This is the Truth Network. This is the Truth Network. Kingdom Pursuits, where you hear from ordinary people instilled with an extraordinary passion. Together we explore the stories of men and women who take what they love and let God turn their passion into kingdom pursuits.
Now, live from the Truth Booth, your host, Robbie Dilmore. Oh, I'm so excited today as we have a dear old friend, really not that old. She's much, much, much, much younger than me, but we've been friends a while and so excited about the ministry she's involved in. And I think you will be too to have Gabby Wright back with us with Lantern Rescue, right? And you might remember Lantern Rescue is liberating victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Exploitation. Around the world. Around the world. Um Amazing stories we have heard over the years. Of what God has done through this ministry.
And you guys have had a big, big year, right, Gabby? Yes, we have. We've been really blessed. And it's been more than just a big year. As of this year, we've kind of hit our five-year mark and anniversary as a nonprofit.
And since the beginning, we've done so many things, but we've grown to 18 different countries around the world. And we have impacted nearly 3,800 lives that were victimized by Feminotrafficking. Wow, so 3,800. And and the The wild thing about that is the diversity of those 3,800 people, right? Because.
You've got You know, girls that came out of Venezuela that end up in the Dominican or in Haiti or someplace. And then you've got the African. Uh Folks that would be subject to voodoo and all sorts of horrible, unbelievable things. And then there's human trafficking victims in Pakistan that, you know, were. Forced to make bricks and go out at night to sexual exploit.
I'm going to get that word later today. Exploitation. That one. Yes, absolutely. And it is human trafficking does not have like one specific Model or group that it goes after.
It is prevalent in every community. We see it in the United States, we see it all over Africa, and we see it all through South America. And those are kind of the primary areas we work. But there's always victims that come from other places into the places where our teams are. And so part of our mission is not just rescuing them, it's helping them get repatriated, offering them victim care services, which are like grants and support for things like medical or sometimes counseling, helping them get placed somewhere that they can get help and making sure that they receive hope and a brighter future.
Yeah, it's It the the the evil that you guys face is really beyond anything I can understand. Um Sometimes I wish I had didn't know certain things that I know, but just. Um last week, and I couldn't help but think of you guys. I I was uh Larry George is an old friend of mine as well. He used to run Sloan missionary homes in Snow Camp, not terribly far from where you are, Gabby.
And he handed me this purse that he said, Ravi, I want you to have this. He said, This is from a mom. Um And she lived in a village Where You know, they were just. Impoverished, and everybody was dying of starvation due to a drought or something along that had come along. And these people came into town and promised that they would take their children away from the drought, that they would educate them and put them in all this, and they would.
you know, feed them and clothe them and everything would just be wonderful. But you and I both know what those people were doing. And they literally emptied the entire village of all the children. and took him into human trafficking in Hong Kong. And it's it's Like Unthinkable.
It is. th that that something like that would happen yet the thing that I love about you guys is God is raising up people. To combat this stuff. And so. What are some of the things that you guys have seen this year that you that kind of just Took your breath you hadn't seen.
So I'll share a couple of stories from our December impact report. Those are fresh on my mind and my heart because we I just kind of wrapped it up, and that's going to be going out this next week. Um Had a 71-year-old sex trafficking victim and I We have so many, so many diverse backgrounds for victims and survivors that we work with. But this is the first time I have seen a 71-year-old woman targeted at this age. Um And she was, she is in Africa, and she still really just, she needed to work to be able to provide for herself.
Um and for those she cared about and her cousin who was 45, told her that she had found her a nanny job down in another country where there were more jobs available, and she agreed to go. And then when she went with her cousin, her cousin just kept leading her and leading her until they got into this area that the woman did not recognize. And she had, you know, no, no documents, no way to get help, no phone, right? Like, no resources. And when they got there, See, her cousin was like, Wait, right here, I'm gonna go talk to this guy.
He's the one that's gonna hire you. And she went and talked to the guy, and then she left. He just abandoned her. And then the guy came to the woman and she. He had paid the cousin to marry her and was like, You're my wife now.
