Avowal 119: Turning Numbers Into Testimonies & Human Trafficking Awareness (Podcasthon 2026)

In this special Podcasthon episode, I sit down with Melissa Pearson to spotlight Avowal 119 and the fight against human trafficking through faith, awareness, and restorative care. Ms. Pearson shares how her mission grows out of both her personal walk with God and her passion for helping survivors find dignity, healing, and real support. We talk about how Avowal 119 turns numbers into testimonies, using meaningful jewelry and conversation starters to help fund restorative care and bring more attention to the realities of trafficking, breaking invisible chains with real, purposeful chains.

We get into the deeper purpose behind Ms. Pearson's work, including how Avowal 119 supports organizations serving survivors in Jacksonville, Florida. Our conversation explores restorative employment, mentorship, community support, and outreach to women seeking a path out of exploitation. We break down why human trafficking is often misunderstood, why it hides in plain sight, and why awareness is such a critical part of prevention.

Beyond the nonprofit mission itself, this episode also becomes a larger conversation about faith, church hurt, healing, obedience, and the tension of living boldly for God in a broken world. Ms. Pearson opens up about her journey, the role of prayer and fasting in staying grounded, and how God can bring purpose out of pain. I also address topics like masculinity, shame, addiction, and the importance of creating safe spaces where survivors feel seen, respected, and supported, with emphasis on the necessity of men's involvement in these spaces.

This episode is for anyone who wants to understand human trafficking more clearly, support meaningful Christian outreach, and learn how ordinary people can make an extraordinary impact. If you care about survivor support, faith-driven action, trauma recovery, or practical ways to serve your community, this conversation with Ms. Pearson offers both insight and a real call to action.

https://pillar.io/melissapearson

https://avowal119.com/

https://www.hadassahshope.org/

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Exodus, Honor Your Heart, & Nulu Knives: https://www.coupleonukes.com/affiliates/

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*Couple O' Nukes LLC and Mr. Whiskey are not licensed medical entities, nor do they take responsibility for any advice or information put forth by guests. Take all advice at your own risk.

Transcript

 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode. A couple of nukes. As always, I'm your host, Mr. Whiskey, and this episode is a special one. This is part of podcast on, which is for one whole week this week, thousands of podcasts around the globe are highlighting charitable organizations. I think this is a really cool event.

I got invited to it via email. They said, Mr. Whiskey, we see you're a podcaster. Would you be interested in highlighting a charitable organization? I said, well, I do that already. But to really get it out there and make it a part of a bigger event where we're seeing unity, all these people coming together for good causes around the world, that is super awesome.

And the fact that I'm actually in Japan right now you can see if you're watching, I'm holding my microphone in my hand 'cause I have no setup and so I feel like a radio host or something, but. You know, we want to make this happen anyway. I've got bad lighting, although my skin looks a lot younger in Japan, and maybe that's what it is.

The secret is just the lighting. But it's so great to be here recording with someone. We were supposed to record a couple days ago, but we have both been busy and when I say that, I mean our guest just ran a 15 k after injury recovery. I ran a 5K and then we had pop-up events. We had both had planes and trains and cars and all kinds of travel.

It has just been a super busy week for both of us, but we wanted to get together still to make this impact, to highlight what we were doing both individually and together. Ms. Melissa Pearson. So great to have you here. Like I said, you do so much just constantly running around and. What you can confirm, which I'll share from my life as well, is the more I lean into God's will and understanding, the more he gives us.

You know, they say that God will give you a pebble and then he'll give you a rock, and then he'll give you a bolder, both for the difficulties in life and what you're tasked to do. And so I have found myself just busier and busier. But with that supernatural stamina, with following God's will, we find blessing and rest and you know, just energy in what we're doing because we're not just giving and draining ourselves to the world and to sin, but to God's great glory and purpose to ultimately serve him in one another.

So Ms. Pearson, I'd love for you to tell us a little bit about yourself and for anyone who doesn't know. We actually met you and I at a Jacks craters town hall, the very first town hall, and as soon as I heard what you did, I just went up to you. I was like, I need to talk to you about what you do. And you're like, I need to talk to you about what you do.

And we. Prayed together and was a great meeting and we've been bumping into each other since then. So great to have this conversation. All right, thank you so much my name's Melissa Pearson. By day I work in the medical industry helping with aortic stenosis, but by my passion and my purpose in life is for restorative care for survivors of human trafficking.

I sit on a board here called the Northeast Human Traffick Coalition. It is interfaith committee chair. I host a once a a month online meeting with different topics for the community to help raise awareness. 'cause I believe that ordinary people can do extraordinary things when moved with compassion.

We all have something in our hands. And in doing that, I started a company too called the V one 19. It is where we are turning numbers into testimonies. So, human trafficking can be so overwhelming with statistics, and we can look at it as this big issue of like, how on earth could we even move the needle into something that's good.

Well, the Lord's showed me how we could use numbers and jewelry, because we all buy jewelry anyways. Why don't we buy something that matters? And so it could be a scripture, which mine today is 20 verse four. It's Psalm 20, verse four. May the Lord grant all the desires of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

And he, I went through a season where he had to purify my heart and my motives so he could gimme those desires of my heart. And now I wear this. This one chain represents hours of restorative care to survivors of human trafficking Here in Jacksonville through some amazing organizations. I partner with three threaded Hadasa, hope and Arise Together.

These organizations help employ human trafficking survivors, help give Sister Ally programs help women in the adult entertainment industry come to find a life in Jesus when they would like to transfer out of that lifestyle. They provide income, resources, affordable housing and I'm really excited to come in contact.

With these partners to help support them. Now, one thing I hate to bring up, but I have to play devil's advocate in a sense that I know some people are gonna have their opinions about things is something I've seen in the Christian world, which is when people who are aligned with God and have a, a good mission in mind, unfortunately we see some people who don't.

And what I mean by that is I wanna bring up merchandising Christianity. So we've seen some companies and some individuals use Christianity to sell products. And so a lot of people are gonna say, you know, Ms. Melissa, you shouldn't be making jewelry to, you know, be part of the faith or to make an impact because that is conforming to the pattern of this world.

This is secularizing religion. What would you say to that regard? So I would say that God told us to be in this world, but not of this world, and we're all gonna be wearing jewelry. So the cool thing about this is I'm a Christian. I have not actually studied our Hebrew roots until this year of our faith.

And the Lord spoke to me in Hebrew, and that's how I know it's from God. Because we actually don't call these numbers charms or pendants or anything like that. We call them oats. It's o ot, o ot. It comes from the Hebrew word ott, which is a marker to testify to what God has done. Mm-hmm. The company's name a vowel 1 19 1 19 represents Psalm one 19, which is one of the longest Psalms in the Bible.

And it's very rich in testimony. And a vow comes from the Hebrew word it's Edith EDUT, which means to testify to what God has done. It's literally chains that break chains off others. And it's a thing is like a lot of people, we so I work in a hospital system, as I said, by day I can't, you know, that sometimes it's hard to talk about your faith, but now that I wear.

