DIGITAL VERSIONS
“I feel inside me a stirring… this is a special book… the words speak deeply to my heart.” Anya* had blocked her emotions to be able to cope with the abuse and violence of her trafficking situation. She would only tell parts of her story without any emotion, so her reaction after receiving this book was just very special. ”
THE BOOK
Tanya was trafficked by her boyfriend from rural Romania to work as a prostitute in Germany. This book is for her.
Jessica works as a prostitute in Belgium, she came from her home country of Nigeria to pay off debts. This book is for her.
Bruno is a German student who started visiting women in brothels after breaking up with his long-term girlfriend. This book is for him.
The Book of Love is a resource filled with information and encouragement, but it is also a relentless reminder of hope for those working in the sex industry. Our prayer is that the words would speak courage and compassion and the art would reveal joy and redemption. Our goal is that these books would go out as little seeds planted throughout the continent, as something tiny but filled with promise and potential. It will:
- Equip you with an accessible and appropriate tool to deepen conversations and build friendships with people in the sex industry.
- Encourage your church to step boldly into ministry and become more resourceful, responsive and relevant to all who need God's love.
- Engage both men and women involved in the sex industry with the Gospel in addition to stories of hope and redemption.
THE BACKGROUND
This project was born out of many different experiences in the red-light districts of Europe. We love meeting the men and women involved in the sex industry right where they are.... often this means in the brothels and vomit scented streets of the inner city.
Sometimes we only have a minute with them before the cold air is too much for them to take on their lingerie clad bodies.
Other times we'll be invited into their room.
Much of the time we'd never see them again.
Even so the memory of them would remain with us and we'd pray, wonder and keep working to chip away at this beast of injustice that is sexual exploitation.
Our hope and prayer for those in prostitution is that they would encounter someone who had pure intentions towards them. Or maybe that they'd leave, find their way back home or to a rehabilitation center of some sort.
Always we would pray for their freedom and hope.
Artwork contributed for the book by Savannah Graham.
THE BELIEF
As Christ-followers we have experienced the power of the Gospel to redeem, to loose the chains and heal in our own lives. This means we have a deep persistent drive to see others come face to face with the truth that transforms. As we thought about our place in counteracting human-trafficking, we kept coming back to this idea of having something to give.
Throughout Europe teams reaching out to people in the sex industry give Red-Bull, flowers, simple verses on plain print-outs, business cards or cups of coffee. This is good, but what if we gave something that communicated more?
Many of the people associated with this industry are working outside of their home country. A fieldworker might encounter a number of different languages in one night, making communication a struggle. You can speak to a teenager from rural Romania, then move on down the street to be stopped by an elderly Polish man, then get caught up in conversation with a young German student before praying with a 20-something Hungarian woman with 2 kids... in an hour. Imagine if there was something we could leave with each of these people? Something that kept speaking worth, identity, redemption into them after we left?
THE BREAKDOWN
In 2015, with your help, we raised over 30,000 € enough to print and distribute 14,000 books!
Currently, we’ve distributed these books to ministries in nearly every country in Europe. These simple words filled with the power of truth are touching and changing lives.