Happy 11th Birthday to Freedom 4/24!
By Emily Worsham | Office Manager
Today, February 4, 2020, we celebrate 11 years of bringing freedom and justice to victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
From a Shared Office to a Competitive Internship Program
Although I haven’t been with Freedom 4/24 for 11 years, the past 6 years have been full of growth and expansion. When I started as the first intern in 2014, I never would have guessed that we would have grown out of two offices, added staff members, and have such a competitive internship program that we have to turn applicants away each semester.
A Survivor I Will Never Forget
I have been blessed to not only hear so many stories of complete healing and restoration, but I have also had the privilege of meeting dozens of girls face to face. The story that first rocked my world was Priya in India. In my first year with Freedom 4/24, I learned of her story and how she was sold by her parents at 5 years old to a brothel keeper. She was rescued by our partner, Freedom Firm, several years later. Her picture used to hang above my desk in our old office, and I loved looking at her beautiful face.
In April 2016, I took my first outreach trip with Freedom 4/24 to India. We had been traveling for a few days and were finally arriving at our campsite. It was dark, and I was exhausted. I sluggishly walked into the dining room for dinner and was greeted by 30 Indian girls who were excited for a week of camp. I remember grabbing my dinner and looking for a seat when my gaze caught this oddly familiar face. I stared at her for a few seconds and it hit me—I was looking at Priya. When her picture was hung above my desk in 2015, I had no idea that I would one day meet her, hug her, hold her hand, and tell her she was beautiful. It was then that those stories of women and girls that I heard daily became real. They were no longer just stories or statistics—they were real people whose lives had been changed by our work and the work of our partners.
Our Behind the Scenes Work
Before I started working for Freedom 4/24, I wanted to be a missionary serving victims and survivors on the frontlines. It didn’t take long for me to realize that our work “behind the scenes” is just as important. With our support, our partner organizations around the world are able to do things that they wouldn’t be able to on their own.
Christine’s House in Uganda would not exist without Freedom 4/24. That’s 18-20 girls (not including their babies) a year who were once being raped and exploited but are now receiving housing, medical care, counseling, and life training skills. Since 2018, we have been educating hundreds of youth in the Central Virginia area on the dangers and realities of human trafficking. Our work of prevention education is absolutely critical to ending sexual exploitation and trafficking.
So, as we celebrate 11 years, I am grateful that the more I work for Freedom 4/24, the more I see how God is using this organization to impact lives. To freedom, to justice, to ending slavery.
Emily Worsham is Freedom 4/24’s Office Manager. She was born and raised in Lynchburg, VA. In 2014, she graduated from Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Biblical Studies. In her free time, Emily enjoys all things outdoors, traveling, pottery, and learning about new cultures and languages.