April 24, 2024
DULUTH, Ga. – As a police chaplain and pastor, Terry Rainwater can’t help but be troubled by human trafficking statistics in Georgia.
For example, the average age a child forced into prostitution in the state is between 12 and 14. And between 200 to 375 girls are sold or exploited in any given month in the state, primarily in the Atlanta area.
Rainwater, pastor of Highlands Baptist Church in Hogansville and chaplain for the Hogansville Police Department, said the statistics shared at a recent training event hosted by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s Mission Georgia initiative are overwhelming and the stories behind the statistics are heartbreaking.
The state Mission Board’s chaplaincy ministry brought in Mission Georgia representatives to share some of those stories with Rainwater and other police chaplains at a training event earlier this month.
“It was overwhelming,” Rainwater said. “What really broke my heart was the number of children being trafficked.”
When Georgia chaplains needed training on how to recognize and rescue children and adults caught up in human trafficking, they turned to the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, which has taken a lead role in the fight against what has been described as modern-day slavery.
“Law enforcement officials are on the frontlines of this issue, and so it’s crucial that police chaplains have a better understanding of human trafficking,” said Lorna Bius, mobilizer for Mission Georgia.
Ricky Thrasher, who leads the state Mission Board’s chaplaincy ministry, said making chaplains aware of the telltale signs of human trafficking can save lives.
Thrasher said girls and young women caught up in the illegal trade can have a difficult time getting out unless someone intervenes. That’s why the ministry of Mission Georgia is so important, he said.
“It’s heart wrenching,” said Earl Pirkle, interim pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Oakwood and a chaplain with the Hall County Sheriff’s Department. “If it doesn’t tug at your heart, you’re pretty cold.”
The chaplaincy training came only weeks ahead of the Mission Board’s annual Mission Georgia offering, one of three major offerings recognized by Georgia Baptist churches. The others are the Lottie Moon Christmas offering to support international missions and the Annie Armstrong Easter offering to support North American missions.
“The Mission Georgia offering is crucial to pushing back lostness in our state,” Thrasher said. “Our churches have made it a priority.”
Bius said the state faces major spiritual battles and Mission Georgia provides the means to win those battles.
By giving to the offering, Georgia’s 1.4 million Southern Baptists can help children who have fallen behind in school to catch up, a crucial ministry because social service agencies say two-thirds of children who do not read proficiently by the end of fourth grade end up on a path that could lead to jail or welfare.
The offering also provides the means to share the gospel with refugees from around the world who escaped horrible circumstances to come to Georgia and begin new lives. By coming along the aside the refugees, Georgia Baptists teach them English, help them find housing, and to tell them about Jesus.
The offering covers the cost of recruiting Georgia Baptist families to provide foster care for orphaned children. That crucial because Georgia doesn’t have enough foster families to accommodate the children who need homes. In fact, statistics show Georgia taxpayers spend more than $9 million a year for hotel rooms for foster children because they don’t have foster homes or adoptive homes for them to go to.
“The needs are so great all across our state,” Bius said. “Our God is greater than these challenges. By working, giving and praying together, we can meet those needs.”
