Theme: Human Sex Trafficking: The Sale of Innocence.
Sponsors: Graduate Student Association & the Adventist Peace Fellowship student chapter.
Featured speakers included Abigail Kuzma, deputy attorney general for the state of Indiana, and Annie Lobert, founder of Hookers for Jesus.
SCHEDULE
Wednesday: Abigail Kuzma, a lawyer who co-chairs the Indiana Protection for Abused and Trafficked Human Task Force, shared information regarding sex trafficking in the United States and abroad.
Thursday: Nefarious: Merchant of Souls (documentary)
Friday: Annie Lobert, one of the women featured in Nefarious, spoke for vespers at Pioneer Memorial Church.
Saturday:
• Sabbath School: Panel discussion. Participants included Theresa Flores, a trafficking survivor and activist; Jennifer Schwirzer, an Adventist mental health professional; Carol Ryan, the mother of a survivor; and Harvey Burnett, a police officer and AU psychology professor. • Church: The Deliverance Mass Choir led the congregation in a powerful worship service, and AU seminary professor Clifford Jones preached on the three requirements of God outlined in Micah 6:8—do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. • Afternoon Breakout Sessions: Each of the four panel participants led break-out sessions, as did therapist Beverly Sedlacek, seminary professors David Sedlacek and Martin Hanna, mental health professional Amy Alvarado, religion professor Ante Jeroncic and René Drumm, dean of the school of social work at Southern Adventist University. Topics included trafficking myths, interventions, trafficking within the Adventist Church, psychological and emotional issues, the Bible principle of social justice, and God's role in fighting sex slavery. • Agency Booths:Throughout Saturday afternoon and evening, a number of organizations displayed materials--Adventist Recovery Ministries, Project Liberty, Planting Hope in Michigan, Hope of Survivors, Southwest Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force, Tiny Hands International, and a new chapter of the Adventist Peace Fellowship (APF) at AU. • Vespers & ReceptionSunday: A number of AU students traveled to nearby St. Joseph to participate in a public awareness campaign, wearing orange t-shirts and handing out fliers. Students have also taken their influence off campus by joining the Southwest Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force and by attending the Justice Conference held this past February in Philadelphia.
Read More:
Andrews University Hosts Summit on Human Trafficking, (Jeff Boyd, Adventist Today)