And this is how it's going to be. And then he sexually assaulted her. And she lived for weeks just with this feeling of betrayal and abandonment and not knowing where to go or what to do. And somebody in that community that had heard about our local teens. Yeah.
Realized what was happening and helped her report it to us. And so we were able to get her out of that situation. and put her into an aftercare facility where she's been giving like food and shelter and a place and chance to kind of Heal and process kind of what happened to her with love and support and prayer. Yeah, that oh, my goodness Yeah.
So often, right, that it's somebody's family member. that is involved in in in It's just it's a Mm-hmm. It's a horrible thing. But again, God raised up. you know, somebody to tell her that there was an answer and then Um Y really, God blessed you with those Resources in Africa, right?
You've got all these team members all over. And when you say you're in 18 countries, you guys have huge resources in all those places. Yes, we are very blessed. That is kind of our goal. Our goal isn't to bring in our own teams into every country and kind of make them do everything like the way that we think it should be done.
Our goal is to work with those countries and build up teams of people who live in those countries who know kind of what's going on and want to help and want to make a difference. They just didn't have the resources. There's been several teams that have had cases where someone called them about someone being in trafficking. Or someone called and asked for help out of trafficking, and literally, the only thing that stopped them from getting that person out. was gas for their car.
Oh my goodness, right? Yeah. And so for us, we just want to be able to offer those resources. We also want to work with them and help train them and build a system that we know will last so that victims aren't repeatedly victimized. They don't go from one bad situation to another.
They're given support and that communities can also learn and grow and strengthen. Mm-hmm. understanding of what is exploitation. If someone approaches me with this, what is their real plan behind it?
So that's our goal. And it's been going pretty good. In 2025, we rescued like right over 1,000 and we trained 540 law enforcement partners, which was amazing. And then out of those 6,761 of those rescues were children. Wow, 761 kids.
Well, we got to go to a break. When we come back, as you might imagine, we will play some shenanigans and we will have more of what God is doing through Lantern Rescue. In the meantime, you can go to kingdompursuits.com and there you can click on the Lantern Rescue banner and go right to their website or go to lanternrescue.org. We'll be right back. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com.
Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion. And uses it to build the kingdom and what passion they have at Lantern Rascu. passion for, um These people that are just in a horrible way of being trafficked. In so many horrible ways. And to think of a 71-year-old lady, it's just unthinkable as we were talking about it.
You know. One of the things that we get to do here at Kingdom Pursuits is play shenanigans. And so when I think of the idea of Lantern, right?
So speaking of lantern, here we go. I love it. One day. Oh, yes, it is. It is time to play.
And Dabby knows how this goes because she's done it before. And so, Nick, we're just going to jump right in here since we're talking about lanterns. How do you fix a broken lantern? Jack-a-lantern. How do you fix?
A broken jack-o'-lantern. I bet Gabby can get that. It's not hard. I need some broken jack-o'-lantern. I don't know.
How do you fix a broken jack-a-lantern, Robbie? A pumpkin patch. That's great. I like that. There you go.
If you like that, you're going to love it. I probably need more coffee.
So, how did cowboys back in the day, you know, back in the day on horseback, How did they find their way at night? in the dark. You know, back in the day, Cowboys on horseback, how did they find their way? at night in the dark. The stars.
That that they probably did. Yeah. I don't know. Using a lantern. You guessed there was a lantern involved, but it was sort of a.
Saddle. Light navigation system The most dad-jerk of them all. I like that one. That was good. That was good.
Yeah, this one's kinda along those lines. Why do minimalists and aspiring minimalists? Bring lanterns on their travels. We're ending with an easy one. Why do minimalists carry light?
All right, because they want everybody to know they're packing light. And you need to, by the way, especially today if you're, you know, getting ready. You know, I don't know what your lighting systems may be, but we were having fun in our house breaking out different candles. We have so many different kinds of light. It's fun.
And so, you know. The kids want to build a fort with flashlights. Oh, you're right. Exactly right.
So. Yeah. You knew that at the end of those stand against, we would have a riddle for you to call in and win today. And so along those lines... I have to say when I came up with this particular line, I laughed for a good 10 minutes.
Oh.
