One of the coolest things Darren and I have found is this paradigm shift in the whole idea of charity and aid. We’ve all heard the old cliche “Give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime,” but it seems that this concept is finally being taken very seriously in the developing world and our view of how to help. Our focus as a whole in the past seemed to be more on giving aid and handouts of various sorts in order to combat the problems of hunger, lack of education, and a thousand other needs. But that just isn’t very sustainable. There are books out now with titles such as “Dead Aid” and “When Helping Hurts” that address this issue of just throwing money at problems and expecting them to sort themselves out. Finally we realize that in order to create lasting change and impact, we truly must invest in others and empower them so that they may then continue to help themselves. People in developing countries and communities need a little assistance to get going because they often lack resources, job opportunities, and education. But after that, they can and should continue to function on their own. The men and women in these areas are more than willing to work to create an income and life for themselves, but they often are not able because of their environments. This social shift that is currently happening has taken the focus from aid and charity to empowerment through social ventures or business non-profits. The idea being that people like us, from richer countries, equip men and women in poor areas with a skill or microloan so that they can generate an income for themselves and their family.

NightLight exists for this very reason, and has existed since 2005 when this shift seemed to be just starting. This “business” non-profit was at the forefront of the new type of aiding through empowerment. NightLight is very similar to iSanctuary in that they work with women who have been brought out of sex trafficking and exploitation. They also teach them the art of jewelry making, but they work specifically in Bangkok, Thailand. The founder, Annie, had been a missionary in Thailand for 15 years and was extremely aware of the blatantly obvious trafficking happening all over the city. If it’s so blatant and exposed, why does it still exist? Why hasn’t the government and law enforcement stepped in to take care of the problem? Sadly, the answer is because it is a huge money-maker for the poor country, so the government chooses to ignore the problem. It is disturbing to realize how active and overwhelming sex-tourism is.

Around the world there are three ways that sex-traffickers take hold of their prey: by force (slavery), fraud, and/or coersion.. The women in Bangkok are typically brought into the city from their countryside homes to work in bars and earn money to help their families. When they get to these bars, however, the reality is that the bar is just a facade for prostitution. These innocent young ladies are basically held captive because of the “debt” they owe to the bar for their transportation, lodging, and food. The “debt” will never actually be paid.

Missionaries to Bangkok felt that they were putting a band-aid on a gaping wound as they attempted to help these women by buying them out of prostition. Annie decided to try a different approach. She bought the first woman out and then began teaching her to make jewelry and within a couple of years she had rescued 40 women! After 3 years there were 80 women involved in NightLight’s program and it currently sits at maximum capacity with this number of ladies.

NightLight is currently focusing on creating a market for their jewelry so that sales can continue to increase. Jewelry sales have predominantly been through their website and jewelry parties that ladies host around the country. You are welcome to host one! Just get details from their website. Another really important thing that we all can do is to thoughtfully consider the way we think and speak of prostitution. We often have a very specific opinion about what it means to be a prostitute, but most often the women (even in America) have not chosen this liefstyle for themselves. And something we can all do at any time of day or night is to pray for these women and the issue of sexual exploitation worldwide.

To learn more, get involved, or buy some jewelry go to the site! www.nightlightinternational.com