This necklace, people get intrigued of, what is it like? They haven't seen something like this before. So whenever they ask me, Hey, like, what are you wearing around your neck? It's a great conversation starter. And depending on the mood and the situation, I can lead that conversation anywhere. So I can testify to my faith.

And I was like, well this is Psalm 20 verse four. You know, and then we can kind of like go into that conversation. And then I can also say that this chain represents restorative care to survivors of trafficking. The biggest thing with human trafficking is awareness, and awareness is prevention, and that's having a conversation.

So yes, I am selling jewelry that's gonna help with some funds that to help with restorative care. But the biggest thing is this movement that I call the avow movement. And it's the Avow era, and that is where we as ordinary people, lovers of Jesus Christ come together to, to educate the world on trafficking and have the.

Conversations about the signs of human trafficking because the thing about it is it's hiding in plain sight. We're seeing it every day, but our eyes aren't. We don't, we don't know what we're looking at. And so when we start to look out for one another as brothers and sisters, which that is what the Lord is called us to do, then we can start caring for one another.

And when we see something that's off, we say something. Right. One of the things you mentioned there that I love the most is the never knowing what is going to start that conversation of faith. And definitely, you know, the difficulty it can be, especially in this world where Christians are persecuted, much scorn, it is difficult to bring up those conversations.

I actually deeply admire one of my mentors, Johnny. He hosts the Refuge Freedom Stories podcast and he works with restoring juvenile delinquents into a journey of faith and giving them a second chance in life with Refuge Freedom Ministries. He actually has this confidence that I don't entirely have.

I have a little bit. He will just ask anyone, every phone call he has, every cashier he interacts with, do you listen to podcasts, to, to promote the podcast? And then what can I pray for you about? And, and, you know, do you believe in God? I mean, everywhere he goes, he just has that conversation. And I don't know how he does it, you know, because I've thought about it and it can be very intimidating to just ask someone seemingly outta nowhere about their faith journey, which is something pretty intimate and personal.

And also something that can become quickly a debate or a controversy. And so I've always admired how the Lord just acts through him. And I think having something that can be a conversation starter, such as the jewelry is great, especially for those of us who are a little bit more shy. And like you said, it's subtle.

It's not just, boom, here's Christianity in your faith, but. Us attract them to us. And, and that's kind of what we're called to do too, is just not only through us going out and evangelizing, but through our conduct and our appearance. People will know that we are of the faith that we serve God and they'll want to, you know, understand how we are doing what we do.

And that is that conversation of faith. And I, I think it is so important. So I, I agree a hundred percent. And you know, I looked at it as, the reason I bring this up is I was looking at these new sneakers that dropped that were white and purple gradient, and they had a quote from Esther on them, and these were released around the time of per, and it was a very, you know, feminine appealing sneaker wear for Esther and, and biblical women who had great impact.

And a lot of people were like, oh, we're merchandising Christianity, this and that, blah, blah. And I thought to myself better for them to wear sneakers that have a Bible quote on them than to them that wear something that is of this world, maybe something that is. Pagan or just a regular sneaker, right? If we have the opportunity to replace something with that of the faith, why not take it?

And I agree that it's not being, you know, in this world, you know, or of this world. It is just, you know, we are here and we have the impact that we can make. And I really like how you explained a vowel. And going back to Hebrew this year has been my year of studying Hebrew in Greek as well. You know, it started with podcasting coming across some faith-based guests who shared Hebrew words.

And really, Ecclesiastes is where my Hebrew journey started with the word he Now, he was, there's no English translation, but it's how the wise teacher often accredited as Solomon describes life as a dissipation of mist and fog that one cannot capture that is fast and abstract. And you know, that really, Ecclesiastes is kind of like the anchor of my life at, when I first read it, I.

I kind of was depressed and like, wow, this, I, I don't get it. And then you look at the end, the anchor, it says, here's the conclusion of the matter. All has been heard. There's but one purpose in life to serve God and glorify God. And when you look at that, everything else flows and follows when you're obedient to God, right?

God doesn't need our worship. He's perfect. He didn't make humanity just to praise him, right? If he wanted that, then we wouldn't have free will, but he knows that when we place him at the center of our worship and we pursue him, our life is shaped by that. Right? Just like how if you pursue money, your life is shaped by that.

If you pursue lust, your life is shaped by that, right? Worship isn't for God. It's actually for us, and I think that is so beautiful. But I want to go back first to your journey of faith. Like we said, it's intimate and personal. Everyone's is shaped very differently from encounters with God in many different ways to maybe just the way we were raised.

There's a lot that plays into it. What is your journey of faith like? Oh yes, that's a great. Great question. So I was actually raised Catholic. And I went through all the sacraments. I always felt drawn to church. I've always loved going. But I definitely did have a disconnect. Later on in life I realized that a little bit more as I got older.

When I got to high school, there were some ki friends there that they went to a Baptist church and they would say, you know, like, do you know if you're saved? And I didn't understand that terminology. 'cause in the Catholic church, that's not something that we say. And so it got me questioning like, well, am I saved?

They would tell me that what you put in your, like what you listen to, like what you read, it's like trash and trash out. And I remember making this comment saying, well, if you say that, if this music I'm listening to is trash, then are you calling me trash? And so it really kind of turned me off and I started calling them bible thumpers and stuff.

So it was like. And I was like, totally like, like I was just like, Uhuh, I don't want no part of this and stuff. But then I had there was things that would go on at home that I couldn't understand, like why it would happen. And I remember I'd always just feel comfort if I would just go walk down to the church and sit in it.

And so I'd always find peace there. Well, later on in life I had an event that happened to me that was very was very hard. And it was something that I needed to ask God why that this happened. I was a youth minister at the time and I was at a New Year's Eve party in St. Louis. I was, it was a hotel.

I hadn't been drinking. Everything was fine. It was somebody, I was with a group of people that I kind of knew but didn't know. And I made a decision to go to a room. And help. Like I thought I was helping someone with something, but that wasn't the case. And I left that room with my dignity on the floor and I cried out to the Lord that night and I asked God, why?

Like, why have I struggled all my life? And he showed me in that instance like it was like an old time cinema. It was these, these times of like black and gray, of where he was there, where I was accusing him of not being there. He was there. And the people that he brought into my life, he also showed me my sin for what it was.

And I didn't feel shame or guilt or combination or anything. He just showed me the black and white of it. And then everything went white within that moment. And I just saw this bright light and I heard this voice say, you are my daughter whom I am well pleased. And I didn't know that in the word, there's scripture that says this from the bleeding woman where, you know, she like goes and she's like, if I just.

Touched the tassels of his garment, like I'll be healed. And he like wants to know who is it that, you know, touched his garment even though he was going through a crowd where everyone touched him. But he wanted to, he wanted to point and single her out, that what she did, although was against the law at the time, that that was his daughter.

And it was by faith that healed her. And he was pleased with, with her boldness of her faith. And that's what I became a theme of my life. So you talk about Hebrew and going back to it, that's this journey the Lord's brought to me is he wanted me like we hear Shalom, sometimes that's a word and Hebrew that a lot of people like, oh, shalom, peace.