So you may have wondered, you may have wondered why cows have hooves instead of feet.
Well I'm going to share with you it's because they lack toes.
So What is a lamp to your feet? in the Bible. Right, so as we said. Cows have herbs. Because they have lack toes.
Yes, and what is a lamp onto your feet? What? Is a lamp unto your feet? 866-348-7884-866-34-TRUTH. If you can answer that.
Nick, tell them what they can win. Absolutely, yes, you will win a prize from our Kingdom Pursuits prize vault. We have back scratchers, date the word calendars for 2026, and with back scratches with beads, right? That has so much symbolization. Yeah, we have the latest, new, improved Kingdom Pursuits.
Gospel. Backsprap. They look really good. They do. They were bamboo this time instead of plastic.
And they now include a clear bead to go with the red, and the white, and the green. The different and then the yellow beads that, you know, so you can share the gospel while scratching their back at the same time. You guys ought to get these for Landon Rescue. Yeah, we really should. Because if anybody scratches people's backs, oh my goodness.
Because again, one of the things I love about Lantern Rescue is they don't just as as Gabby was describing the lady that was there in Africa. They don't just get them out. of the situation, you know, like God told the Israelites, You know, I'm going to take you out, but then I'm going to redeem you. In other words,. When you get somebody out of sex trafficking, it takes a long time to get the sex trafficking out of them, right?
Yeah, it's Healing from something like trauma. is never linear. You think you make steps forward and then you can go back or something can trigger you and hurt you all over again. And it really, really takes a good support of people who understand and give you grace and that pray over you and give you a lot of wisdom from the Lord. to allow him to heal you.
Because if we're being honest, you're truly never the same as you were before, but he redeems what happened to you and uses it for good. And I have seen so many people who have been through some kind of sexual trauma in their lives, and they always end up in a pathway of wanting to help heal other people who have gone through that. Whether that's just through small groups in their church or through a nonprofit like I work for, they have a resilience that is like God brought me from there to here, and I'm going to help someone else get there too. Yeah, and it it's beautiful but you see the Bible come to life in Second Corinthians chapter one, right? God re comforts them so that they can comfort others with the comfort they were comforted with.
And I've seen that same thing too, Gabby. Um in in so many different areas of life that that people It seems like unthinkable what happened to them, but then God uses it. to help somebody else that They can experience You know I have no way to relate to something like that. But God uses people that know how to relate to it and know... you know, the pitfalls of of what it what it feels like to fall into that.
Um Because what I have noticed i in You know, working with guys, and interestingly, you know, I do a lot of men's ministry through Mask on Journey through Nikita's man camps. is men that have been sexually exploited. Um And I would imagine women as well, but they really have the hardest time forgiving themselves because they feel like in some way they brought that on. Yes, the and as part of it is the stigma too. You know, they're scared to share about it because of judgments from others and a lack of support or understanding that men can be victims of sexual abuse and trafficking in general as well.
And all of those stigmas end up working against The people. that want to seek help. We actually see it a lot. In a lot worse ways, in places like Africa. I recently went in August.
To go shoot some film. We're coming out with a documentary this year about some of our work in Africa, and it's going to be incredible.
So definitely follow along. But when I was there, I got the privilege of going to one of the aftercare centers we partner with. And in this aftercare center, like our kids living full time. And a lot of those kids are kids we've rescued or helped rescue in some way. And there are 73 kids at the time that I was there that ranged from 18 months to 17 years old.
And each one of them were victims of either sex trafficking or attempted ritual sacrifice.
So they have been mutilated in some ways. And I talked to one boy, and he had been attacked and dragged into a plantation field. And he they the man had attempted to murder him, had sliced his neck open and had cut his genitals off and had left him. Thankfully, he was found and they were able to do surgery on him, and he's doing okay today. He still has a long pathway ahead of him.
But that was one of the things that the team members were talking about is just the stigma in that area goes way past just his healing. In Africa, As a man, it's so significant that you have children and a family, and he, you know, is going to never be able to have children and is going to have a hard time in his future developing that kind of social status. That's something that they worry about and pray over constantly because even though this boy has survived something. Horrific and has, you know, done all of this work to like heal and to grow and to put his faith and trust in God. That there's still outside things like that that can hurt him and interfere.
