Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Pearson and Nhuy Nguyen
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Nhuy Nguyen- In 2020, similar to many others in the COVID era, and I was reflecting on my life and where my passions are. My mission in life is to build up and guide people in vulnerable populations with compassion and joy, so that they can proclaim freedom from a world of enslavement. Thus, I took it upon myself to find my deeper calling and found that I wanted to help women in particular and especially those in got caught in the cycle all forms of human trafficking. Once I had educated myself on the dangers of human trafficking and the horrors that victims go through, I wanted to do my part even if it’s minuscule. As I dived deeper, I met a friend who suggested to look into A21 organization. A21’s mission is to Abolish Slavery Everywhere, Forever and that really spoke to me. Their mandate is freedom and justice. A21’s desire is to eradicate human trafficking once and for all. Right now, in the 21st century, men, women, and children are being bought and sold like commodities every day. There’s no downplaying it; millions of people are being exploited around the world right now. This isn’t just a reality in faraway places, human trafficking is taking place in our very own cities and communities. To that end, I wanted to be a supporter of this global organization that is being a part of the solution to eradicate this modern slavery.
Then in 2022, I wanted to host the A21 Walk for Freedom in Jacksonville. This was a way for me to contribute as a supporter and volunteer to bring awareness and prevention to the city. With that intention, I gathered friends who are passionate about this and hosted the walk. Over the past two years we’ve had over 250 people committed to the walk and we continue to bring an impact to the city. I am always grateful for the support of everyone who’ve contributed to the walk, registered for it and attended the walk. I am also grateful to the survivors of human trafficking that have attended and spoken at our walk to empower change and strength to break the cycle.
This year is our third year hosting the walk in City of Jax. Since this is a global walk around the world, we are honored that Jacksonville is a part of such an important event. We are anticipating to reach even more people in the city. Through the continuous support of past attendees and benefactors, we are able to continue this walk.
I want to share some stats about Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking: It’s the illegal trade of human beings. It’s the recruitment, control, and use of people for their bodies and for their labor.
Main types of trafficking: There are many forms of human trafficking. Here are a few common forms: sex trafficking, labor trafficking, online sexual exploitation, and domestic servitude.
It is estimated that there are 49.6 million people in modern-day slavery today. There are millions being exploited across the world today. More than ever before in
human history.
Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world, generating more than $236 billion USD every year.
If you suspect it, report it. To find the hotline number for your country, see A21.org/Report
USA STATISTICS
Human trafficking is happening in all 50 states.
91% of trafficking victims in the US are women and girls.
27% of recently detected trafficking victims in the United States are minors.
1 in 6 runaway children reported to NCMEC in 2018 were likely sex trafficking victims.
Florida is ranked the 3rd largest in human trafficking cases.
-Melissa
In 2013, I attended Passion Conference in Atlanta, GA. Passion is “rooted in the confession of Isaiah 26:8, Passion exists to glorify God by uniting students in worship, prayer and justice for spiritual awakening in this generation.” Because Atlanta is a major hub for Transporation the conference always did a segment on Human Trafficking to educate the attendees and make them aware of the surroundings plus activate us to be advocates for this social injustice. After one of our breakout sessions we came back to the dome and there were these faces on sticks. On the back of the stick was a survivor of human trafficking story. It was that face that told two stories. One was the survivors and the other was my own. The Survivors story was: She went to university for 3 years but returned home to Russia and there were no jobs. With her family struggling she found an ad for a waitressing position in Greece. She signed a 6 month contract to work but was tricked into sexual exploitation. It wasn’t until a Greek woman and her husband rescued the girl and she became restored in the care of A-21 facilities. My story has been this: I held that stick relating to possibility of falling for the ad, I had waitressed all through college and always knew that if I couldn’t find a job upon graduation, I could always make decent money waitressing until I landed a role. I am the eldest of four siblings. The pressure to help family felt too close to home because I’ve been the one to help with family affairs. A couple years prior to being at that conference I had experience sexual assault. That suppressed memory had just come to the surface, and I was dealing with all the emotions and questions it carried with it. Something in me shifted and I wanted to get involved but I was paralyzed on to how? I would love to say that after having that moment with 40,000 other students I signed up to be an Abolitionist the next day, but I didn’t. The stats were too overwhelming for me, and I didn’t think I could do anything to make a difference. I lived in a small town of like 6000 people. How could an ordinary person do something that would cause any effect on the issue? So I read a