Well, he taught me that shalom wasn't just peace, it was wholeness. There was brokenness that happened from the first 18 years of my life that the Lord wanted to come into and heal in Hebrew and in the garden. We weren't supposed to know shame, we weren't supposed to know that like our bodies were.

That's why we can't handle it. That's why you see cycles and patterns of behavior. That's why you see human trafficking. That's why you see consumption and stuff. It's because of this brokenness that we live in. But God, he wants us to have our heart, mind, body, soul aligned. And sometimes there's this disintegration that happens because of life events.

And whenever we turn our hearts to him, he want, he, he will realign us if we allow him to and stuff. And he will show us the areas that he would like to come into. He cares about the love. It's LEV, it's the inner world. It's your inner life. And that's the journey that he brought me on. And so I have to say that most of my life, when it came to the the Lord, I I knew of God for a very long time.

ISI I went to the Lord and I accepted him as my savior that night. I didn't know that that's what it was, because I still was trying to be Catholic after that. But then I eventually had like left the church and served a different form of the body. And there's been moments like. That throughout my life.

Like, when the Holy Spirit came, that was something else. Like I was feeling like I was studying with these Hebrew women. So I, I was walking my dog one day and I saw this light and I, on this in this building. And so I went towards it and they had a anointed the door for a young woman to come.

And one of the ladies that was in there used to do my aunt's hair. And she's like, Melissa, she's like, I was on my lawnmower earlier today and I had a vision of you. And it's crazy. We anointed the door for a young woman to come through and like this view, here you are. So I was like, well, I have my dog with me.

Can I stay? And so they were studying biblical prophecy and how Jesus is the Messiah and how it's proven and stuff like and it was great. So I was doing all this work for it with them and learning. And so like the Lord was trying to speak to me at a young age. In my early adult years, I was in ministry.

I was doing these things. I was married. I had a wonderful, like, I had a wonderful time. But you know what? That night that that horrible thing happened, I never told anybody about. And five years later I had a, and someone a trigger is what it's called. And I had to relive that. And when I relived it it caused some mental damage that I didn't know existed.

I thought once you're saved, you know, you could, that Jesus just covers it all. You know, I didn't understand mental health. I didn't understand the importance of therapy. I didn't understand this 'cause I was I was a baby Christian and I was naive, you know? And so, there was just this journey that happened.

And it wasn't until the Lord brought me to Florida and I completely just like surrendered. He said, you know, showed me this journey of just how. My heart had all these white, he said this vision, it was like my heart had all these white patches on it, except there was these two holes. And he brought me into each one of them and they represented the root of unloved and the root of control.

He showed me the fruit of those, of those bad fruits. And then he showed me like, if I wanted to, we could, I could repent, I could lament and repent of these things and give it to him. And when I did, those white patches came back over and I realized that I've been on this journey and he's been healing my heart.

And then this voice said that now I have a whole heart that's a foundation I can work with. And it was, it was a crazy journey because the first time I ever met Holy Spirit back when I was studying with. Those women. I was at a moment where I didn't know what I was doing. I was just like, Lord, what do I do?

And I was like wanting to give up 'cause I was having some conflict with some ministry people. And you don't con, you don't conflict with people. The faith, you know, like, and that's the thing you're talking about is like, there could be possible conflict with the faith about jewelry and stuff. And so it's like, you know, he told me, you can't fear man.

And you know, sometimes we just have to stand up. And this one day he asked me to stand up and I did and I about fell out and I sat and I vibrated from the top of my head to the heels of my feet. There was this vibration and this voice inside my chest said, I've anointed your hands to do my work. And my, my hands went hot.

And for years upon years it's been, I was wondering what that work was. And then a vow came to be, you know, a vow came through being on a stair stepper and saying, in a world where you're just a number, let your number tell your story. And him telling. Telling me about the statistics of human trafficking and it being overwhelming, but how every number has a face and every face has a story and those are his children and it's time to go after them.

And I didn't know it at the time that this was gonna be a jewelry line and like all these other things were gonna happen, but I knew in that moment it was time to be bold and it was time to not care about what other people think. And I have gotten some really interesting comments already on the internet, but it's okay because I serve God and I'm obedient to him, and that's all that matters.

One thing that I know that I was at a virtual event run by Steve Wright. He runs this virtual event every week where people can just drop in from around the world and conversate. And one time we had a conversation, it wasn't his quote, he was sharing a quote from someone. I can't credit it, but he said that in terms of genocide, death, or even human trafficking, like you know, one number is a tragedy.

But a million is just a statistic, you know, like mm-hmm. When it comes to, once it gets passed, like one or five or one of those intimate numbers, it becomes a larger number. Then it's just a statistic. And what he meant is that we lose that, that each number is a life. A life that is not just a single life, but connected to many people.

You know, people who have brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers. You know, same thing with suicide. I've, I work a lot in the suicide prevention space. Mm-hmm. And each suicide, even the people who say, I have no one, no one will miss me, have an impact on more people than they could imagine. You know, it is a ripple effect.

And I want to go back to, you talked a lot about boldness, about ending up studying Hebrew with people at uncanny times. And I had a incident once, a, a testimony rather, where I was at a bar with a friend and it was just, just coffee shop. And every Friday night they did like $2 beers and $2 coffees.

And so we went to just hang out and I was teaching him some Hebrew words about Philistines and say, and, you know, David and Goliath and this homeless gentleman had come in to use the restroom. And he overheard me and he sat down and he had me teach him some Hebrew. And, you know, just preached to him. And, you know, you never know where you're gonna have an impact.

And just me talking, he real loud in a, in a bar of all places, which, you know, many. Some Christians would have a complaint with. Mm-hmm. Especially I work in addiction recovery, but what I'll say is yes wine is a mocker and beer as a brawler, as as they say in the Bible. But again, it's all about moderation.

And somos is a Greek word from the New Testament that speaks of self-control, a spirit of self-control not just of your physical body, but mind, heart, and soul. Right. And when we look at the Greek, just like the Hebrew, it goes much deeper. And so I, I think that is amazing. A question I'm gonna ask you, heavy question, powerful question.

If you could only share one Bible quote or one passage of scripture with a woman who has just been raped or human trafficked, you found them as a survivor. What is this one Bible quote or passage you would give them? Oh, man, that's a, that's a good one. You know, and I don't wanna be cliche, but like I would say Jesus, like the shortest scripture in the Bible is Jesus wept and stuff like mm-hmm.

Because he knew what was about to happen. Like he knew that his friend had passed away, but he also knew that resurrection was gonna be able to come. But he also knew the cost of that resurrection. And I'd have to say to her that what happened to her, Jesus wept for what happened to her. And what's going to happen whenever you put your life in the the Lord.

Lord, it's gonna be hard, but there's gonna be transformation, resurrection power. Just on the other side of that, weeping. And I would tell her about the story of Lazarus and stuff and I would tell her the story about, I mean, I would, I would go into detail about a lot of things, but I would just say that like we serve a God that is 100% God, but is 100% man too.

And he knows exactly what we feel he went through, like he went through the things that we went through and that she's not alone and that we can talk to him about anything. Right. You know, it can feel very distant for some people. In fact, I've always known that Jesus wet. But it wasn't until a guest on my show recently said, like, as she was crying, she said, Jesus cried these same tears.

