Amy Laux, Author at Women At Risk, International

Why are they important?

Pop-Up Boutiques: Why are they important?

Here are three important responses to that question:

(1) $300 in sales hosts a woman in one of our international safehouses for a month.
(2) Rescue has happened at them, read below.
(3) Product sales mean empowerment providing income to rescued & at-risk women.

WAR, Int’l events are more than shopping at our pop-up boutiques to empower at-risk and rescued individuals or presentations to learn ways to fight trafficking. They have birthed stories of rescue. Here are two of those stories.

A Little Girl Saved

Our hostess shared the following story: “Pamela, an event attendee, came up to me tonight at our meeting and told me that she is an officer of the court. Pamela said that after our WAR, Int’l presentation, she remembered the signs of trafficking discussed and she remembered a man with a young girl in court. The man had the passport and did all the talking while the girl held her head down the entire time. Pamela was able to get a message to the judge. After questioning them, the court confirmed the girl was being trafficked. Your presentation was used to save someone! Thank you for all you do!”

A Pop-Up turns into a Rescue

At WAR, Int’l we often say, “one call can save a life.” While this usually brings to mind emergency calls or hotline tips, sometimes a simple call about hosting an event can also lead to rescue.

Valerie from Atlanta made such a call. Many years ago, she attended a women’s conference where WAR, Int’l Founder and President Rebecca McDonald spoke about Atlanta’s trafficking crisis. Inspired, Valerie kept a WAR, Int’l brochure tucked in a book & forgotten… until six years later, when she rediscovered it. Feeling prompted to act, she contacted her women’s ministry leader and arranged to sell WAR, Int’l products at a retreat.

When asked to speak about trafficking at the event, Valerie agreed. She also sponsored a young woman who couldn’t afford to attend. During Valerie’s talk, the sponsored woman bravely shared her ongoing story of abuse, addiction, and exploitation. She confessed she was being trafficked and used to recruit others—and she wanted out.

The women surrounded her with prayer, hope, and practical help. Ministry leaders found her a safe place to stay and connected her with resources for her journey to freedom.

In rehab, supported by Valerie and others, the survivor thrived in the program, even expressing a desire to help others escape exploitation someday.

Contact us today at 616-855-0796 or Party@WARInternational.org to host a pop-up boutique!

Signing Up for WAR

RE: State Delegation Visit at HQ
Author: WAR Staffer

When I signed on to work at Women At Risk, International, I was intimidated by the sheer magnitude of human trafficking and its ever-growing presence all around the world. On my first day on the job, I sat with a dozen delegates from eight countries who came to WAR, Int’l offices to discuss human trafficking and share experiences, struggles, and solutions in order to learn from each other.

The delegates from Poland, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Estonia, Georgia, and Northern Macedonia listened intently as WAR, Int’l founder & president, Rebecca McDonald, discussed the hard-fought victories and heart-wrenching challenges she has faced in her decades of combatting trafficking.

Listening to Rebecca and the delegates speak, I was struck by the common struggles that transcend geography—the elusive corners of the internet, the manipulation of a supposed friend or loved one, and the economic desperation that makes so many people vulnerable to traffickers who promise to provide but prey on them instead.

Rebecca and the delegates also discussed unique struggles in countries ravaged by war or by government upheaval that add layers of complexity to rescue and redefine the meaning of safety and home.

One question asked by a delegate seemed to strike a similar nerve in all. She wondered, with so many to help, so much to do and so many setbacks, how do you keep going? What stops you from giving up? It was an understandable question. Rebecca’s answer was simple. “I celebrate the woman rescued today because I know she is now safe, but my heart breaks for the many still out there and that’s what keeps me going.” Nods of agreement came from all around the table, from Azerbaijan to Ukraine. It’s the thought of the next person in need of rescue and restoration that propels them forward, that keeps them in the fight.

So, when I look at the enormity of trafficking and the many issues that put women and children at risk, I will also picture that table of faces from around the globe, and all the good people they represent, enthusiastically nodding yes, saying we must keep working, keep searching for the next one, and the thousands still out there. Their passion to continue the fight reminds me that while human trafficking is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world, the army of people willing to wage war on trafficking and support survivors is growing too. I am happy to be joining the ranks.

Whether it’s a necklace or a goat, these guides turn every gift into hope.

Our Creative Gifting Guide | Make a difference through your giving as you #GiftWithPurpose for the loved ones in your life. Together, we will lift lives to dignity!

Shopping Guide: Festive & Timeless | Hope-filled and ready for you. This holiday, give gifts that last—festive, meaningful collections that empower lives with purpose.

It’s always been my dream…

Author: Liz, a survivor

Liz is a survivor of human sex trafficking. She was groomed and trafficked by a fake boyfriend in her teens. Thankfully, she escaped and is now married to a wonderful man, and they have 2 young boys.

In 2018, I started my clothing line Stolen Angels, Inc. One of my goals was to meet the Detroit Tigers and to partner with them or to be at their game to raise awareness. I wasn’t sure exactly why, but I knew I needed to connect with the Detroit Tigers (the baseball team of my childhood) and draw upon the influence they have in the community. I knew their influence was powerful and nobody was utilizing it. Plus, lots of MEN watch baseball, and I really wanted to reach men on the topic of human trafficking. Lots of trafficking can happen at sporting events (the Super Bowl, etc.) and I literally wanted to bring light smack dab in the middle of where it happens!

