Lantern Rescue 2022 & 2023 Update

This is Andy Thomas from the Masculine Journey Podcast where we discover what it means to be a wholehearted man. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just seconds.

Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. It's time to light the way to freedom. This is Lantern Rescue. We tell the stories, we talk about rescues, and we empower you to do something about it.

William Wilberforce once said, Let it not be said I was silent when they needed me. This is Lantern Rescue. Well, what a great episode. I think you're going to be so glad you tuned in today as we're going to kind of see how God has blessed Lantern Rescue and the way that it's organized and the way that it's reaching out to the world. Right, Mark?

Yes, sir. I can't remember, you know, Wren and I love doing shows together, but getting us together on the same show now is very special because we're so busy. You know, you're talking about she is working so hard in her field of prosecution and I'm overseas.

And then when I come back to America, she's part of a unit going overseas. So, you know, it's great to be on the show, Wren. Glad to have you. We wanted to take a time and Robbie really share with their listeners about God's favor and the expansion internationally and domestically about all that Lantern is involved in and all that we're doing and we're really excited about it. So I think what we'd like to do is maybe intro.

I can tell you what those are, Robbie. And these have been active. These teams have been active for a long time, but we've not always been vocal about it. But today on this show, we are definitely going to be vocal about it. We're going to give a little bit of insight. We're going to maybe talk about things that will leave questions to people because we don't want to say too much. But we are going to share on this show about our three teams.

And when I say not really teams under that or multiple teams, but our three divisions. So the first part of the show, we can definitely we can talk about the counter human trafficking teams and people are aware that we fight and combat human trafficking. We're combating the world's fastest growing criminal industry and we're rescuing children around the world.

And I'm excited about all the teams under that. What a lot of people may not know, unless they call it maybe one show somewhere, and that is that we also operate a crisis and conflict division. And under that we have teams and we're working to provide safety and networks and resources to individuals and families that are stuck in war zone conflict areas. And then we also have a specialized division, the recovery and extraction side of us where we remove individuals and families from places of persecution or extreme violence, threat of death as a result of their faith.

And so in those three divisions, you get a 50,000 level view of who Lanter Foundation is and what our daily operations entail. And all of those are ongoing all the time in a lot of places. In 2022, we rescued 632 victims. And what I'd like to say about that is that every one of those rescues was in work in hand with law enforcement or nation authority.

So this is one of the reasons we're different. We've always said we work at the highest level of the foreign nation that we can because we want jurisdiction authority, we want to build a sustainable program. And so when we say 632 victims, those are real cases with prosecution, arrest, everything behind that. And so I'm so proud of our teams and our people on the ground and the agencies involved, everyone who works with us.

It's an incredible honor to work with the people that we work with. We arrested and prosecuted 271 traffickers. So that's 271 people. The result of how many lives that we saved by putting them in jail is well beyond a few hundred because they would have perpetrated, they would have sold, they would have masterminded criminal networks that are well beyond where we captured them. But we're glad that they're in jail. We have served in 2022, we serve more than 40,000 IDPs.

An IDP is an internally displaced person from a war zone, meaning they've lost their house, they've lost their home, they fled the frontline, and they have nowhere to go. So we have served more than 45,000 in 2022. And then worldwide, we train 328 agents. We're trained worldwide.

Those are law enforcement, agency, government officials, you know, at all levels that are in the fight now because of our training, because of our relationship, they are working to combat human trafficking. So it's, you know, Wren, you're, you know, you know, this work and you know everything. I mean, as a founder of Lander, you know, share with maybe share with our listeners, your heart about those numbers. Yeah, it's really incredible to see all of those numbers. It doesn't feel like every day, you don't notice how those numbers are going up. And it just seems like this thing that we're supposed to do and crazy every day when we do this work, we're not thinking about the numbers.

That's not ever really been a thought for us. So to see it all in the aggregate and to know that impact is incredible. Like, we always started answering with the idea of if we only helped one person ever, that's enough for us. We just want to help help that one person.