And when I thought about that, when I looked down at my hands and felt my face and said like, God existed in the same form as us, like the closeness, suddenly it was just so powerful to think that like the same blood that I've bled, the same tears that I've wept, you know, that Jesus experienced those just as you and I have felt them.

Like that level of understanding how human he was, really changed everything. And I, I always use Jesus wept as a great example and, you know, yes, he, he needed to call us, but also Jesus, we, knowing that Lazarus was gonna be brought back. So the question then is why did, why did he cry? And on one hand. I believe, yes, he knows the cause.

But on the other hand, and again, this was not meant for us, death was not meant for us. So of course, mm-hmm. God laments over the fact that there is death. But I think too, it is a lesson on biblical masculinity. I always put forward. Right? Our world right now, oh, come on. Between toxic, masculinity, it and making men, women.

And there's a balance in the middle, and it comes from the Bible. And what I talk about is Jesus was showing that as a man, there is a time and place to cry. Right? There is a time and place where he got angry. There's a time and place where he wept. He showed men have emotions, men expression, emotions. And there is a time and place.

And death is a time and place for weeping. Yeah. A lot of toxic masculinity wants to put forward men don't cry, you know, at a funeral you have to be stone faced and solid to be a foundation for your family. Yes, you are a leader and you set an example, but Jesus said the example that death. It's horrible, right?

It is not what was planned for us. That's why God said, you surely you will die. You know that the wages are sin our death. That's not what he intended. He intended for eternal life with him. And so I think Jesus, we is one of the most powerful Bible verses for talking to survivors, but also to teaching our young women and men about behavior and, and about God and humanity.

And I, I think it is so important and powerful. In fact, I just recorded yesterday a social media clip that I'll be posting in the future about gardening and how gardening became something that was feminized and taken away from men. That toxic masculinity put it out as something that women do. But Adam's original task was to be a gardener, to tend to the earth and to take care of all the wow.

Flowers and plans. And you know, we see throughout time that's what men did and suddenly it became feminized. Same with poetry. I'm a poet. I even have the same instrument that David played. I have a replica of his exact biblical type of liar, a keno, you know, because he was a musician and a poet. You know, all this stuff that has been effeminized was part of biblical masculinity.

And then same thing with, we've seen the way women are spoken of in the Bible be twisted by this world into something that is, you know, akin to a servant or slavery rather than a partnership. And so we've seen a lot of mm-hmm. You know, misuse of the Bible. And it's written in a New Testament. It says that, I'll paraphrase here, that the word has always been twisted and always will be from the beginning of time to the end of time.

You know, people will, and that's what one of Jesus's main parts of his you know, ministry was speaking against false prophets in the twisting of scripture and hypocrisy. And I'd love for you to speak about, you mentioned a little bit of church hurt in your life. I've experienced it as well dealing with hypocrisy with people who said they were other faith, but they were a false prophets who use the word to push down others to glorify themselves, not God.

I mean, what would you say to people with church hurt and, you know, especially being someone who has kind of experienced some of that?

I would've to say that people like, so for example, for survivors the, the last place that they wanna be is in the church because they have this question of like, why didn't God come for me? There are some survivors that have stories where like, they do feel like the Lord had liberated them at some point.

They wanna know why it went for how long, but people like us like that have church heard is like, I used to have a different answer to this, but now it's like we hurt all. Fallen people, like we are all susceptible to sin. And when you said something great earlier about self-control, like when we don't have, when we're not operating in the fruits of self-control, we, we can let pride get in our way and ministry can be something that is something to puff us up versus something where we are not emulating our savior that washed feet and stuff.

You know, it's like we have these titles and stuff and it's like, you know, God said, unless you are able to serve you, we won't be served. You know, like we have like the last Shelby first, you know, he made it very clear and I wanted to say something. There was this whenever I've been learning in Hebrew about, you're talking about Genesis in the male and female role, and I'm, I'm gonna, I'm going to butcher this, but it was like inter, it's like cango, I think is how it says.

And it was to be mirrors like the man and the woman were supposed to be a mere reflection of one another. And when we're healthy. I've also been studying like attachment theory, like with anxious and avoidant attachments because of how, you know, we're raised and the things that we go through. It's how you know, depending on our brain chemistry of if we had dopamine oxytocin, these doses of things growing up to where we're, you know, able to have bonding moments and stuff.

So this is the thing is like, we're so uniquely designed, like God wants us to come back to him and allow him to realign it. But he also has given us this beautiful like neuro neuroplasticity of how he wants to understand how we're designed. 'cause we're designed to beings and how the word says, you know, you can re basically we can rewire.

That's cognitive behavioral therapy when, where it says to take every time, every thought captive and, you know, put it through the lens of the word and stuff. This is what cognitive behavioral therapy is about. It's about rewiring the lies that you. Here and replacing 'em with the truth. And so when you're with a Christian therapist, you're able to do these things and you're able to have healthy conversations and interactions and stuff.

And so I just have to say that sometimes whenever we are having this church hurt, it's, it's probably experienced by someone who isn't, you know, being in the word and isn't practicing and operating in the fruits of the spirit. And then we're, and we can't throw the stone because Jesus didn't throw the stone either and stuff.

And so we, you know, scripture's very clear. You know, we come to them together and we talk to them first, and then if, you know, the resolution can't be resolved, then we go get another. And then eventually, if it still can't be resolved, sometimes we do have to shake the dust off of our feet and keep moving forward and stuff.

But it does. I just do have to say like, we can't blame God for church hurt and stuff because that's people doing it to us, not God doing it to us. I agree a hundred percent. You know, only one human being has ever perfectly represented God. The rest ourselves included. You know, we are flawed human beings, as you said, we are in this fallen world.

And we can't perfectly live out the Bible. We can continually pursue it and try to live in alignment with it as much as we can. But we do fall and make mistakes. And you know, Jesus Christ was the only person. So anyone you've encountered who has represented the word wrong. And that's kind of what saved me was my intellectual curiosity.

I said, people keep saying this. What does the word say? You know, we get so dependent on churches and church leaders that we forget the word and the word is our main church leader. Right? Yes. That is the number one thing we need to go to right there. And one thing you mentioned too, that I'd love to touch upon real quick is you talk about biblical quotes in scripture backing modern day science and therapy practices.

And what I have found as I continue to research science and faith in the intersections is that science is just more and more proving the Bible. Correct. Or we're finding that the Bible already told us what we're just figuring out. You know? And I would say that. As I actually I was a nuclear operator in the United States Navy, and that was one of the most atheistic communities.

There were, you know, a lot of nukes had huge egos. They thought they were, you know, they were statistically less than 1% of the American population in that went to their head that they were the smartest people. And what we find with people who are very smart is that they think they know everything.

Therefore, you know, they try to disprove God. But what we find with the smartest people who went to the, the edge of science, most of them said there is God. You know, a lot of scientists who have gone mm-hmm. Quote too far, have found God and I, I I think it's beautiful and I highly encourage anyone out there who is struggling with just the faith alone.