It’s always been my dream to be able to be at an actual game. Perhaps, even, one day to meet the team and let them know what a huge influence they have and the difference they are making. When I was doing my clothing line, I had rubber bracelets that had “Stolen Angels, anti-human trafficking advocate” on them. I emailed the community outreach for Detroit Tigers and asked if I could mail his team these bracelets for free. He said I could! So I mailed about forty bracelets to them, but then never heard anything more from them.

When I first heard Women At Risk, International (WAR, Int’l) representatives went to the field and the Tigers chose WAR, Int’l as their nonprofit for the July 12th game this year, I knew I had to be there! It was really awesome to be able to walk in those special doors with my wagon full of products made by rescued women. I almost felt as if I had the women sitting in the wagon with me and I was rolling them through the VIP entrance to have their work displayed for thousands to see.

I love working for an organization that thinks outside the box. Trafficking awareness shouldn’t be restricted to sitting behind a table at a flea market, but should be out in the community reaching the people, letting them know there is hope, there is help.

How will you get out in the community to share this message?

You never know, that woman that takes one of those flyers you’re handing out may be the next survivor that gets rescued because of YOU…

Learn about ways to get involved here.

I Saw What I Saw

RE: Circle Tour | Thailand
Author: Trip Attendee

The flashing neon lights. The pepto bismol pink taxi cabs. The congested streets where the flow of traffic overtakes the law of the road. The motorcycles and tuk-tuks that squeeze forward in between traffic, seemingly creating space where there is none. The bustling street life. The incredible markets. The rich tapestry of colors. The ornate architecture. The beautiful people. There’s so much that meets the eye here on the streets of Bangkok.

But there’s a dark side too. Human trafficking. Prostitution. Red-light districts. Women (and men) trapped in cycles of hopelessness, captives to all manner of exploitation. And that’s the whole reason we were there: to light a candle in the darkness, to embody the heart of our heavenly Father and wrap arms of love around wounded women as we laughed, cried, celebrated, and worshiped together.

At the banquet we hosted for 200 rescued women, I was seated at a table of giggling, excited young women. Except for one. This one tugged at the strings of my heart because in her I recognized my younger teenage self. She sat there with a wan half smile on her face that was missing from her eyes. As the other girls joined in the gaiety and scrambled for the prized contents of a now broken open pinata, she remained in her seat, seemingly paralyzed. Instinctively, I knew she needed an advocate, someone who would “fight” on her behalf. Never mind that I was usually the shy one who held back. I took her by the hand, and together we joined the mad dash. She meekly followed as I dove in to gather what scattered “goodies” I could find. As we returned to our places at the table, gifts in hand, I’ll never forget the look on her face. A flicker of light emanated in those lovely dark eyes and spread across her features, delight that she too was included in receiving the gifts she didn’t have the courage to seek out on her own. My heart broke for this young woman because I wanted her to know she was worth fighting for. I wanted her to know she was worth receiving good gifts. I wanted her to know her portion was life, not death, and there were people who would stand in the gap for her when she couldn’t find the strength for herself. I can only hope and pray that my simple gesture was one small key to her discovering these truths for herself.

Later in the trip while visiting an orphanage for at-risk girls, I was seated beside one young girl, her arm intertwined with mine as she traced my hand with her own. Without a word, she slipped a simple ring off her finger and placed it on mine, then gently placed my hand back in my lap, nodding as if to say, “This is for you.” I was stunned by such a gift, and it is something I have kept treasured to this day. It is a reminder to me of a little girl with a heart so full of warmth and generosity that she gave me, a stranger and a foreigner, a deeply personal gift from what little she had to call her own. That ring was a gift of her heart, and it deeply touched me. It moves me still.

Recounting these experiences, I am reminded of a song by Sara Groves that has stayed with me from the first time I heard it years ago.

I saw what I saw and I can’t forget it
I heard what I heard and I can’t go back
I know what I know and I can’t deny it

Something on the road, cut me to the soul

Your pain has changed me
your dreams inspire
your face a memory
your hope a fire
your courage asks me what I’m afraid of
(what I’m made of)
and what I know of love

When you encounter the suffering of others, you can turn away and deny its existence, or you can allow it to forever change you and the course of your life. Meeting these women face to face changed me in a way I struggle to describe. Even though we could not speak the same language, we became a sisterhood. They were no longer stories that I had heard or read about. I saw their faces. We embraced each other. We cried together. We laughed together. In them I could see glimpses of myself. You cannot walk away from that unchanged. I went on this trip intending to be a blessing, and in return I was so much more abundantly blessed than I could have ever imagined. And I have never been the same since.

Across language barriers, across time zones and cultural divides, love bridges the gap. Love speaks louder than words. And it is love that has the power to change you. I hope you let the same love that changed me, change you. And you will see the ripple effect of how that love will reach out into the lives of those around you and change the world one single life at a time.

Learn about Circle Tour 2026 here!

Works Cited:
Groves, Sara. “I Saw What I Saw.” Sara Groves, 2007, www.saragroves.com/song-lyrics/i-saw-what-i-saw