Miracle

Child trafficking was never real to me. I had no personal experience with it, no friends who had gone through it, and I could not fathom the idea of a human being sold into slavery. Of course I knew it existed, but I also know that lots of things exist. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ve seen it or lived it. All that changed last week.

Two boys who attend our drop in center disappeared last Wednesday. Gone. No one would say what happened. The only information we had was that they had gone to Bangkok to sell flowers. It seemed suspicious to say the least. We began a desperate search, we would not let our kids just disappear with no reaction. We went into the community to search for information, we went to the immigration office in hopes of someone having seen them, we contacted World Vision, and we prayed.

There was little hope that we would ever see them again. Usually when kids are taken to Bangkok they disappear. No one ever hears from them again. World Vision of Mae Sot specializes in trafficking cases, and even they were doubtful that we would find the boys, though they were willing to type up a report and keep an eye out. Yesterday, as my friend was on a way to meet with WV, she saw, out of the corner of her eye, a bicycle with bags for collecting bottles and cans; a telltale sign of some of our older boys out collecting garbage. She turned around and as the boys approached her she saw that the two missing boys were with them. Somehow, they had returned to Mae Sot.

She was ecstatic and hugged both of them exclaiming “What are you doing here? Where were you? We were looking for you!” This is what they said…

They had met a guy who promised to give them 20,000 bot each if they went to Bangkok. The boys agreed and the man told them to meet him at the grocery store. They got into his car, and they drove to a second location where there was a van. The guy blindfolded them and they later woke up lying in a truck with twelve other boys. As they talked, they figured that they had been kidnapped and they would be sold. They had been drugged to fall asleep and were now on their way to Bangkok. Somehow they were able to escape from the truck and began to make their way back to Mae Sot by walking and hitchhiking. God had done what we thought was impossible. He brought these boys back to us safe and unharmed.

They cooperated with World Vision, telling them their story and describing the man who had attempted to traffic them. We’re hoping that with their information, the other boys can be found and returned, and the men who are at the root of this will be charged. Not only that, but now the boys will have a firsthand experience of how dangerous it is to go to Bangkok. It's not a new and better life, it is prison. We're praying that the community will understand this and not allow strangers to enter and promise payment for the lives of their children.

We were able to intercede this time, but I know that there are thousands of other children who are not as lucky and have no one to care that they are gone. I pray that we, followers of Christ, will join together to fight against this injustice. Because, it is real and it is unacceptable.