for a better life abroad. 90% of the population wants to migrate out of Moldova because this is the poorest country in Europe. The opportunities are few and women long for a better life. This is the perfect environment for a trafficker. Young boys and girls are “promised” opportunities that offer, “great salaries” in England, America, Germany, etc. They sign up, get on a plane, and that’s when the nightmare begins.

• Moldova is the poorest country in Europe.
• More than 50% of the labor force left the country in last 10 years to find work abroad, most of them illegally.
• More than 100,000 people are victims of human trafficking.
• More than 30,000 girls and women have disappeared without a trace.
• More than 30% of the nation’s children are “social orphans” (parents leave their children with extended family, orphanages, or neighbors for years at a time to work abroad).
• Lack of a future brought a ‘new national idea’ among youth – to leave the country at any price.

THE HOPECHEST SOLUTION

HopeChest provides funding to support two “safe homes” for survivors of sex trafficking. These homes are not clinics. Like HopeChest’s ministry in Russia and Africa, these partnering organizations provide for the holistic and long-term needs of girls terrorized by systematic sexual abuse and slavery. Home of Hope and The “safe homes” provide the critical “after care” services needed to support these courageous young women who have been rescued from the horrors of sex trafficking. These restorative programs provide young women with a safe place to live and round-the-clock care in their homes. Through these programs, many young women have experienced a complete metamorphosis and are now experiencing life in Christ for the first time.

For over 16 years, Children’s HopeChest has been at the forefront of providing the support orphans need to thrive. These programs have a proven track record of dramatically reducing the likelihood that these children fall into sex trafficking, crime, prostitution, alcoholism, unemployment, and suicide. They are HopeChest’s most effective programs for positive long-term outcomes. All HopeChest programs are designed to help these children beat the odds, to become productive citizens and mature Christian adults with healthy families of their own.

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Thanks again, for all of you who have supported me with your prayers and your finances. You are making this mission possible for me and you are serving these girls in ways that only HOPE can. Thank you, thank you… a million times… THANK YOU!

For the list of ladies traveling with me, CLICK HERE. We covet your prayers.

For those of you waiting to hear the winners of the Beyond Ordinary books, I will choose those tonight and post the winners tomorrow! Good luck to all!