While the word is enough on its own, I recommend going out there and researching all the science that is, is proven God. It shouldn't be your backbone for why you believe, but it is. Mm-hmm. Great. Reminders. Like I love coming across these articles and these videos and just being reminded of like how much God is in this world, how much his signature is in our DNA and our genetic design in the world around us.

From the plants, to the animals, to everything. It is just so phenomenal. And I think that is so great to see that scripture continually backed you know, by science. And I think it is just, it, it just blows my mind sometimes what we, we learn and I, I think it is so true that we can rewire our thoughts.

And one thing that's really important is I have found the less time I spend on social media, the happier I am, because social media is just an echoing chamber of all mostly negative thoughts. It can be a positive soundboard if you shape it that way. But the enemy is constantly trying to shape your algorithm to be against you, to be against God.

You know, and that's not to say that every social media platform is satanic, but there are dark principles behind every nation and every platform. Right? You look at Daniel and you look at quote, the Princip Persia and these ar angels fighting demons that are in control of other nations. You know, we are called to pray for political leaders and the leaders of these social media platforms, right?

They have the the opportunity to make it for good, right? But what we have is. Paid scientists whose goal is to make the apps more and more addictive, their goal is to keep you on there, right? And part of that is the enemy's mission to keep you away from God. And again, going back to somo, to self-control, to self-discipline, right?

It takes a lot of that to build a good healthy feed and to stay consistent with that, because the enemy will always slip something in to try and trip you up. You know, both on social media and in the real world. Melissa, I'd love to ask you what helps keep your faith strong when you encounter slips up in life, whether that's your own sin or the enemy is trying to take you down.

Obviously we know praying is great. Reading the word is great, but what keeps you grounded? So I found out the hard way that some things don't come out by prayer alone. It comes through prayer and fasting. So I make it a point to fast once a week because I know that is it helps with the spirit of self-control.

That was something else that the Lord had highlighted to me on my journey of faith is throughout life, is that I was you know, it was how easily that I would get the things that I had prayed for and I'd wanted, and then the Lord would not be the top. He would become maybe like second or third. Like he was like a Oh yeah.

And God. Oh yeah. And, and God versus him being the number one in everything flowing. And it was like relationships, it was careers. You know, the last two, like two years ago I lost my dream job. I was supposed to get married and it didn't happen. And I got hit by a furniture box truck. So that was like a whole, like, I kept saying, oh, I'm in this job season.

'cause you know, it sounds like job, but. But the thing about it was, is job was innocent. I wasn't innocent and I had to come to that realization of, and it humbled me. And there was this thing of like, where we say, oh, repent, right, repent of our sins. We always talk about repenting and, but the thing is we don't talk about lamenting.

And this is where I think is the key. And it's like the secret sauce of being unstuck is when we actually understand what our sin does to the heart of God. And it's not a shame thing. It's not at all. It's understanding that this isn't how he meant for us to live, nor is it meant for how he made us feel like someone's sin.

When we do it, it doesn't make us feel good. It caught and there's sometimes there's like this extra bad fruit that comes from it. And so whenever we live in accordance to his will, in accordance to his way, and we walk as daughters, as sons of heaven. And we're doing the things that he's called us to do.

We're walking in obedience. I'm telling you the, like the floodgates open. You know, our daddy owns a cattle on a thousand hills. He is. He is the, he's the one in control and he wants to give us good things, but he cannot give us the things that we like, that it's gonna harm us. You know, like we have to go through the testing of our faith and sometimes, and at some points it's a testing of our faith to prove our faith.

Sometimes it's the testing of our faith when we come out of a season where we used to do things one way and God is showing, Hey, you have grown, you have changed. Not only are you trusting in me, I need you to trust in yourself of me working through you. And that's where I'm at right now is he's done, you know, he did the testing to where the lamenting and repenting had to come.

Then he is done the testing now of like, okay, you are good to go. Like you do hear my voice. You are yielded. The thing is, I can go right back if I, if I quit fasting, if I quit praying, if I quit being my word, I'll go backwards and stuff, because it's an every day. It's every day. And it's okay. Like if we do slip up, like we're human, it happens.

Like we miss a day in our Bible lab. I remember just not too long ago, I had a streak going on for like 600 and like 70 some days, and I was like, pumped. But you know, I had a day where I was resting and I didn't wanna have my phone on me, and I didn't check into my Bible app that day. It was the first day that I didn't do it.

And there was this moment of like, oh, I felt so bad. I started crying even. I was like, I've like, but I'm like, wait a second. I, I read the word. It was just my other Bible. I did not get in the word. I was fellowshipping with some friends. I wasn't doing anything wrong. I didn't get on the Bible app and stuff.

Like, and I, my streaks gone like, am I worried about this streak or am I worried about time with the Lord? You know, like, let's check ourselves. So it was, I think it's just being kinder to. Ourselves and loving ourselves too. Like that's grace. Like grace is for us. That saves us. But also God really wants us to give grace because he says we are to love one another as we love ourselves.

And that's another thing. If we're not loving ourselves, we can't love one another very well, and he commands us to do that first. I love that you mentioned how it's an everyday battle because, you know, it is written that our enemy is like a, you know, a prowling line, like he is on the P prowl looking for someone to devour.

But I think important to mention here. For everyone who isn't aware of this is that the enemy leaves you alone when you're already sinning. When you're already failing. You know, he just lets you to your own devices because he doesn't have to do anything. You know, the, the biggest threat of the enemy isn't deception.

It's just not being there when you're already doing wrong, especially if you don't have the presence of God in your life. And I, I love you talked about, like, I remember in, at least from my high school era, I don't, I assume people still do it, which is Snapchat has a streak device where, you know Yeah.

If you Snapchat someone, you keep a streak every day. And people were so focused on that. Like, I knew people who had mental breakdowns because they had lost their streak of whatever time, and they were focused more on their streak with that person than their actual human connection with them. You know, I, I heard a great thing I saw on social media once, which was like, yeah, you send memes to them every day, but when was the last time you asked them how they're doing?

And I, I love that we have gotten into this just. From relationships to just ex, like just daily exchange, like a routine. Your relationships shouldn't be routine to that degree of just doing this every day. It should be meaningful, intentional, impactful, and I think that is something we have really lost.

Same with. Your attendance of church or if you're part of a fellowship group or whatever it is, lady Sunday brunch. Right. It should be intentional. It should be not a chore or a burden, but a desire to do so. We should desire to serve the Lord and that doesn't mean everything is gonna be great. Right.

Fasting. The, the benefits are great and we know we were called to do it continuously throughout the Bible, but it's not always the most enjoyable part of the week. Especially when, for some reason whenever I fast my friends decide to have a party where they're going to like a buffet or they decide to make like ice cream sundaes that day and it's like, where was this yesterday or the, the, the next day, you know?

But that is part of that difficulty. You know, we are called to give up some of the things of this world, but the eternal reward outweighs what we are called to give up. You know, that's something I've never understood people say. Why would I wanna live a Christian life? And it's like looking at, you know, I'm forgetting the name of it now.