And just really praying for kids like that in Africa and around the world that they. have what they need to overcome.
Society in those ways, and that God just heals them in every way and prepares for everything that we can. Yeah, I as you as you explain that, Gabby, I I I feel compelled to say, Well you know, man, I mean, you can see the work that God is doing through Land and Rescue. And you can see. how critical it is Um That if God puts it on your heart to support them, I mean, go to landandrescue.org. They have the Liberators program now that's amazing, all sorts of different resources that you can take part in praying for what they're doing, that you can take part in being a resource that God's using for somebody like that little boy.
And You know, I have to ask, Gabby, because you got to see that firsthand. When you looked in that little boy's eyes, what did you see? Earth. I would say, like, there was still some anxiety, but then as he like began telling his story, and you know, as we went out of history and just began playing, there was so much hope and joy. Um, it is amazing to see how much resilience these children have.
All of them. I got to do hand prints and painting with all of them, and they are so filled with joy and you know, just a desire for God and for their future and a passion for each other. Um, and it was a blessing. Oh, man. We got to go to a break.
I hate that. That's so awesome, Gabby, that God has you in such a place as this. We got Ruth calling in. She's got an answer to. The uh big lactose problem.
You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion. and uses it to build the kingdom.
So fun and I I d I don't know that funds the word about just Amazing, I guess probably is a better word, to see what God is doing around the world through Lantern Rescue. We have Gabby Wright with us. Lantern Rescue, again, you can find that at lanternrescue.org or go to Kingdom Pursuits and click on the link, whichever you prefer. But we got Ruth calling from Richmond, Virginia. Ruth, you're on Kingdom Pursuits, and do you know what is a lamp to your feet?
Thy word is the lamp unto my feet Amy Grant That's a great rendition, yes I'd probably be in the nuthouse because of this storm coming up if I hadn't been reading the word. I tell you, y'all. Y'all touch so many things. from daily bread that touched me this morning. And I mean, I don't have a generator since my husband died because It was a type you have to put these gas in their doors and everything, and Kevin didn't want to fi fool with it, so we sold it.
So I'm totally dependent on the Lord. He's got it.
So do you have a like a gas log or something? No, no, we don't even have a gas log. My husband was real different than me. We were just total opposites. He didn't like woods and fires and smoke and I have a fireplace in the living room.
I used to go in there and light a fire o you know, when I was young, but we haven't had that cleaned out for ages.
So I don't know. I just I just pray to God truthfully. I mean, you know, just 'cause I got saved when I was eight years old, Let me tell you, this life is a war, and especially now. I mean, you know, the things you've been talking about touch me so much too this morning. I listened to Tori Brewer.
who res has rescued thousands of children and I listened to Alan Jackson, who not the singer or the preacher. He's going to go down as one of the leaders of this nation. And listening to him last night, he teaches me so much. I told Kevin I wish he hadn't been walking last night. that um you know, he was talking about this thing over in Venezuela and everything.
And they needed to get that man and lock him up because you know preachers were had been locked up for years from preaching the gospel.
So I mean, it is such a huge world than when I was growing up. On a lighter thing, I'll tell you something real quick. I learned on a 49 Ford and had to drive and my granddaddy was in the car and he was sort of funny, quiet countryman, and he had a hat on and I had, you know, it was a clutch and I I sort of bumped along a little bit. He said, Oh my God, Ruthanne, I thought you knew how told me you knew how to drive.
Okay, But then I remember driving that car one time too. The Lord has been with me all along. And going down the road, if it just happens to anybody, keep your hands tight on the wheel. and the front left tire blew. I mean, it blew, but I kept the car.
And the Lord helped me just keep the car and we went on. But you and I I I mean, we could talk forever. I want to tell you something real quick. We we had a really bad vacation one time. We came back and my husband had something else bad that happened.
He um A boy, a little boy, came across four lanes of traffic. he hit this windshield of the car, shattered it, shattered it. His hair was in the windshield. That little boy jumped off of his bicycle and ran. He was fine.
