Rich Dixon offers us a story of rescue.

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Today is Ash Wednesday – for my friend Jim, no sweets until Easter.

Jon suggests using the season to reflect on following. Given current events I’m wondering about justice for victims of senseless violence.

I’ve told you we ride bikes to support kids rescued from human trafficking. Perhaps this story will personalize an often-abstract issue.

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As a child, Saloni lived beside the road with her mother and siblings in a makeshift home of cardboard and tarps.

Her mother, a victim of sexual slavery, was forced into daily exploitation in the horrors of the city’s brothels. As a young girl, Saloni was subject to the abuse that accompanies such dangerous, vulnerable conditions.

Saloni’s mother met Project Rescue at their Outreach Center in the heart of the city’s notorious red-light district. At the center, staff members do the hard, painstaking work of creating no-strings-attached relationships with victims and traffickers. They offer medical care, counseling, child care, vocational training, bible study, and sometimes simply a quiet space to escape the brutality for a few moments.

In the context of long-term relationships, they demonstrate the possibility of a different, better life and offer rescue and restoration.

At the Outreach Center, Saloni’s mother discovered hope for her daughter. She made the difficult choice to entrust Saloni’s care to the team at the Home of Hope, believing her daughter would have a better future in a safe place where she could grow and flourish.

At the Home of Hope, for the first time Saloni found security. She had her very own bed. She could go to school. Saloni learned about Jesus and became a follower of Christ.

Saloni has continued to grow in her faith and accept God’s healing from the trauma she experienced. Because of her faithful “aunties” at the home she is learning what it means to follow Jesus and to live in authentic hope and freedom.

Saloni dreams of being a clothing designer and owning her own boutique one day. She is smart, honest, and loves the Lord. She knows she is loved, accepted, and valued. She has a place to grow into a thriving and beautiful young woman.

Read the rest of Saloni’s story.