I did a sermon on it, but I'll get back to it. But there's, there's a law where, you know, looking at it from a mathematical and a gambling perspective, would you give up just some temporary stuff on earth for eternal reward? Or would you risk enjoying some temporary pleasures for eternal failing, for eternal separation for the father?

And hell. And it's like, what are you really being asked to give up in? Well, Vince well would actually challenge you on this one because it, it's not even like, I would challenge you on this one because yes, it's our eternal reward. But here on this earth, when we are in alignment with God, things like aren't always easy.

Like there's still storms that go around us. You know, Jesus was sleeping in the boat and everyone was freaking out like, don't you care that we're about to die? And he's sleeping with that peace. How was he sleeping with that peace? He knew who he was. He knew who his father was. He knew who was in control that we're, we're granted that on this side of heaven.

I have to say, like I mentioned, you know, I had that job, beer or whatever. I had the dream job. I was traveling all over the world, making great money. Had the relationship, had all these things, but I had a nervous system that was dysregulated. I had, I was not at peace. I wasn't sleeping. When I lost that, when I lost my job, I quickly found out where my, where my faith was and it wasn't, and the Lord are gonna provide me another job.

It was like I started freaking out. I started realizing I needed control and I started putting pressure on other people around me. And so then whenever all that stuff got taken away and I was with the Lord and he like redid everything, exposed it all told me hold space with people, you know, like taught me how to like stay and listen versus always like trying to do and fix and just be still like he was God.

He was the one that works through us. He's not asking us to do anything. And then once you're obedient, then obedience gets blessing. I, like today where I'm standing, where I'm sitting right now I ha I got the job back that I had. Like, it was, it's different. It's a different company. It's a little, it's a little different, but I'm getting paid way more than what I was.

I have a car that they're providing and stuff. I lost a car in the wreck. He provided me with the car. Then yeah, I don't have a relationship and stuff, but I have a relationship with my heavenly father like I've never had before. And I have this peace that is passes all understanding when it comes to like, yeah, I started a business and I don't know what I'm doing, but I know that he's in it and he's called me to it, right.

And stuff like, I know I'm being led and like, even though like before there was all these other things that would stress me out and cause my nervous system to just freak out, I now understand what it means to be sleeping on the boat of life. Like, and I think that's, I think that's winning the side of heaven because then we get our eternal rewards.

So I'd have to say for the person that goes through similar. Things because we people lose jobs. I mean, I'm not the only person that's ever lost a job or a relationship or something. Like, where does your anchoring come from? Where does your nervous system regulation come from? 'cause I mean, I did therapy, I did the somatic work, I did all the things, you know, guy was obedient to that aspect and stuff.

But it wasn't until I fully surrendered to God and then he worked through me and showed me my purpose, and I started walking in purpose versus striving, versus proving all those things. Did I actually have peace in my life? And it's not necessarily that some situations kind of maybe got more stressful in other areas, you know what I mean?

But it doesn't feel that way. I'm not led by feelings anymore. It's more of a knowing an identity now that I'm, that it's more important to be daughter than it is to be so-and-so's company or so-and-so's mate. Right. I think what is most difficult for people to give up isn't necessarily those things. I think at least with the newer generations, it is the indulge of lust, drugs, and alcohol that are the biggest vices of this world that God asks us to give up.

Right. You know, and it, it is not even giving up alcohol entirely, like I've mentioned. Right. The Bible doesn't speak against alcohol, it speaks against drunkenness. It speaks against being led astray by alcohol. And I have a whole sermon on mine altering substances and why we're not supposed to do those.

Right. Like, drugs are no good. Yeah. And obviously lust, like we've seen, I've, I actually just did a sermon not too long ago about beauty versus lust and the whole story of Queen Esther because we have seen beauty. Like beauty isn't bad. You know, attraction isn't bad when it is covenantal and in alignment with what God intended it to be, but this world doesn't have covenantal beauty.

What it has is mm-hmm. Exchange, right? You know, this is about lust, which is just asking, what can you do for me? It's not about honoring someone else. And so these are some of the things that's, I think that are the strongest vices in the newest generations. And, and this is something that dates back, you know, lust has always been one of the biggest vices of the world, along with pride and, you know, these other substances.

And I think that given that up though, you know, it's like what are you really missing out on if you give up porn or drugs, if anything, I feel like your life only improves, right? Because really you are a slave to those things. And, and most people won't realize it in the midst of it, but. You are like compelled to it.

You become dependent on it. Even on the lowest levels. Right? A lot of people who are addicts don't even know they're addicts and addiction. Part of it is the imagery we use, right? We think of addiction when we think of someone hiding under a bridge, mistress trying to have a drink when you know no one's around, but addiction could be right in your home.

Yeah. I have interviewed people who were addicts who were functioning at a high level job, who were parenting multiple children. Some of them had their own business, right? Addiction. Hides so well, and again, that's what the enemy does. He is hiding in a deceiver, and so we are decedent to thinking that these things are good for us or they aren't attracting from our life.

As a Christian, I think this is so important for those of us who are Christian and say, I can still be a Christian while doing these things, and it's like you can't, if you are indulging in that which God has spoken against, there's that separation from us, right? God hates sin. He hates to look at sin. He doesn't wanna look at us when we're covered with sin.

That's why on the cross, when Jesus took all of our sin, it was the first time there was a separation between him and God in that sense. And that's why he said, why have you forsaken me? Right? Sin separates us from God. Now, what I wanna focus on too, because this is for a podcast, hon. We're talking about and highlighting a charitable organization, a vowel one 19.

Let's talk about what it does now. We know it gives back work and dignity to survivors in that the resources are going to a couple different things. Could you kind of break that down for us? Yeah. So, in our early stages we partnered with Rethread It which is an organization that provides three to five years of dignified work to survivors of human trafficking.

So they're able to work for a wage of about a little over $34 an hour. They're able to provide for themselves. And that's something to be proud of. It's something to be, you know, proud of that you're working with your hands and that you're earning a paycheck. And so, if, you know, I think we all can relate to that.

We, Val has also worked with Arise Together, which is a Sister Ally program where now they have a lifelong partner. They've been through some amazing organizations. They're out there, they help with matching with savings. They help with like legal fees. They help like, by just doing events out in the community.

Like just yesterday I was at their fashion show where some of the models were members. They also don't call them human trafficking survivors. They call them members they are members and they get a sister ally that is like a mentor that they do life with. They have monthly meetings with. And then also there's a organization called Hadas Hope.

It's here in Jacksonville, and they help minister to women in the adult entertainment industry. So they are going into strip clubs. They're holding space for women and their story, not shaming them, guilting them, judging them, none of that stuff. They're loving on them for who they are and where they're at.

And if they wanna make that transition to come out of that life and live a life with the Lord, they make those steps possible and help rich. That turning back, you know, when the Lord told me to start about one 19 before he he gave me the vision for it. He gave me a vision after fasting saying that Jacksonville was gonna be a place of refuge, redemption, and restoration for survivors of human.

Trafficking and that my role was to unite all the nonprofits and help bringing Kingdom commerce. Didn't quite know what I was getting signed up for when that happened. But then later on, you know, as I was taking those step of obedience and building relationships with these amazing organizations I found out, you know, that there's needs, you know, especially with things going on in our government right now and with a funding situation, nonprofits are struggling with grants.