And if you had time, you wouldn't believe the rest of the story. It was about the salvation of the family. And when my husband called me, he was a heart patient. He was sitting on the carb up here near a bank, and he said, I have hit a child. And I said, Oh, my goodness.
So Yeah. That his daddy had, he was way away from home, he wasn't being watched. And um One Sunday My husband said we should go to a certain church that we had left, and I said, Why? He said, I don't know, but we should go there. And we went there and his daddy was there.
His daddy had cancer. His daddy had not been attending church or anything. He died later. But that was why we w you know, of course we had been, you know, to the family anyway and said we called and everything. And 'cause they took him to the emergency room to see if he was okay and all he was.
And but, you know, things like that. Yeah, God's doing stuff all the time that's it's hidden. You can't necessarily see it, but he's hard at work.
Well, Ruth, God bless you. I appreciate you calling in as always. And I'm gl I'm glad to hear you talking about Richard. He's still alive? Yes, Richard is in the emergency room right this minute.
He got home, but then he had a setback. And his blood sugar was real high this morning, so hopefully they're getting that under control. But thank you. I'm praying for him. Thank you, Here.
Pray for me. I need it. We will, that you're going to make it through.
So God bless. Bye-bye.
So Gabby. Um Where did you get to go to any place other than Africa this year firsthand? Awesome. No, I just went to Africa, but we did get to go to a few different countries in Africa and really hear just about the work. My favorite part and like my passion is really just hearing from like the local team members, hearing their stories, where they came from, how long they've been trying to fight this evil in their own communities without any help up against the wall and you know how Much like love and hope they have knowing that not just like lanterns on board with them, but that we have so many donors and people praying for them.
Most of them are Christians, and I love sharing with them that we have a text-to-pray group, and that when they send in prayer requests or there's hard cases, that I can text out prayer requests. That so many people all over the world, but especially in the United States, are praying for them all the time. And that and that and that is yeah, because what God's raised up with Lantern is actually a whole network. Right? And like you say, the diversity blows me away.
But obviously, it came to you from God saying, here's where you guys would fit. And whether it's your training, which is amazing, um Which is something we haven't talked much about, but I know you guys, when you send in these people to train law enforcement, they don't just learn how to rescue people, they learn how to put. the perpetrators away so that they don't continue to do it, right? Absolutely. That is a very core and central thing to what we aim for.
Rescuing people out of the problem is kind of pointless because the traffickers are just going to go get more and more kids, more and more people, and continue to exploit them.
So we want to definitely hold them accountable. And so we train law enforcement to be able to do that. And we actually have some NGOs we partner with that do the work in place of law enforcement sometimes. But the way that they do it is that they advocate for those who need to be rescued. And for law enforcement, that's not ready to partner with us in those countries.
Work with us to hold law enforcement accountable, making sure that those prosecutions and arrests happen and making sure that justice. And I'm just so thankful for a whole lot of people around the world, all the way from our liberators to our prayer groups to our team members. that are just so passionate and convicted about this issue, and they will not stop. Until more and more kids are rescued. Yeah, that's what you would at the end I and I know that And it's cool that God raised you up in that role because that is what you do: you connect all these team members.
Um And it's really, and so I'm wondering, how do you bridge the language barrier?
So, I did not know a lot about human trafficking when it came to Lantern, but I just learned. And if you are able to listen to people and just hear their heart and then do a little bit of research to try to figure out what's going on, you will begin to understand: okay, this is what they're meaning, this is what this culture looks like, and this is how we can pray for this culture. Instead of just wanting to change it, you want to bring God into it and work inside kind of what they have and with the heart that they have and help them grow. We're going to go to a break, Abby. I hate it.
We'll be right back. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. And Welcome back to Kingdom Pursuits, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build the kingdom today.
So blessed by having Gabby right with us with Lantern Rescue. Again, landamrescue.org. Or you can go to kingdompursuits.com to find out more about them and and to see what God's doing through their ministry.
So Babby, this this is a shorter segment, only a few minutes, about seven or eight. And I just want to make sure you get said anything you wanted to get said today. Yeah, absolutely.
