What an exciting weekend in Phoenix for the cause against child sex slavery! Two different churches focused their attention on the need to seek justice, and act against the vile crime of child prostitution in the area.

In Chandler, Pat McCalla of Food for the Hungry spoke at Crossroads Nazarene, focusing God’s heart for justice and the call in Micah 6:8 for us to “do Justice” as an act of worship and devotion. Click here to watch the sermon in it’s entirity.

Also, Christ Church of the Valley (CCV) of Peoria hosted Gary Haugen, President of International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org). Mr. Haugen spoke abou the growing injustice of Human Trafficking that goes unristricted throughout the world, and the need for us as Global Citizens to make prioritize this issue. Click here to watch Mr. Haugen’s message at CCV.

The quest to educate the general public of Phoenix is gaining momentum, and will not stop soon! This upcoming Sunday, August 16, Crossroads Nazarene will be hosting a Human Trafficking and Sex Slavery Symposium at which BRANDED will be screened. Phoenix Vice Officers and others leaders in the fight against slavery will be in attendance. Please invite your friends and family to this event, as it will provide meaningful information towards preventing the injustice, and offer action step for YOU to be involved in the cause!

Crossroads Nazarene - 2950 W Ray Rd Chandler, AZ 85224 - www.crnaz.com

Please join us Sunday, July 26 at 630pm at Harkins Theatre - Scottsdale Fashion Square

We will be joined by members of the Phoenix, Vice Squad and Food for the Hungry’s Pat McCalla to field questions following the documentary.

Also, look for a BRANDED spotlight on ABC 15 news tomorrow evening.

Thanks for your support!

Small Scottsdale Church takes lead on Serving Detained Victims

What began as simple conversations, discussing the issue of child sex slavery in the Phoenix Metro Area, turned into a church wide campaign to make sure victims were being served. Journey Scottsdale, a small but growing congregation located in Old Town, Scottsdale grasped the vision that child prostitutes are VICTIMS not criminals. Taking the information produced by the Phoenix Vice Squad, and the scenarios posed in the documentary BRANDED about the need for basic necessities for girls that are picked up off the street, the church took this as a “call to respond”. An they did so in a big way!

Organized by Pastor Eric Ehmann and several devoted and passionate members, the church took a Sunday to ponder God’s passion for justice, and how our lives should reflect that passion. Following the service the church assembled a variety of donated goods into “Green Bags”. These bags included basic toiletries, a small snack, bottled water, oversized T-shirt, and other products that a victim might benefit from after working the street for hours on end.

The small church performed an enormous act of compassion towards those victimized by the child sex trade in Phoenix. Though large scale efforts that require large amounts of capital and investment will be needed to eradicate slavery from our city, so are the smaller-scale initiatives like that of Journey Scottsdale’s “Green Bags”. Together, we can all bring an end to slavery in Phoenix!

www.journeyscottsdale.com

www.brandedphx.com

MISSING CHANDLER GIRL - RACHEL GONZALES picture