And, you know, sometimes a lot of people, they don't have the money, but sometimes it's not just the money that people need. It's like, help with volunteering. It could be, you know, are going to, you know, you're gonna go to events anyways. Like one had a pickleball tournament. Like if you love pickleball, go to the pickleball tournament.

You know, you buy your ticket, you compete, you have fun, invite friends. It's a less heavy way of getting involved in the. A fight and being able to support an organization versus maybe you don't have the thousand dollars that you can give. You know, it's like, to me, I believe that we all have a sphere of influence and we all have something within our hands.

And a huge shout out to a dasso hope, especially with, I would say the newest generations and this empty, deceitful promise of glory and money through OnlyFans and pornography. Right. We know that it's about, last I saw the statistics, it's like only 0.001% of all those people who do it make 75% of the income.

And, you know, that's like a you know, it's an online, they're literally the online pimp, like OnlyFans is their online pimp. I did a, I did a whole call on this, like where I was listening in on someone teaching it. It's re it's literally they pay. Subscription to be on there, and they, they get apor, like OnlyFans gets a portion of what they make, and then first it just starts out as like, okay, it's just this, it's just this.

And then it just leads into, you know, it just leads into things that are, that are more, it's this consumption era that we're in. Mm-hmm. It's like consuming and the, and when you were talking about pornography earlier, it alters your brain chemistry. There's actual studies, scientific studies Yes. About people that are addicted to pornography.

How it, how on an MRI, your brain is different and it's been shown to make people less concerned about consent, less respectful and more likely to be sexual predators and aggressors and agitators. And I think that, you know, we see so deceptive with OnlyFans too, and any of that work is that it doesn't make you as much money as you think, you know, there's that very, very, very small chance and it, first of all, it's not worth it.

Second of all, like I've seen so many testimonies from women who shared about the regret about the, they made no money. All their friends and family have seen them naked and doing unsavory things. They can't get a job. Like it is a very deceitful organization. And what I want to say is that, you know, for the women who are blaming men and the men who are blaming women, it is with all these things, both a producer and consumer issue, right?

Yeah. It needs to be equal blame. We see, well, if men didn't pay, women wouldn't create, and, and we hear if women didn't create, men wouldn't pay. It is both parties false. And we need to acknowledge that, that both the producer and consumer are guilty. This goes the same for illegal drugs and for anything, both the producer in consumer or guilty.

And whatever side you are on, you have a part of accountability and a role you play. And so I just wanna say mm-hmm A huge shout out to the SSA's. Hope for that because I think we don't, we see a lot of people who bash on, on these women, but not a lot of people trying to help them. And like you said there, there's all this just guilting and shaming.

What it leads to is depression, suicide, and people just staying in the industry. And we need people holding that space for them to feel safe to get out. And I think that is really important. And I wanna clarify for everyone listening. Jacksonville is Jacksonville, Florida. You know, there, I found out the hard way.

There are a few different Jacksonvilles across the us, accidentally bought my movie tickets in the wrong state and cannot get every fun. So Jacksonville, Florida. It is, you know, it's interestingly enough, Johnny t my, my mentor I mentioned earlier, he told me about two years ago, he said, Mr. Whiskey, there is a calling there, there is a revival happening there.

And from him to Aand Filippo to talks with Gallagher, there's a lot of faith-based podcasters influencers, businesses that are going there. I think as we approach the end times here, we see a huge revitalization happening. We see people wanting to be part of the faith and to have a greater impact.

So I really appreciate what you do and of course, we can't close this off without discussing human trafficking. You've mentioned it. Yes. You talked about awareness is so important. Let's do a little bit of, for lack of better words, myth busting. What do people get wrong about human trafficking? What should people know that they don't?

Let's talk about this conversation. Yeah, that's a, that's a really good conversation to have. So I think the first thing that we need to do is talk about what is human trafficking. So human trafficking is force fraud and coercion of of a person and stuff. And so a lot of people will think, okay, sex trafficking, we've talked about that kind of tonight.

But, you know, the actual number one trafficking is labor trafficking and something I'm very passionate about. And we could totally move the needle as Christians if we wanted to get involved. A lot of our churches serve coffee if all the churches that serve coffee just served in the United States.

Just the United States served ethically source sourced coffee, meaning that the beans are being sourced from a ethically sourced provider where there is no slave labor involved. We could actually eradicate human trafficking in the world for coffee beans alone. So there's that. So like, I'm gonna, like, that's my big thing for churches.

I was like, when they say, well, I don't know how we can get involved. I'm like, well, do you serve coffee? And if you're already serving. Ethically sourced coffee, just putting up a sign saying that you served ethically sourced coffee. Then people are gonna ask what that is. It starts a conversation. Again, awareness is prevention.

So, and then like there's another thing is people think, okay, human trafficking always involves kidnapping and that is not the case. Like it is, there is usually traffickers. They're building trust. They're, you know, having like fake relationships. Sometimes it's this loverboy situation. There is a job offer for someone in a situation that's desperate for a job.

You know, financial support. We're talking like emotional dependency things of this nature. And it's, they will take their time because unlike drug use in a drug trafficker or drug. Drug trafficker has a supply, they have to sell it to you, then they have to go get more supply. And that's risky business and stuff.

But with a, a trafficker of a human, they have an endless supply with this human. So they're gonna take decent care of them. And they're going to so that way they can keep using them and then they'll say it on, it only happens in other countries and stuff. So people in America will be like, yeah, like that's happening, like over in Thailand, in the Red Light District or you know, places, you know that it's not happening here.

And then the truth is, every state in America is affected by human trafficking. There's not one state here that has not been affected by human trafficking. It happens in large cities and suburbs, and even in small towns because it's happening out in the open. And it can be US citizens. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's always foreigners or un undo.

And it can happen to undocument individuals because they're at risk, because they don't have documents. And so, you know, they're they need protection. A runaway youth, like that's another one. And people experiencing. Financial hardship. And then there's the other li like the myth is like, people think that these people are up in chains.

Like they have them bound in chains somewhere. And that's not the case either. Victims are not always physically restrained. And so if a lot of the times there's been threats made to the family there's been threats about debt manipulation or confiscating certain documents, or when we wanna talk about pornography there's like this revenge porn.

There is like this stuff that, like, that can be created and they're like, okay, unless you do this for me, then you know, I'm gonna go send this to all your family. So it's like a blackmailing. And then they also think that victims should ask for help or would ask for help. They have been victims a lot of times do not identify themselves as victims, because then that has to lead to an acceptance that they're a victim.

So they're, they're, they're fearful of retaliation. They have a distress with authorities because may you don't know what's happened, you don't know what's been said. They have an emotional attack. Attachment to the trafficker, which sounds really weird but we all know with psychology that that can happen.

And then there's this shame in you know, guilt stigma. And then there's also immigration status that's involved with it. So like human trafficking doesn't always look like what we see in movies. So it's not Liam Sance style Things like, it often hides behind the manipulation and it often hides behind silence and more people if they understand the reality of it, they're gonna, we're gonna be able to get these traffickers outside of these dark areas and into the light.