So, talking about connecting the teams and a little bit about. you know, what I do. I'm constantly reading and learning. And recently, I picked up this book called Edmonding Human Trafficking, a handbook of strategies for the church today. And if you're looking to learn more about human trafficking and what you can do in your community, this is a great resource.
To read, but the foreword in it is by Ambassador John Clotton Richmond. And he has a couple quotes that I think are super impactful and I'd love to share with you guys. He says, every victim of human trafficking is created in the image of God and possesses human dignity. When traffickers force them to work or to engage in commercial sexual acts, They are attempting to deny or diminish human dignity. By separating victims from their traffickers and providing thoughtful, individualized, trauma-informed care, we acknowledge the inherent value of each person.
This is faith in action. This is the fulfillment of MICA 6-8 mandate to act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with your God. And he shared that a survivor of human trafficking had once told him that the only thing her trafficker could not control was her ability to pray and that she prayed for God to God for her pain to end. She prayed that people would do more than be informed and more than have distant compassion. She prayed that they would take smart and strategic action to restore freedom for those like her and allow her to thrive beyond her trauma.
And that God had answered her prayers by using his people in many different ways to bring hope. And I just think it's so inspiring because a lot of people think, oh man, you know, I'm not a law enforcement. I'm not an operator. There's nothing I can do. And I understand because I have felt that way at moments of my life too.
But there is something you can do. You can pick up a book like this and read and make a difference in your community. You can join our prayer group, text Pray to 336-234-3302, or you can find that number on our website and get involved in praying for true victims around the world. You can join our Liberators community or donate. Literally, that one donation can literally be the gas in someone's car that allows them to do their job and get to someone.
who needs help. It's literally as small as that, but that is a small gift that can be a big impact for somebody. And you can go to our social media website and just read people's stories and learn more and hopefully be inspired by the resilience and the hope that not only our team members bring, but that victims decide to grasp themselves and fight for themselves as well. Yeah, and the passion that results in some of it. And I know one of your team members.
His sister was kidnapped in Africa. And at this point in time, there was no resources. Not even the authorities in Africa were doing anything about anything like that. And so he just took up the border patrol himself and continued to get arrested. Um for being there week after week until finally You know, they decided they needed to start doing something, got Land and Rescue to help.
And so God took his passion to help his sister. And now he's training, he's a member of your team doing all that kind of stuff, right? Yeah, I mean. Yeah, absolutely.
I have seen like amazing things happen from our team members. We had one team member He was going after somebody who was doing like illegal adoptions. Essentially, people were kidnapping and trafficking children and selling them to be adopted to couples that did not know that they were kidnapped. And he was like so hot in pursuit of this. Um that the person he was chasing ended up in a hospital, like working with the hospital, and he wanted to go undercover.
So he stopped taking his medication to get into the hospital without like we did not advise him to do this. He just was like, This is what I'm gonna do. And got into that hospital so that he could get more information and pursue what needed to be done. Just that kind of dedication commitment to like knowing wholeheartedly this is evil and this is happening and I'm going to stop it is incredible. And for him to also have.
you know, a humble heart to want to partner with teams that will pursue it through the law and make sure it's done right and that people are held accountable. Those two things partnered together is unstoppable. Yeah, isn't it? And I, you know, that's the thing that is my affiliation with you guys has always been. Um To come back to that law enforcement uh uh aspect of it.
Is You know, that that As a team, of people not just obviously rescuing But ensuing justice happens, ensuing that perpetrators are put... Where they can't hurt any more people or hurt themselves by hurting other people, right? It's. It's an amazing thing. Again, if you go to lanternrescue.org, their Liberators program, a really amazing thing.
It's lanternrescue.org. Of course, Kingdomsuits.com. Thank you, Gabby.
So great to talk to you. Thank you so much, Robbie. God bless. Yes, same. And everybody listening.
We're so grateful that you're listening in the weather and preparing. You've got a good opportunity.
Now we've got encouraging prayer coming up with James Banks for such a time as this is prayer. And then you got the Mike Zwick show followed by Nikita Koloff. It's time to man up. We'll be. Uh talk New Year soon.