I don't know if you've ever heard the story of like the little boy on the beach with a starfish and like throwing them back into the ocean. You know, there's thousands of them, but he made a difference for that one. So the problem is so vast. It's awesome to see those numbers that are so big now for us that we've helped, whether it's through trafficking or IDPs or whatever the situation is, it's awesome to see those numbers in the aggregate and to know that impact. But even knowing that just helping one person means the world to us.

So it's really cool. This problem is massive. And it's great that we're being able to take a big chunk out of it. But it's continued work and just every day we're working for that one person. We're not working for numbers. We're not working for recognition in that way.

We're always just working for that one person. Yeah. And Ren, in your case, since you're so much in the legal field, you're keeping the people off the street, so to speak, that are perpetrating.

So those don't have the faces, but it still makes a huge impact. Right. And in those instances, we're removing the traffickers, whether it's overseas or domestically or whatever that looks like. You're removing the traffickers from the streets and you're protecting an unknown amount of people and the teachers that they could have victimized. When organizations and when operations go on where a trafficker is not arrested, sometimes it's just because they got a tip and they ran off and there was full intentions of arresting them and maybe they're arrested later. But if you're doing this work and your sole purpose is to recover the survivors and you're not making that arrest, that is not always the best option because that trafficker is still going to be in the business of trafficking the next day. So you need that arrest and that arrest is going to get them off the street and to protect an unknown amount of people. They could have become a huge trafficker the next week or maybe they already were. And getting them off the street is protecting an unknown amount of people.

It's hard to put the gravity to it because you can't make a statistic on a possibility. Maybe they were going to traffic five more girls, maybe 500, we don't know. But getting that prosecution and getting those steps followed through by the government, that commitment, and then it also really, the prosecution really helps to empower survivors to come forward. Because a lot of times, I know we've heard it in America with the Me Too movement and stuff like that, when people realize that you can get justice and that people are going to believe you and to work for you, that is going to make them more likely to come forward and tell their story and seek out justice. And those prosecutions help to do that because it's a tangible way to show survivors that law enforcement is committed to helping you and they are committed to prosecuting these crimes and to arresting these traffickers and arresting you. Yeah, and the other part, Mark, that you had mentioned that I think is huge is all those people that you trained are carrying that out in ways that you're not necessarily still connected, but that goes, like you said, it's totally sustainable. It goes on and on and on and on as those people are now joining the team.

Yeah. You know, we do maintain a really strong connection with everyone we train because they're part of the task force. They get deployed and we use them. The incredible thing is the feeling of, hey, we're in this fight that we create around the world, that we're in this fight together. We recently just took our task force from one country across into another continent to help train and facilitate growth in another country. And that was like that was like an epic moment for us this planet, because we've always had this dream that we would cross pollinate our task force, that they would help train and build up in other countries and they would support one another. And we got to see that that was that was a really big moment for us to do that under the counter trafficking teams that we have in the world.

A couple updates. One, we've got a you know, we do have a country expansion in South America. We need people to pray about that. And I'm just going to mention it because we got to do another show on it. But in the last five days, we had an operation that led to the rescue of 24 victims. We arrested 17 people in conjunction with the agencies. Actually, our team, all the people we train, we had 103 operators involved in this takedown. So that was incredible. 41 vehicles.

So we'll do a whole show on that. But be in prayer for those victims. In West Africa, we've opened a new interception point and it's never been accessed before. Our operators are on the ground there. We've expanded. We had our first arrest and rescue there just in the last two weeks. And so a lot of good things. We've actually also in West Africa, we've we've just kind of received approval through one of our partners for a trauma center. And so we just we're trying to help in every way that we can. One of the things I'm super excited about in the counter trafficking division is Ren is along with part of our team is headed into a Spanish country where we have a survivor of an operation that we didn't last six months.

