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“Make Way” in Peru
What really happens to these children? Often, little boys are forced to become laborers in illegal mining camps; little girls are forced to serve as child prostitutes in local bars awaiting miners at the end of their workday. This scenario of interconnected victimization - slaves using slaves - deeply disturbs and alarms Make Way Partners. The mining regions are located within the jungles of Peru, a region that naturally reveals God's glory through its vibrant green canopy, exotic birds and wildlife, the sights and sounds which compose a symphony of God's Creation. Unfortunately, His Creation is being stripped to a silent, barren wasteland as gold, silver and timber are removed by an enslaved labor force; both adult and child are forced to work this land, slowly ripping it apart until their hand's bleed, their bodies are broken, and their worth is measured by the resources they have stolen from the land. The child prostitutes then become the pain-numbing addiction of the abused laborers who have learned only to take and be taken from. MWP has chosen to confront this need in Peru by following the same model we have used in South Sudan and Romania. MWP is sending two full-time missionaries, David and Whitney Milton, to live in Peru in search of an indigenous leader. They will be based in the highlands of Peru, which are considered some of the poorest areas where children are most vulnerable to trafficking. Whitney and David Milton have spent a good bit time in Peru, learning firsthand about the pandemic plight of trafficking there. As they met and interacted with little children who had already been trafficked as well as those in extreme poverty or mining camps who are at high risk, God did a work in their hearts bonding them with both the people and the culture. Of course, the fact that they are both fluent in Spanish is a real benefit! They will live in the mining regions, where extreme poverty and rich minerals make for the perfect storm of child trafficking. Small children are forced into tiny furrows and mines where adults cannot fit. Girls are also trafficked for sexual slavery, serving all the workers. David has a Masters degree in Spanish, worked in public health at St. Vincent's Health System, and taught at Mountain Brook high school. Whitney's degree is in missions, and of course, she was a child at home with Milton and me when we busted that first brothel in Portugal. For more of their history and details of their ministry, please read this article: click here This is an exciting new ministry. Please offer your love, prayer, and support as it takes root. To support our Peruvian ministry, please click here. |
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Make
Way Partners has been intensely investigating the realities
of child trafficking in Peru for the past year, both utilizing
local sources and sending short-term missionaries to gather
information. Make Way Partners quickly discovered that Peru
meets our criteria for ministry. On the outskirts of major
Peruvian cities, vulnerable villages are preyed upon by child
traffickers. With no education, no money, and a government
rife with corruption, poor villagers often succumb to the
lies and schemes of traffickers and allow their children to
be taken. Parents are promised that their children will “receive
an education and good jobs and a better life”. The naïve
parents are left confused, scared and hopeless when they never
see their children again and have no one to whom they can
turn for help.