book by Christine Caine (founder of A-21) called Undaunted . It is there I learned of how she was burdened with starting A-21. She had never did anything like it before but saw all the faces of those missing kids at an airport one night and thought of her own daughters. She wanted to make the world a safer place for them. One question in that book that haunted me was from the first survivors testimonies, was Why didn’t you do anything sooner? Such a raw and heart wrenching question. Christine had no background she just had passion and desire to make a difference. What was preventing me from stepping out? I became a monthly partner with A-21 and they sent me a Freedom report of a how they had just rescued their youngest survivor at age 4 in Thailand. A grandmother had sold her. I couldn’t stomach it and that week I got an email about applying to be a host for The A-21 Walk for Freedom. I had no idea what I was getting into, nor did I think I was going to get approved because I lived in Southern Illinois not Chicago . I went an applied for a permit at our local city hall and the next thing I know I was asked to do an interview for what I thought would be a column article but winded up on the front page of a major newspaper back home. It was that article that opened doors that provided the other pieces of the puzzle in terms of people wanting to help make a difference. At our first walk we had a band who ministered in Thailand in the Red Light District that would play and give short testimonies in between songs of their experience in Thailand. We had a write a survivor station. We did a classroom set up with a skit to help drive home how easily this evil is hidden in plain site. It wasn’t statistics that moved people it was the stories that changed the hearts . Our Walk had a ripple effect it helped uncover a local trafficking ring and ignited Springfield, IL to start hosting the annual walk. The first abolitionist President Abraham Lincoln residence and also a place I’d end up moving to a few years later. It was like the field was plowed and ready for me to get there. I helped co-host there for a few years until I moved to Florida where I attended a Walk in Ocala and then in Lake County. I was supposed to walk last year at the JAX walk for freedom, but I had just started a new job and couldn’t get out of attending the national sales meeting. It is where I met Nhuy through the walk’s Instagram. I donated water that year and this year I reached out to see if I could help out. She gladly accepted and let me lead out on the Instagram page. I am a total millennial though and feel like I need a class to learn how to grow it but I been trying. I’m thankful Nhuy trusted me to help out. I didn’t plan on living here in Jacksonville it such a big city but I had some life change events that led me here . I reflect on it because I felt the same as I did with the first walk, overwhelmed not knowing what to do. This time instead of being in a place too small I struggled with being in a place too big . How do you make a ripple effect when you don’t know anyone to be heard? I prayed and the idea came to serve the local agencies and learn from them to find out how we could all work together to help shine a light on this issue in our community and help make Jacksonville a safer place. I used the six degrees of separation concept and just started asking questions and was led to great organizations Church of Eleven22 led me to ARIZE. My church River City led me to Rethreaded. Then through grassroots efforts of flyers , passing invites out on the beach, making a car magnet, google, and good ole fashion pick up the phone and start making calls I got in contact with local law enforcement, HerSong, the DEMP Project and plan on meeting with them. I had originally planned a brunch with all the organizations coming together for an event that I had paid for that canceled but the lord led me to donate that event to one of the organizations I encountered that deals with rehabilitating survivors back into society. I plan to still meet with everyone else. Reflecting while writing this it is great that journalism is what came to spread the word and bring resources in my first walk and now here journalism is doing another interview which gets me excited and expectant on what fruit will come from this.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Nhuy- This is my third year as the lead host for A21 Walk for Freedom in the City of Jacksonville. My first year was the toughest in getting familiar with the rules and regulations of hosting a walk in a city. The connection I’ve made in the last two years with the City, has made things go a bit smoother. There are always opportunities to spread the word about the walk and make it more grand every year. Another challenge is that since Human Trafficking is such a heavy and tough subject, not everyone is open to learning about the dangers of it. Some would rather avoid dealing with such things and some refuse to believe it is happening right in our backyard. But we want to try and continue to bring this awareness and education every year to the city. We are a part of the solution to eradicate modern slavery through this walk.
Melissa-
There’s a lot of organizations here in JAX that are already boots on the ground. A-21 doesn’t have a local office here, so I do think that JAX is a close nit community wanting to make sure resources are staying in their city which is totally fair. My dream is that we partner alongside the local organizations and highlight what they each offer to where everyone has a seat at the table. We activate and educate the day of the walk and help attendees find a fit to where they feel like they can contribute and make a difference. Learning how to network here I believe is key.