There's times it's happening in suburbs. I just met with a survivor and she wrote a book and it's absolutely amazing. I would get it. And it's about, she was trafficked here in Jacksonville, Florida. She's my age. It was her and three others. And I won't tell her story, but in the end, when everything happened.

She, they weren't very far from one of the people that was trafficked with hers family's house to know that it was just, they were so close when they couldn't be found. It was crazy. And it was just like, man, you know, there's familiar trafficking too. A lot of the times people know their, their abuser and it's, it's just horrible like that.

This is what we live in. Like this is the fallen state that we're, that we're in. But, you know, it shouldn't be overwhelming. And that's the biggest point of like, I always like to leave when I say things that are heavy, like there is always hope and stuff. Like ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

We can, you're listening to this podcast now. You are learning about human trafficking. You can be more inquisitive to know the signs and then when you see something, say something. I was on a run in Miami not too long ago and something fell off. It was an older gentleman with a younger. A younger individual that, I don't know if he was 18, I could have continued on my run because I was training for the gate.

Okay. And I was already late, but I went and I saw that there was a police officer up ahead and I went and I just reported it and I, you know, it may not have been anything. I continued my run as I was coming back, there was lights and everything was going off in that area. I stayed away because, you know, I don't know the situation, but you know, they were right by a port where all the boat, all the boats come in, it's a marina.

And that's the way, you know, you think about Florida, where Peninsula. We're surrounded by it. That's why we're number three in the United States for most human trafficking reports. And you know, Jacksonville has the number one in sex ads and stuff because of athletics and sports. Like I could go on for so long, Mr.

Whiskey, but I don't wanna take up too much of your time, but we could do a whole podcast just on human trafficking alone. Right, right. I just wanted to make sure we touched upon that because of everything that you're involved with. And on that note, I want to end this episode with, obviously you don't have to give us all the details and plans, but the future of what you're doing, what God is calling you to do.

And, and just as we continue to highlight what you're doing with all these multiple organizations, I mean, you've got so much going on, what is the future looking like and how can people best support you? Yes. Well, the best thing is supporting on social media. That's, you know, you can follow V one 19 on social media.

Also, follow the coalition. It's the Northeast Florida Human Trafficking Coalition. It's like all the little numbers and it says Jackson. There's, that's kind of a, that's kind of a lot. 'Cause I do support I do put out all the organizations when they have events. I'm always reposting them so you know how to get involved.

The things with the vowel, we're gonna be at the 9 0 4 popup. We're gonna start going to popups around town just to be able to, you can see the jewelry, we can interact, we can talk, we can, you know, get to know each other. You can join the testimonial series when you buy. That's the biggest thing of what does your numbers mean to you?

It's, it's awesome to buy, but it's also. Also even more to be able to share your testimony 'cause we're overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. And then there's a gala coming up in May. I think it's May 2nd, May 1st, that Hadas Hope is doing, and I will be buying a table for that.

So, I, I was gonna actually ask you if you wanted to come and stuff to the event. And I think going and supporting these galas that these organizations are doing and helping support. And then, you know, like, I also have a couple collaborations coming in. I have a friend who is actively getting child predators offline and we're doing a collab with him.

I won't mention it yet, but that's just a little plug. So we got a lot of good things coming. So I just say follow the social medias, like share save that helps the algorithm and just stay tuned because God's doing a lot through a vowel one 19 and I sometimes don't know the full picture until he just gives it to me.

So we'll just have to see. I, I'm, I'm waiting too. Right. And you don't just do in-person events, but your store is actually online for people to order and custom make their jewelry. So we'll have that website in the description below. My outfit today was actually based off your website branding. I got the gold and the dark blue, so I wanted to match.

Perfect. You know, blue is for human trafficking awareness and that's the day that we launched was January 11th. We purposely launched on human trafficking awareness day. See, it's all, all lined up perfectly. And one thing that you, you mentioned there that I want to mention is you and I have discussed the importance of men being involved in this.

You know, I'm a man who works in sexual assault prevention, domestic violence awareness and prevention. And, and one of the events I actually helped host an MC at was a book launch Warriors of Hope, which was all stories and chapters of domestic violence survivors, rape survivors, and all that stuff.

And I was the only man there. I was the only contributing male author. And what I've seen is a lot of men feel villainized and outcasted from these spaces because statistically yes, it's mostly men who are perpetrating, but we need to show that, right? Yes. There it is. Not just bad men or good men. What we need to teach our children.

I, I love that. I guest on my show had said this is that good men are capable of bad things and bad men are capable of good things, just as the same is with women, you know? Mm-hmm. And we need these good men to show up in these spaces, right? We need in, in fact, the more men we have involved, like it is so powerful to have men against men compared to just women against men.

Right? It is so impactful. And so I highly encourage if you're a man listening to this, like you can be involved in this space, right? You like, yes. At the end of the day, yes, there are certain people, especially on the, the far feminist side, who villainize men a little bit too much, and I, I, I don't blame it, right?

We see a lot of men do terrible things, but we need to show that there are good men. There are men who care. Like you said, we are a mirror of each other. We are partners. That's how God designed us, and we need to be involved in this. So I highly encourage any men listening. Maybe you don't want to get a chain for yourself.

It's not your style. But I encourage, something I'm doing is for my friends and contacts who have been victims of these things, who are survivors, I am trying to slowly over time get them for the holidays and different occasions of these chains to let them know that they are loved and cared for. I think that's one of the most important things we can do is just listening, just supporting, you know, not prying, but being respectful of what the people around us want to share.

Most people don't realize, a lot of us know someone who is a survivor, and we just don't know it. You know, it's not something we always know right away. Sometimes it takes time. I have had friends come to me with you know, stories of suicide, surviving domestic violence sexual abuse friends that I knew for years and never knew this.

What I say is create that space for them where you are listening and respectful and they know that they're loved and cared for, so that they can bring these things to you and you can have a, a greater impact in their life and others. So be that positive energy and space. Always have, one of the things is we're called to keep the word hidden in our heart, in our heart, you know, to meditate on it day and night.

And part of that is being able to provide the words when we don't know what to say. I know that I don't always know what to say to people when they come to me with questions or stories, but I know that God always has the answers. And it's not about the instant conversion or healing overnight. You know, that is God's.

But our goal, our job, is to plant those initial seeds to share that scripture. And you know what? It might not have an impact until years later, decades later, you might not even know the person anymore. But that is all for God's glory and, and for his healing, right? We are just planting the seeds. So whether it's wearing a chain, gifting a chain, or just sharing this episode, I highly encourage you, both men and women, to try and make an impact.

Like you said, Melissa, we all have a sphere of influence and people wanna focus on these big global issues and spread themselves thin. Start with what can you do in your local immediate area, and then what can you do with your online resources, and then what can you do? Work your way up. You have an impact around you immediately and on the globe.

And so I hope that this has been insightful to you. I encourage everyone to please share this. And Melissa, do you have anything to close us out with? Nope. I think that you did. I think you did an excellent job. I just wanna say thank you so much for having me on your show, and I can't wait to see at the next creator event.