Albania (MNN) — Human trafficking is a major problem throughout the world. According to Bethany Christian Services up to four-million people are trafficked each year. These staggering figures point to the reason Bethany is proactively reaching out to women and children at risk.
Bethany’s Kristin Roeters says they’re primarily involved in Albania. She describes the problem there. “I suspect that these are low because these are only based on those reported, but there are estimated 21,000 people from Albania as a single country that has been trafficked. That’s 21,000 from Albania, as a single country, who have been trafficked into Italy and Greece alone and that’s not including any of them that have been trafficked into Western Europe.”
Bethany found out about the problem through their Shepherding Home crisis pregnancy program. Roeters says the women involved have either been kicked out of their homes or threatened and have no where to turn. “These are the people who are at the highest risk of being trafficked because they are looking for somebody to assist them. The predators for the human trafficking look for victims in this type of situation.”
Roeters says Shepherding Home Program has actually become a preventative measure.
The other great part about the program is these women hear about Christ. “Everybody knows that we are a Christian agency over there. We work hard to connect directly with the Christian community for shelter, while we are working with them in terms of crisis pregnancy counseling, medical care, preventing abortion or trafficking and identifying a solution for them and their child.”
$25 a month can help a woman at risk and the need is great, says Roeters. “Right now we are only able to work with 20 to 30 women at a time, but the need is so phenomenal. That any sort of financial support would allow us to put programs like this in other cities throughout the country where the prevalence of trafficking is high.”
Contact Bethany Christian Services for more information.
