At an international missions conference last year, I sat to chat with a gal my age who worked with women in Greece. I remember thinking, What does her ministry do? After talking with her, I was challenged to think with open eyes about the plight of human trafficking. I had never heard of that before, and was shocked to find out the massive number of Russian-speaking women being trapped in prostitution as a result of human trafficking.

My heart was stirred, and my life began to take an entirely new turn. The most recent event along this turning path was an extended trip to work with this ministry in Athens, Greece, in January.

When we stepped onto the pavement I felt prepared. Not because I had done this before, but prayer and worship had gone before us, and my heart was ready for battle. The cover of darkness, the uneven stones, the smells of the city, and the glances of passing men did little to dull the sense that God was working and shining light into the dark places.

I was part of a volunteer team in the heart of Athens doing street outreach into brothels. I was with a ministry called Lost Coin, an outreach of the evangelical missions agency International Teams. We were headed to Jasonis Street, one of the many places where brothels flourish. This dingy, nondescript street was a bustle of activity. Men went from doorway to doorway, while we huddled with our big wicker baskets full of Christian literature, tea, coffee, biscuits, candies, and office postcards. We were an unassuming and silly looking group of 10 or so standing in twos along this street of prostitution. Yet I felt confident. As I stood outside to pray with another team member, I knew that God was hearing the cries of those trapped by oppressors. I knew that He was weeping with the downtrodden and heard their cry for justice. I knew that He was going to answer. He would answer in His timing, but His answer would come.

During the night I went inside several brothels to speak with Russian-speaking women. It was easier than I thought it would be. Their state of undress, the funky music, the bad lighting, and the overwhelming sense of evil faded when I began to talk to the girls. God gave me His words, and it seemed they were glad to have someone to talk with in their native language.

“We are rather slow around 5 p.m., so if you come back then I can talk more,” one said with a cheery smile, much to my surprise.

The next night I went out, it was the same. And the next time too. And the next. One night, two Russian ladies even asked me if I could bring them a copy of David’s Psalms in their own language! I was thrilled and promised to deliver it to them in person the very next night.

As I continued to pray about being involved in the ministry more fully in the future, I was amazed to see how God was seemingly destroying strongholds. And then I went into battle and got doors slammed in my face. Again, and again, and yet again.

This time we were on one of the other streets in the middle of a seemingly middle- class neighborhood. We teamed up and prayerfully prepared with baskets, styrofoam cups, and thermoses. Again I felt confident.

Every place we went into, someone yelled at us and told us to leave. Men were everywhere, and seemed to be following us. I got so jittery that I dropped the styrofoam cups in a brothel lounge at the feet of five clients, and then ran into a doorpost in my haste to leave. We were chased from one place to another, only to have the door closed in our faces each time. To add to the frustration of the day, a random woman on the street cursed and threatened our group viciously.

I couldn’t take it. After the fourth door, with the overwhelming feeling of evil choking me, I was ready to say “enough.” I couldn’t go on. What was my little offer of a hello and how-are-you in the face of such evil? What could my pitiful attempt to hand them a Bible change in this choking environment? Yet we continued to another and another brothel, using every bit of our time to reach out.

As we headed back to the office for worship and prayer after this frustrating morning, the team leader said to me quietly, ”You know, it used to always be like that, but it won’t be like that forever.”

Lost Coin, or Nea Zoi in Greek, is a ministry of consistency and faithfulness. Motivated by Christ’s love, the volunteers visit the red light districts of Athens weekly, offering friendship, advice, and opportunity for change. Despite the setbacks and slammed doors, Nea Zoi seeks the restoration of individuals in prostitution, including victims of trafficking, by responding to physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. They do this through outreach work, relationship building, and facilitating personal change, and by engaging in societal transformation in partnership with the local church and in cooperation with local and governmental initiatives.

According to Greek law, prostitution is legal only by permit within the premises of a licensed brothel. There are many complications and restrictions for obtaining a license, with the result that most prostitution in Greece is illegal. This means that most of those working in prostitution are doing so illegally.

Another illegal and yet very real factor in prostitution is trafficking, often called the modern face of slavery. This is a global phenomenon, with an estimated 4 million victims being trafficked for the purposes of prostitution. It is estimated that approximately 500,000 women are trafficked into Western Europe annually. It is also estimated that there are currently 17,000 victims of trafficking in Greece alone, and that this number is again beginning to rise.

The international nature of trafficking has meant that the local Athens ministry has, from its inception, been involved with women from various neighboring nations. They often see individuals from Nigeria, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union. God has laid it on the heart of several to take the ministry here and expand it internationally. “Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, O hold them back. If you say, ‘See, we did not know this,’ does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul?” (Prov. 24:11-12).

A team in Moldova is fighting against trafficking, investing in prevention with teens, starting up businesses, and helping repatriate returning women. A church in Paris has determined that God is calling them to stand out against the injustice around them and fight for the lives of individuals trapped in trafficking. Christians in Turkey are beginning to wonder what they can do to free the thousands of teenage girls trapped along their northern coast. I believe that God is preparing His people to answer the cries of those bowed down by injustice. Over the past year, God has been stirring my heart over the plight of Russian-speaking young women who fall into wicked hands and are trafficked. One particular image remains in my heart—the face of Sophia.

On the street where we were thrown out again and again, one door was open to us and that is where I met Sophia (not her real name). Almost immediately upon entering, my eyes registered the walls painted abstractly with blotchy flowers. The closet-like room at the top of the stairs held one table, chair, and TV covered with the stench of years of cigarette smoke. The madam engaged my colleague in a discussion in Greek while punctuating the air with her cigarette. Not understanding anything, I began to pray and then noticed a young twenty-something girl sitting in the windowsill. She was hugging her knees, and looking out the darkened yellow window. Despite her made-up face and rather grown-up eyes, she had an innocent look to me. Could she have been trafficked to Greece? Maybe. We found out that her name was Sophia and she was from Romania. As the Greek conversation continued, I stared at the girl and wondered about her. She was desperately looking outside as if in search of something precious she had lost. What was she hoping to find? A friend? A sign of hope? A way of escape?

Why do the volunteers of Lost Coin go out onto the streets of Athens weekly to befriend prostitutes? Why are they working to raise awareness about the issue of human trafficking? Why are they praying about expanding the ministry and opening up in other countries? So that one girl like Sophia, who is looking for a sign of hope, will see it.

I spent a month in Athens, and God has given me a burden for this issue. I cannot ignore the plight of those caught in this prison. God is calling me to be a voice, inasmuch as I can be, and walk around the walls to fight this injustice, “to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness” (Isa. 42:7).

Stacie Shopp is a missionary with International Teams working in Moscow to mobilize Russians toward mission, training youth leaders and facilitating mobilization into Russia.