All Posts in Restoration

August 4, 2020 - No Comments!

Mina’s Story of Survival

One Thai New Year's holiday, I went to stay at my aunt’s house. While I was there, my aunt asked me if I wanted a job working at a restaurant in the big city. I thought it sounded like a good idea and would be a way to earn money and help my grandmother, who I lived with.

I took the bus as my aunt had directed and, after many hours of travelling, I arrived at the restaurant. The city was so busy and very different to what I was used to.

When I got inside the restaurant, a few other girls were also waiting to hear about the job. That night a man met us at the restaurant to explain. He told us that our job was not serving food – but that we would be giving sexual services to men.

I didn’t know what to do. I had no idea how this promise of a “good” job had turned out like this. I didn’t even know where I was, or how I could escape to find my way back to my grandma’s house. Had my aunt known about this all along? I felt confused, alone and uncertain about what to do next.

I felt scared I was trapped.

Unable to escape, we were taken to another location where we started “work” the next night around 9pm and didn’t finish until 5am. Night after night, once the clients had all left, we girls would collapse exhausted and sleep upstairs above the club until it would all start again the next night. The owner forced us to work every day.

One night, the owner was very nervous and told us to stay out of sight. We did not know why but we heard shouting and the sound of police sirens. We were crouching down in a laneway just outside the back of the club when some of the other girls took a risk and ran away down the street into the night. I was too scared to run and remained hidden, my heart pounding.

All I remember next was that a bright light was shining on me and suddenly I was pulled up out of my hiding place.

I felt confused at first, but the reassuring voices of the rescue team were telling me that I was safe.

____

The ZOE Child Rescue team alongside local police, successfully rescued Mina and some of the other girls that night and brought them to a safe house.
The owner of the bar was successfully prosecuted.

ZOE was able to reunite Mina with her grandmother. Mina is now safe and working a job that she loves.

Mina thanks God, and ZOE, for giving her
"new life… life to the fullest"
which is what ZOE means in Greek.
____

*Based on real life events. In an effort to protect her identity, her name and the details of this case may have been changed.

July 3, 2020 - No Comments!

Good Food

You may have heard it said, “Good food is not fast, and fast food is not good.” 

Our family started down a different dietary path about 5 years ago when one of our children had some health and wellness concerns. We were curious to see whether eliminating certain foods would make any difference. What happened actually amazed us … but that’s a whole different story. Since that time, I have been on a steep learning curve to adapt recipes, substitute ingredients and create new ways of doing things with our family’s meals. In the beginning, I felt completely overwhelmed, but now I can cook from a place of increased confidence, experiment with new ingredients, and actually enjoy the experience. 

There’s something very satisfying about cooking from scratch and knowing exactly what we’re eating. It might sound like I love to cook, but it’s more than that. I love to nourish. I love to make sure that my family not only leaves the table full, but that they’re full of good food that will sustain, energise, fight off infection and help them to grow. But most importantly my goal, each time we gather around the table, is that we also nourish our spirits. We do this through being grateful, sharing devotions together, reflecting on the loving kindness of God and by spurring each other on towards love and good deeds. When the time comes for my children to leave our home, my desire is that they’ll not only know how to cook amazing, nutritious meals themselves, but that they’ll be spiritually healthy and strong as well. 

One of our goals in Australia is to raise awareness about child trafficking. Although this can be a dark topic, I love how ordinary people like you and I can use our skills, talents and interests to bring about conversations and change. Just like the right foods can heal and turn a life around, at ZOE we get to see hopeless situations, broken lives and lost children experience new life in an amazing way! I’m going to be using my interest in cooking to highlight the monthly need for food as well as to share stories of hope and life - the taste of ZOE!

Food For Thought! 

    • Join our ZFA Prayer nights on Monday evenings (email for details) 
    • Cook one of our ‘Taste of ZOE’ recipes, share it on social media, #atasteofZOE and tag us
    • Watch and share videos, blog posts and social media feeds. (here and here)
    • Order a Taste of ZOE cookbook and pass it on to a friend. (email Sharon
    • Have a Taste of ZOE potluck dinner, watch one of ZOE’s videos from youtube and have a discussion about it. (YouTube)
    • Petition for ZOE’s Year 9 or 10 curriculum to be used in your school. (click here)
    • Parent of a teen? Watch the free online Chapel video with your child. 
    • Person of faith? Pray for ZOE’s work in Prevention, Rescue and Restoration. (join a prayer group or get a prayer guide)

February 3, 2020 - 3 comments

A New Life for Nicha

ZOE rescues at-risk orphans, children who were trafficked, or abandoned and seeks to restore and bring new LIFE!

One of the brightest, most inquisitive, and energetic children at ZOE is tiny Nicha. She is smart, quick witted and is fond of telling everyone she meets, “I go to school!”

Her preschool teacher reports that Nicha is attentive and engaged. It is hard to believe this is the same girl who the police brought to ZOE as a listless and lethargic toddler.

The city’s shopping and entertainment districts are awash with lights and pedestrian traffic. Shoppers look for bargains while merry-makers fill the streets with music and laughter. The merchants and shopkeepers are delighted with the ring of their cash registers, but these are also lucrative locations for professional begging rings.

Nicha was a part of one such begging ring.

You may well ask the question,

How could a tiny toddler be part of a begging ring?

This is her story:

Nicha was born far from the city lights, in a small and very poor village. Through various circumstances, Nicha became the baby in a “family” of professional beggars. She was especially ‘valuable’ to the ring and was used as a ‘prop’ by an adult beggar who posed as her mother, in what was exposed as a sinister performance for financial gain.

Each night, the adult beggar found a place to sit with Nicha cradled in her arms. Hearts were filled with pity as strangers looked upon the poor mother and her sickly child. But, Nicha wasn’t actually sick; rather she was being regularly dosed with a narcotic sedative to make her drowsy, lethargic and compliant.

Some nights the adult beggar would carry her around, looking for people who would give her money. The mother had her role rehearsed perfectly and with a slow and deliberate shuffle, she would pause just long enough for a passerby to feel both uncomfortable and obliged to “help” her sickly baby.

David Cross, a ZOE volunteer, recalls the time when he met little Nicha.

I remember clearly when Nicha first came to ZOE. I looked at her in contrast to my youngest son who was similar in age. At first, I thought to myself, something is not quite right here. She was incredibly lethargic. She was slow to move and overall she did not look well. I actually thought that some testing would need to be arranged, as she appeared to have developmental delays. But, as the days and weeks passed, we all came to realise that there was nothing slow or lethargic about this little girl. We now know that this was the result of the drugs that were still present in her tiny body.

Now as I walk past her, she comes running up and greets me with her loud voice and huge smile. I asked her the other day whether she liked going to school, and she promptly started to tell me what she liked, who her friends were and then broke out into song proudly singing the Thai alphabet! It’s clear now that there is no need for any developmental testing!

Nicha is a remarkably bright child with a promising future. Her life is a testament to what a difference a loving, caring and nurturing environment can make.

*To protect this child’s identity her real name has not been used in this article.