Powerful: Missionary in Thailand Shares True Love With Sex-Trafficking Victims

Josh M. Shepherd : Aug 12, 2016
Bound4LIFE

“The quest for love is really driving this degrading market. Even the men who are coming to take part in the sex trafficking are looking for love. They are trying to find it; they are just looking in the wrong place. The desire of these women too is ‘I need love.' That's their heart cry and it's all of our hearts' cry: we are looking for love." — Christine Anasco

(Thailand) — [Reprinted with permission from Bound4Life.com] In a nation where women and children are sold for sexual exploitation, one mother and her family have become agents of change—living out a message of unconditional love. “The quest for love is really driving this degrading market," says Christine Anasco, who has served for 12 years in international missions work with her husband David and their four children. “Our aim is to show these women they are valued." (Photo Courtesy of Anasco Family)

Since moving to Thailand in 2014, the Anascos have come to know firsthand the faces of human trafficking. Every year, innocent people are trafficked worldwide by the tens of millions; the U.S. State Department recently added Thailand to its Tier 2 watch list, one of many nations not fully complying with anti-trafficking policies though making progress.

Briefly in the United States to speak at churches backing their missions work, Christine Anasco reveals how pro-life outreach first inspired her, what motivates those trapped in sex trafficking, and why every Believer should have a global outlook.

Bound4LIFE: During your formative years, how did standing for life start you on a journey of doing justice?

Christine Anasco: I recall one day in my high school health class, back in the early 1990s. They asked everyone to take sides—pro-choice stand on one side of the room, and pro-life on the other. Though I really didn't know anything about the issue at the time, I went to the pro-life side.

Pro-life seemed like a better stand to take than pro-choice. Looking around, I realized I was the only one on that side; I thought, How can this be? Even in high school, I knew speaking up for life was important. (Photo Courtesy of Anasco Family)

Bound4LIFE: When did you become a follower of Christ?

Christine Anasco: I was raised in the church—so I knew religion, but the reality was distant. In my senior year of high school, a friend introduced me to what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. I became a Christian.

Being pro-life became even more a part of what I believed. I went to a very liberal women's college, where everybody was pro-choice—except five or six of us on campus who were Believers. Even in that small school, we would raise questions about abortion and have discussions.

I began to work at a pregnancy care center in Laurel, Maryland, counseling women who were thinking about abortion. After my husband and I got married, we ministered in a transition home for women who were single, pregnant and had no other place to go. We did that for three years. Seeing the value of every life has always been a huge part of what I believe in; it reflects the heart of Christ for justice.

Bound4LIFE: What led you to be involved in international missions and aid work?

Christine Anasco: Between my junior and senior year of college, I went to Trinidad and was awakened to the poverty that is in the world. Growing up in a suburban area of Maryland, I knew there were impoverished areas but I never knew how bad it could be.

Going to Trinidad opened my eyes. It really changed my perspective and what I wanted to do with my life. I went back again and the Lord began to work on my heart. It wasn't an audible voice or anything, but the Lord spoke to me until I knew: This is something I want to do. I want to go and serve full-time.

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