At 48 years old, I did not just fall off the turnip truck yesterday. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve been around the block a few times, however, I was completely unprepared for the assault to my heart and southern sensibilities that I experienced last week as I read my friend Susan Norris’s first fiction offering entitled Rescuing Hope.
Rescuing Hope by Susan Norris
Rescuing Hope is the culmination of hundreds of hours of research into a topic that is quickly becoming a very public issue in America today…and rightly so. As Susan sought God’s path for her writing, she began to be involved in relationships that were outside her usual circle of friends. She discovered that the devastation of child sex trafficking was happening in her own suburban Atlanta neighborhood.
CHILD, not just adult, but child sex trafficking. I’m talking children as young as NINE years old being abducted, placed in captivity and sold for sex by pimps. This is happening in cities all over the United States, but especially in Atlanta, the buckle on the Bible belt. In fact, Atlanta is one of the top cities in the world for sex trafficking.
Consider the teaser from the back of Rescuing Hope:
“Every two minutes, evil strips innocence from a child and sells her into slavery for sex. Not in a third-world country, but in the United States of America. Before you take another breath, the next victim will be tricked or taken from her family by a profit-hungry criminal.
“She could be a neighbor. A friend. Your sister. Your daughter. You.”
Friends, this fictional story is not really fiction. Rescuing Hope is a compilation of the stories and testimonies that Susan heard from survivors of sex trafficking, their families, the police who rescued them, a former pimp, and wonderful people who work for organizations that seek to help the victims of this horrific crime.
Again from the teaser from the back of Rescuing Hope:
“At fourteen, Hope Ellis is the all-American girl with a good life—until the day she tries to help her mom with their cross-town move by supervising the movers. When they finish, one of the men returns to the house and rapes her. Held silent by his threats, darkness begins to engulf her. But the rape proves to be the least of Hope’s troubles. In a gasping attempt at normalcy, she succumbs to the attention of a smooth-talking man on the subway. He promises acceptance. He declares his love. He lures her out from under the shelter of her suburban life.
“Hope’s disappearance sets a community in motion. She’s one of their own. They determine to find Hope, whatever the cost, before she’s lost forever.”
If you want a feel-good story, let me assure you, this isn’t it. Long after I put the book down, I could see the Hopes of this world in my mind’s eye being held captive, violated in horrific ways, and emotionally destroyed in order to make money for their pimp. With that said, I urge you to read this book. Do not stick your head in the sand. This is happening in your back yard and it could be happening to someone you love. Be informed about the ways this happens so you can recognize the warning signs. You just might be the one who saves a child from these horrors.
Since 2010 I have given a tithe of the sales of my Legacy Bible study to a wonderful organization that works with victims of sex trafficking, Wellspring Living. They are located in the Atlanta area and help women and girls who are victimized by this tragedy. If you have purchased a copy of From the Trash Pile to the Treasure Chest: Creating a Godly Legacy, the leader guide or the DVD, then 10% of what you paid has gone to Wellspring. After reading Rescuing Hope, I commit to doubling that and giving 20% of the proceeds of the sale of my materials to Wellspring Living.
Today I am doing a giveaway of Rescuing Hope. I will be giving away one autographed copy of Rescuing Hope to one of my readers. In order to win, you must leave a comment on this post, but not just a comment. I’m asking you to leave a prayer for the girls affected by this vile industry. It can be a one sentence prayer or you can pour out your heart to Jesus for these little ones, but it must be a prayer in order to enter the giveaway. The comments will be open for entries all week. I will draw a winner on Friday morning, February 1st. Please be sure to leave me a way to contact you if your name is drawn.
For more information on Rescuing Hope, please visit Susan’s website. You can also find Susan on Facebook (Susan Norris Author) and Twitter (SusanCNorris).
