FINAL September 2021 Donor Newsletter

Reaching Every Person: Bring the Good News. Train followers of Jesus Christ. Rescuing Every Child: End child trafficking. Restore survivors and at-risk orphans.

REACH & RESCUE

September 2021

We won’t stop until every person is reached and every child is rescued.

BRINGING NEW LIFE...

to child trafficking survivors and at-risk orphans.

Members of the Foreign AntiNarcotic and Crime Community visit ZOE Thailand.

ZOE Mexico team educates pastors and NGOs about child trafficking.

ZOE Japan participates in Tokyo Summer Olympics human trafficking awareness campaign.

Australians respond to modern-day slavery by attending ZOE trafficking course.

ZOE USA receives license to open ZOE Home for Youth in Los Angeles.

ZOE Thailand

Les Ginoza

Thailand Director

The pandemic and loss of tourism income has thrown millions in Thailand into poverty.

“We quickly changed our focus to help provide basic food necessities to the neediest of families,” said Les. “In partnership with Children’s Hunger Fund we donated food packs to families while also sharing the gospel and God’s love for them. Families have been overwhelmed with gratitude.”

THE PROBLEM:

• Thailand is considered Tier 2 on The Trafficking In Persons Report.

• Illegal migration to Thailand presents traffickers with opportunities to coerce or defraud undocumented migrants into involuntary servitude or sexual exploitation.

In early July, Thailand placed 10 million people in the capital under new coronavirus restrictions. “With COVID, the whole country shut down,” said Les Ginoza, ZOE Thailand Director. “We had to change the way we have done our awareness programs quickly.”

The ZOE Thailand team focused on creating media and educating underage kids to prevent them from being exploited.

“We developed a lot of videos because we could no longer go village to village or go into schools,” said Les. “When we did that, our reach increased. We were able to touch a lot more people with our awareness program. Although Covid is a terrible issue, God always shows us the silver lining.”

Recently, ZOE Thailand welcomed 16 members of the Foreign Anti-Narcotic and Crime Community of Thailand (FANC) who represent law enforcement from ten different countries.

“This was the very first time we had an international community of law enforcement come together to discuss human trafficking,” said Les. “The group began to work on a plan to better track down perpetrators who have left Thailand and have gone back to their native countries. This is a big issue that we are trying to resolve, and it takes coordination from the entire international community.”

Like most countries, many of Mexico’s citizens have never heard of human trafficking. ZOE Mexico is working on innovative ways to educate its citizens about human trafficking. Currently, the team is focusing on speaking with pastors and their churches who are hungry to know how they can help.

ZOE Mexico THE PROBLEM:

Our ZOE Mexico team has also met with several government departments about what steps we can take to inform the public and educate communities about child trafficking, especially the most vulnerable areas. The government recently launched a campaign to bring awareness to human trafficking. Our team is also working with other NGOs to communicate about the problem and dangers to those they serve.

What is Fueling Child Trafficking in Mexico?

1) Organized crime and greedy opportunists recruit children with force, fraud, or coercion for labor and sex.

2) Poverty fuels child trafficking - most families do not understand where their children end up; they want to believe the trafficker. They believe their child is safe, going to school, or working a job for a better future.

“We met a mother on the streets with two of her small children involved in high-risk behavior,” said Mauricio Ruiz, Mexico Director. “Our team encouraged her to allow her children to attend school to get them off the streets. She finally agreed, and the two children are signed up to attend “E Kids School,” a Christian school for at-risk children. These children will receive more than just a great education. They will receive delicious meals and all of their immediate needs met in a safe and loving environment. They will also have an opportunity to hear about Jesus!”

• Mexico is considered Tier 2 on the Trafficking In Persons Report.

• Mexico is a source, destination, and transit country for human trafficking.

ZOE Japan

ZOE Japan Brings Awareness to Tokyo Olympics

With UK nonprofit, It’s a Penalty, ZOE Japan is working on the frontlines of a large-scale human trafficking awareness campaign for the Tokyo Summer 2021 Olympics, held July 23rd through August 8th.

“We are excited to be working together with It’s a Penalty to raise awareness of human trafficking around the Tokyo Summer Olympics,” said Hiromi Hataji, ZOE Japan Regional Director. “We have been preparing various campaign materials and distributing videos, posters, and other awareness materials at airports and train stations in Tokyo, participating hotel groups, and other key locations. The ZOE Japan team has also established a new call center that will receive reports from concerned members of the public and directly from potential survivors of human trafficking.”

ZOE Japan is spearheading the call center and owns the number, but support for survivors is provided in collaboration with other NPOs that are also members of JNATIP (Japan Network Against Trafficking In Persons). “By utilizing this professional network, we are able not only to provide support to children but also to connect adult survivors with specialist organizations that can support them,” said Hiromi.

“The call center number is the official number used for the It’s A Penalty campaign, providing a great amount of exposure. And, when the Olympics are over, ZOE Japan will continue to use the same call center number for cases related to children,” said Hiromi.

THE PROBLEM:

• Japan is considered Tier 2 on the Trafficking In Persons Report.

• In Japan, many child trafficking cases involve older men purchasing sexual favors or companionship from young girls.

ZOE Australia

ZOE Australia has been working hard to communicate that awareness, education, and support make a difference in seeing children rescued, loved, restored, and healed!

“Our Pathways to Preventing Child Trafficking course equips Australians to respond to modern-day slavery spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, and pragmatically,” said David Cross, ZOE Australia Director. “We have nearly 60 students currently enrolled in the online course. We believe that our toolkits help bring awareness to various industries and social-action groups. For faith-based communities we have prayer-based guides which focus on God’s heart for the fatherless.