And she's a 28 year old girl. And maybe Ren, can you kind of briefly share about the exciting trip upcoming there? Yeah, I'll share a little bit.

And then when we get back, I definitely want to, you know, maybe do a whole episode on it too. But yeah, so the girl that we're going to visit was one of the survivors that was recovered in Operation Catalya back in August. And her choice was to get repatriated to her country. So we went through the process with them, what was gonna be the best option, she wanted to go home. So that happened, we sent her home, and she started working at a beauty salon with another girl that had actually been recovered from trafficking with her. They met in their trafficking situation to become really close.

So those who started working in this salon, and the woman that owned the salon eventually decided that she wanted to sell and return to her home country. So the girls kind of, you know, were freaked out a little bit by that they just found this job. They're pretty excited about it. So they reached out to our victim witness coordinator. And one of the things that they said is when Ren met with us in the State House down in the Dominican, she said, If we ever need help, we'll let you guys know and they'll try to help us.

Do you think you can help us? And I was like, I love that they remember that. And yes, absolutely. So the woman that was selling the salon was selling it for what would be considered a small price here in the United States. And we were able to purchase that for her and regift it back to those two victims. And now they are business owners.

And it's primarily the one the 20 year. Yeah, the 28 year old is the primary owner. So now they're business owners. And their goal is to hire more trafficking survivors and to work on trafficking survivors and to work on men and women. They want to work on men to kind of help with that connection.

Obviously, they were they were victimized by men, and also kind of minister to them about what's right and what's wrong while they have them in their chair. So I thought that was really cool. We're going down to see the salon and we'll be presenting here with a plaque and getting to hang out with her for a little bit. That is so awesome. Well, we got to go to a break. But you can see this episode is Oh, my goodness, what God is doing around the world is, as Mark said, the favor that he's showing.

We'll be right back. Later in rescue is a USA based organization that conducts international rescue operations for people suffering from human trafficking. lantern specializes in sending former US Special Operation law enforcement and intelligence personnel to partner with host nations and assist them in creating specialized units for people suffering from human trafficking. To combat ongoing security problems, such as genocide, terrorism, and human trafficking.

As a nonprofit charity, they offer services free of charge to their host nations. Human trafficking is grown into the second largest criminal activity in the world reaching an estimated $150 billion in annual activity. lantern rescue is developed rapidly to combat trafficking. lantern operates through a trained international network in order to rescue women and children from sex and labor slavery and facilitates holistic aftercare services. They're gearing up for operations right now and you can go to lanternrescue.org to see how you can support them financially.

This is your one minute light the way with lantern rescue. Among the many injustices of our generation, the greatest is the exploitation, persecution and displacement of children around the world. These children are suffering at the hands of those who dehumanize and abuse them.

They live in a world that feels hopeless and void of justice or purpose. But we want you to be a part of protecting those innocent lives. We want you to stand with us and stop the exponential growth of injustice and exploitation of children around the world. Partnering with lantern rescue means that these children will begin to experience and understand their true value worth and will have the opportunity to experience physical, emotional and spiritual freedom to the fullest. We're not going to stop until they're all rescued. And we hope that you will join us. It's time to choose the ending of their story.

And you do in fact have the power to protect a child. Welcome back to lantern rescue and this update on God's favor around the world with lantern rescue. So good to have Mark and Wren on the show, the founders of lantern rescue. And so Mark, not just what happened in 22, but already 2023 has been a big year. Yeah, I was excited to share the totals for 2022. And for January 2023, we started off so strong, our countertrafficking teams rescued 43 victims. We made 34 arrests, the countries involved and us in hand, we opened five new investigations, we hosted and held two training sessions for agents in which we had 50 attendees, 50 agents attend those trainings. So, you know, with the countertrafficking division, we have definitely started off really strong. And we're so thankful for the support. And we're so thankful for the countries, our foreign partners and the fight that they're, you know, everything they're putting into the fight with us.