Also I heard some survivors came to the walk but didn’t like that it was silent because they had been silenced for too long and are now free. I’m hoping we can flip the narrative and empower them if they feel led to share their journeys that this could be a safe place for them. What happened to them matters , their story matters, and I believe that will be what moves the hearts of those learning about human trafficking for the first time.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Nhuy- I am a supporter and volunteer for A21 Organization to lead and host the A21 Walk for Freedom locally in Jacksonville. This is my third year as lead organizer for the walk. We are bringing prevention, education and awareness about Human Trafficking through the walk.
Melissa-
Ordinary person. I work for a local hospital in the electrophysiology lab. I support and volunteer for A-21 through monthly partnership. I am member of River City Church off Belfort and I have a passion and desire to see lives changed through the healing power of Jesus Christ.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Nhuy-
I am an immigrant who came over to America with my parents when I was 5 years old. Learning English, seeing a new culture and adapting to life in America was different. We came to America with nothing and growing up, my family didn’t have much. I remember when we first landed, I was given a Teddy Bear by a relief organization as a welcome toy. It was one of the first things I held onto for decades. One Christmas, when my family was running out of food, I remember my mom said that there was a miracle knock and some people from the relief organization had a box full of food and gifts for our family. My parents were so grateful that we had food for the Holidays. This left a deep impact on me growing up. I received lots of assistance from the youth community centers and encouragement to develop a heart of giving back. I have been volunteering for many different organizations as I throughout the years. I was always inspired and desired to give back to my community in every way possible. My heart for the poor and lost has always been ingrained since I was young. I think back to how fortunate I am to be able to be in a land of opportunities and freedom to do what I want without restraint. If I didn’t come to America, I could be one of those victims to crime, violence or in a Human trafficking scheme.
Melissa-Growing up I was from a small town where you left your doors unlocked and purses in car without fear of things being stolen. Something those in a city wouldn’t dare dream of. My parents divorced at a young age and there was dysfunction throughout my adolescent years. I didn’t realize until I was an adult how much your first 18 years of life really affect and set you relationally. I struggled with self-worth, not feeling good enough, fear of abandonment. Depression and anxiety were big for me. Also coming from small town no one really talked about things like depression and anxiety. I had a secret war that brewed within for many years. I masked it well. I was always told you are so mature for your age. I was always responsible and had a very active role in caring for my younger siblings. I struggled to feel safe, I was constantly in a state I would later learn in therapy as hypervigilance. . It took a toll on my body but I am so thankful that I didn’t take those feelings to the internet like so many young people do these days. I still remember dial up internet, ICQ chat, Napster to burn our own cds. I got into sports as my outlet. Basketball was my favorite. I dreamed of playing for the University of Tennessee for Pat Summitt. Today kids struggling similarly are exposed to social media and they share vulnerable information with strangers to feel seen and heard this make them the perfect victims of human trafficking. I was removed from my mother’s home my junior year and thought I was going to be with my dad, but he was called off to the war in Iraq . I ended up living with an affluent lady that always wanted a daughter but even their events happened that didn’t help my self-esteem. I moved with my grandma my senior year of high school hoping to feel more at home with family but mentally I was so messed up that I never really felt I belonged anywhere. I left mid senior year to go live with a boy who later broke my heart. I just wanted to be loved really and it didn’t matter by who at that point. For years I leaving my grandma’s haunted me knowing it wasn’t her, it was my brokenness, and lack of identity that made me feel out of place. I graduated from rebound school to get my high school degree. I never thought I would ever really amount to anything I dealt a lot with shame and feeling inferior. I got a new start and moved to Springfield, IL and walked into a church where they had a bulletin with the Walk for Freedom was advertised in it and I saw the young lady’s name and realized it was the same one who called after my first walk. I share all this to say at any point in my story I could have been a target. I know what it is like to feel vulnerable, unseen, not educated, and this is what traffickers thrive on. By the grace of God I wasn’t a victim in this arena but it’s my heart to speak life to any person I meet so they never question their value or worth. This Walk saved my life in more ways than one and I pray it continues to save many more lives through awareness and prevention it creates in the community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://A21.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a21/
- Other: https://www.a21.org/shop-event.php?intid=3906
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/jax.walkforfreedom/