By using ZOE’s curriculums, toolkits, and guides, individuals, groups, and whole communities better understand the problem of human trafficking and work to change their actions towards otherswhether directly or indirectly.”

THE PROBLEM:

• Though trafficking is not entirely abolished in Australia, they are considered Tier 1 on the Trafficking In Persons report.

• Australia is primarily a destination country for women and girls subjected to sex trafficking and for women and men subjected to forced labor.

SAVE THE DATE:

ZOE GIVING TREE: STAR OF HOPE NOVEMBER 1 – DECEMBER 31, 2021

Are you a business or church interested in hosting a ZOE Christmas Giving Tree? Sign-up for your Giving Tree toolkit at goZOE.org/givingtree

ROAD OF JUSTICE CYCLING EVENT

MARCH 28-APRIL 2, 2022 Roadofjustice.org

ZOE RESCUE WALK

APRIL 2, 2022

Heritage Park, Valencia

ZOE GALA: DISCOVER FREEDOM

OCTOBER 8, 2022

The Four Seasons Westlake Village, CA

Australia Director

ZOE United States

We are so excited to have finally received our license to open the ZOE Home for Youth (ZHY). “From 2016, when we closed escrow and submitted our plans to receiving our license to open, God has been guiding us, answering prayers and performing miracles along the way,” said Vickie McCoy, ZHY Residential Manager.

David Cox Chief Operating Officer

Currently, the ZOE team is working with the Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS) and Department of Probations to interview girls who will come to live at the ZOE Home for Youth. “Our first youth arrived in the middle of August,” said Ester Yu, ZOE Assistant Western USA Regional Director. “When we are at full capacity, we will have six girls living at the home.”

The ZOE Home for Youth Los Angeles is just one of many homes in America that we hope to build for young survivors of human trafficking. Thank you to all of our donors for praying and supporting us financially to help make this dream a reality.

On June 25, 2021, eight cyclists from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and twelve crew members, all representing ZOE International, finished first place in the non-stop, 3,000-mile transcontinental relay race from California to Maryland, Race Across America (RAAM). The ZOE cycling team completed the race in 6 days and 27 minutes with an average speed of 21.03 mph while climbing over 100,000+ feet. Thank you to all those who donated! This year the team raised over $350,000 for ZOE International.

THE PROBLEM:

• In the U.S., human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states.*

• Of the 13 high-intensity areas identified by the FBI for child sex trafficking, three are located in California: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego metropolitan areas.**

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR WORK IN THE USA, VISIT GOZOE.ORG/OUR-LOCATIONS/USA

*National Human Trafficking Hotline. (2018). Retrieved from: https://humantraffickinghotline.org/states

** Office of the Inspector General, Department of Justice. (2009). Retrieved from: https://oig.justice.gov/reports/FBI/a0908/final.pdf

“I LOVE THE HOME! YOU GUYS HAVE THOUGHT OF EVERYTHING,” SAID A SURVIVOR LEADER, AFTER HER TOUR OF THE ZHY.

Meet some of the ZOE Home for Youth Administration team.

Dr. Plunkett: ZHY & Western USA Regional Director - “My role is to make sure we are compliant and our staff are equipped,” said Dr. Plunkett. “I will be teaming up with our ZHY Administrator Temica on this as well as educating the team on trauma-informed care and interventions for the youth from a psychological perspective.”

Temica Wofford: ZHY Administrator - “I am responsible for making sure the girls are receiving their day-to-day programming and activities, and their needs are being met. I will also be supervising staff, facility managers, and specialists and giving them direction on how to handle conflicts as well as setting up trainings.”

Vickie McCoy: ZHY Residential Manager and Youth Specialist - “My role at ZHY will be to maintain an environment of love and safety in the home,” said Vickie. “I will live on-site and serve as a caregiver for the youth while providing support and mentoring in areas such as education, recreation, cleaning, and cooking.”

L-R: Assemblymember Suzette Valladares, ZHY Administrator Temica Wofford, Congressman Mike Garcia, Assemblymember Thomas Lackey and ZOE COO Dave Cox. These and other community leaders toured the ZOE Home for Youth to learn more about the issue of child trafficking in Los Angeles.

ZOE USA

P.O. Box 221510

Santa Clarita, CA 91322

Phone: 661-255-7963

goZOE.org

ZOE Locations:

ZOE USA

ZOE Thailand

ZOE Mexico

ZOE Australia

ZOE Japan

Follow ZOE International: facebook.com/ZOEChildren Instagram.com/zoe_int youtube.com/ZOEInternational

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have ‘ZOE-LIFE’ and have it more abundantly.” Your prayers and financial support help bring life and hope to victims of child trafficking. Thank you!

Thank

you, God, for rescuing me!

ZOE is a place where beautiful stories of rescue, hope, life, and love can easily be found. With permission to share, the following is one girl’s journey to ZOE Thailand.

“Before I came to live at ZOE, my life was not good. I was ashamed, broken, and lonely. Many times, I felt like I wanted to get out, but I never could. I knew that children shouldn’t be doing what I was doing, but whenever I got a small amount of money, it gave me what I needed to survive and numbed my pain.

Coming to ZOE changed my life. I learned that I am VALUABLE in God’s sight, and I understand how much He loves me. I have new thoughts about my future. I plan on finishing my grade level at the ZOE Learning Center, and then I want to study Business Administration. I want to become an expert in English. Thank you, God, for rescuing me!”