So it's been really good. I wanted to move to our crisis in conflict. And, you know, when we talk about crisis in conflict, our job there is, is maybe different than what you're used to in humanitarian aid or response. We don't really respond to all tragedies in the world, but we definitely have the ability to respond to, you know, war or conflict. So we typically like to provide safe passageway for those trying to escape those moments, we work to establish a support center, we do what we can to foster healing and hope.

And then we develop supply routes. And we've been very successful in Ukraine, and to provide a safety vital network, getting resources to individuals and families who are stuck in that area. And just in the month of January, we actually serve 2733 people who are registered and served in our system, we got, you know, new volunteers, five new volunteers that come in or really volunteering full time to work in that environment. We hold what's called hope, hope restored celebrations. And we actually held 24 of those. And what that is, is for our listeners, a hope restored celebration is where we might do music, it might be a vacation Bible school kind of setup, or it might be a fair carnival type of setting in a church or a building. And in the month of January, we had 70 families attend that.

So that was 104 children, and 2020 adults. So we're so you know, grateful for all of our partners in that all our employees, everybody who's working in that level, I got to be part of one of those where I was able to deliver Christmas gifts was after Christmas. So it was just the beginning of January, but I was able to go to a women's shelter that we have in Ukraine, and we're able to give gifts to those single mom and their children.

And that was really special. We also were able to set up a generator, which was not easy to do. But we were able to finally accomplish that and have a generator for our single mom shelter in one country.

And we're also able to just encourage train and give spiritual support to our instructors and teams. You're also familiar with not just our crisis conflict response in Ukraine, but also in Turkey. And you know, what I wanted to say is we were able to respond in like 40 minutes, we had two teams in 40 minutes, gassed up, ready to go be part of helping immediately.

And inside of a few days, we had 1000 blankets, we were we were giving out. Okay, and that those two teams are led by employees and volunteers, and they are still working. And they are still they're doing everything ongoing that they can to help that crisis in Turkey, that, you know, the earthquake response. So we don't always respond to, you know, natural disaster. It's, it takes us to a real consideration.

But when you already have people on the ground who are employed to do other things that are already working, it was almost, you know, it would have been it would have been wrong for us to turn our back to this issue and not respond. And so I'm grateful for our crisis conflict response and all that those guys and girls are doing, you know, because it gives us an opportunity to not only respond in desperate moments, but to also give the gospel, you know, and focused in on that on maybe a recent show that you heard. Yeah. And it also it warms my heart tremendously to see the listeners jump in with a way to respond on all these levels to write that.

Right. A big part of what God's doing is with you, the listening audience, the podcast listeners, and those people that share this broadcast and share the podcast, all those things impact the resources that make these things available around the world, right? Yeah, we need we need that we need our listeners to be as responsive as we are. There are obviously other organizations on the humanitarian side that are enormous, and they are going to do incredible, sustainable work. I mean, they've got, you know, a lot more money than we have.

Okay, where we are really good at, though, is we don't have a lot of red tape. So we have people there in these countries, you know, so where we can be in a fast moment is at the epicenter. Like, we can be there so quickly in the world in conflict or disaster issues, you know, situations, because we just we have the employees in the network, where we're already in and out of these places.

And, you know, one of our teams, so one of our teams, I think, had a vehicle, the other team didn't. So, you know, we literally had to commandeer a vehicle, you know, from a, from a church and say, look, can we use this, and we're able to do that. And so thank you to our people who have given toward that and continue to give toward that. We are obviously doing all we can in Turkey. And the work that we do in Ukraine is is so vital. We are we are actually the official support center for internally displaced people and refugees in the central Ukraine.

We've just become that we didn't intend to do that. We've just become that because, you know, when you're feeding 500 to 600 people per day, and then giving them clothing and bedding and everything else, they're we're just doing a good job and we're we're grateful for it. So please continue to pray for us and give to that as well. So Mark, you know, I know one of the original teams has has been the recovery and, you know, retraction team. And so what about that group? Yeah, you know, Ren and I, when we found it, and even the original team members, TC and Alan, who, by the way, are just pray for them, you know, one's in one country, one's in another, and moving different directions right now.

Or we'd have them with us on this show. But one of the things that we've always cared about are people who are persecuted, you know, who lantern is that we rescue the exploited, the persecuted, and the displaced. And so the exploited are those who are being trafficked, the persecuted are those that we're about to talk about, and the displaced are, you know, what we're doing in crisis and conflict. When it comes to recovery and extraction, and helping people who are under extreme violence or threat of death as a result of their faith. There is this is this is a task.

This is not easy. But we've always done that, as, as individuals, and for lantern to be able to formalize that, and to organize that, and to make it even a division of us and something that we're doing is such an honor for for us. Because we do care about Christian people.

And this is, this is where we're on Christian networks. So this is where not everybody knows this about us, but that we care about our brothers and sisters in Christ so much that we take this on financially, logistically, in every way, operationally, that we want to do this. So right now, we are doing this, we're operating in about 15 countries in this fashion.

Okay. For the month of January, we got five new requests. For the month of January, we recovered and extracted 25 people in different parts of the world, got them to safety. We are currently, so this is where it gets real for our listeners, we're currently sheltering 115 people in the world, meaning we have them in one of our safe houses or under our care. 115 people, some of those people, we don't know what to do next. Some of those people, we're processing paperwork, getting there, you know, helping see if we can get visas, documentation, interviews done. Some of those people, we're moving quite frequently just to keep them alive. That's 115 people whose lives are depending on Lantern Foundation right now. In that same type of work, we also want to report something that we think is really important, and that is salvation and baptism.

Okay? And some people would say, well, how does that fall in? Well, a lot of these people that we are moving are people that, through our networks, come to Christ, then are persecuted or isolated by their families or threatened by their communities, and now we have to help them find a new place to live. We saw 29 people accept Christ, and we baptized 20 people. So that's exciting that our divisions and our operations are resulting in demon's salvation and baptisms.

But I'll share one story that is real, and I can share it now because we finished it and completed it. We had a family of 13. They were constantly on the move.

They spent months trying to avoid inevitable persecution, a threat of death for their beliefs. Seven of those 13 people, Robbie, were minors. The youngest was 15 months.

The next youngest was a three-year-old. And listen, they had to be moved. We had them in a position in a safe house, but even through the move, through the night, we had to limit their exposure, and at one point, this family hid in a cave. They had to hide in a cave for days to avoid death. So we provided them legal documentation with working with the government and all that was required there, and our extraction team transported them across into another country where they escaped. I'm telling you, their fate would have been death.

If they had been captured, that many children, it would have been certain death. And so, Lantern and the Recovery and Extraction Division, we gave them everything necessary to access and to flee their situation. So we just got to say to God, be the support for that, right? Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Well, I hate we're out of time, but we certainly want to urge you all listening to continue to join the fight. And you can do that by certainly praying for these teams around the world. Yeah, pray for us.

That's huge. But also, as God puts it on your heart, then right there, it's easy enough. You just go to lanternrescue.org, hit the donate button, right? And as God gives you an opportunity, what an honor it really is to give to these things that God is clearly doing. And you can see it, right, Mark? And how encouraging is it when you guys receive those?

Yeah, it is. With hundreds of requests around the world and investigations open domestically, internationally, we really cover your prayers. And of course, we need your funds to respond quickly to these things as well. And keep sharing the show and the podcast. And again, we just thank you so much for listening today. And thank you, Mark and Wren. That's so good.

Thanks, Robbie. Yes, Jesus loves you, no matter where you are in life. At Truth Network, our goal is to encourage, challenge and uplift our listeners with the life changing truth of Jesus Christ through Christian Talk Radio. Jesus loves you, and that's the truth. This is the Truth Network.