Born and raised in Melbourne Australia, Abi Soliman is passionate about abolishing sex trafficking all over the world. Her heart is to equip and support local ministries who are doing work on the ground. She wants to learn what it looks like in different nations and regions to help ministries become more effective in the work that they do by simply bringing the reality of the gospel into these areas and by bringing the power of the Holy Spirit to outreach. By doing so, she has seen the Lord move powerfully in the Red Light Districts of different nations.
Ministering to the lost all over the world Abi has traveled to the Philippines with Wipe Every Tear twice. Besides this, she has done prevention work in Cambodia and she created an outreach program in Redding California during her time at BSSM (Bethel Supernatural School of Ministry). Bible school students could be a part of weekly outreach within different ministries that did outreach in the sex industry in Redding. She connected with multiple ministries in the city that were doing outreach in the sex industry and created a streamlined process for students to support the local non-profits and to bring volunteer support, which was very needed.
Back in her hometown Melbourne, prostitution is completely legalized and decriminalized. ‘’Upon my discovery, there weren’t really any teams going out to do outreach,’’ she shares. So, last summer, she started a team and helped set up all the processes and foundations for outreach in Melbourne.
How the sex industry operates Abi shares her knowledge on the way the sex industry operates in the Philippines, which is key in understanding how to free victims out of it and to create awareness. A very typical story would look like this: you’ve got a family that lives in the province and they are very poor. On top, they have had some sort of vulnerability, whether that’s because of a natural disaster or sickness in the family一something that that puts them in a vulnerable situation, which leads them to a desperate need for finances.
Abi continues: ‘’Usually there will be traffickers that will come and will prey among the vulnerable in these provinces because they are aware of their circumstances. They will offer a great job opportunity for you in the city, we’ll get you to come over to the city and you can work as a waitress and it’s going to be great. These individuals then go into the city where they find out that they’ve been lied to. They’re given a bikini as clothing for the night and they say: here you go, jump on stage. They’re thrown straight into it and they realise, this is not what I signed up for, this is not what I want.’’
‘’By then it’s too late because now they are in debt to their trafficker because they paid for them to come all the way to the city. They are also still in that desperate need for finances to provide for their family, so a lot of them become trapped in that situation and will stay because of the debt they have to their trafficker and their ongoing needs still for finances and to provide for their family.’’
The need for awareness and the gospel Abi shares that it is important for Christians to be aware of what is going on in the sex industry. ‘’At the core, trafficking is taking advantage of the vulnerable. There is no dual agreement, it is manipulation and force.’’ Because prostitution is illegal in the Philippines, the girls are forced to line up on stage and wait for someone to buy them a drink. ‘’Sometimes they’re literally numbered like cattle with stickers. So you can say: I want number 15, please. Then the person at the bar will go and they’ll bring the girl over to sit with you.’’
At the core, trafficking is taking advantage of the vulnerable. There is no dual agreement, it is manipulation and force.
Sometimes, the sex worker is taken to the customer’s hotel room, a phenomenon called ‘bar fining’. Once the payment is made, the customer can do anything to them. It ranges between mere ‘hanging out’ to gang rape.
She shares about how often there is a lack of awareness of people trying to be ignorant. This is also the reason that help should be offered not just to the sex workers, but also to those paying for the sex. ‘’They are both broken in different ways. Both need Jesus, both need the gospel and practical help. Unless people go and share it with them, then they’re not going to hear it.’’
They are both broken in different ways. Both need Jesus, both need the gospel and practical help.
And, she continues, sex trafficking is not just an issue in developing countries. ‘’It’s happening in every nation. There are people in Europe who are being trafficked, people in Europe who are being taken advantage of. It is something for believers to get involved in. For some it’s not on the ground where you’re doing the rescue or you’re going in outreach. For others it’s prevention and sharing it. For others it’s aftercare. For others it’s prayer or supporting financially.’’
Called out of darkness into His marvelous light On one of her trips to the Philippines, Abi witnessed God’s power and love as they entered a bar that literally depicted hell. She shares: ‘’It was a bar that really painted the depiction of hell. There were screens and projectors showing videos with flames and devils.’’
Abi and the team of about twenty came into the bar filled with the Spirit after hours of prayer and worship. By entering in with joy, they captured everyone’s attention quickly. As they started dancing with the girls on stage一who merely wore ‘’a G-string and nipple covers’’一they created trust with the girls who could tell this group was obviously different.
They team bought them drinks to earn time with them, offering opportunities for education, housing, and a life-changing retreat through Wipe Every Tear. On the retreat, there would be intentional time for connection, sharing the gospel, worship, Bible study and even baptisms.
In the meantime, a guy in the team chatted with the bar owner who ended up being a key player in the Red Light District.
‘’They all gave their lives to Jesus’’ The group ended up getting a lot of favour from this bar owner. He invited them to come to his other bars and allowed the team to play a song request. At one point, the lyrics from ‘’I thank God’’ echoed through the speakers: “Hell lost another one, I am free!” while even men stopped their lap dances to join the dancing. A lion—the Lion of Judah—appeared on the club’s projectors. Abi shares: “It was just the craziest thing to witness. It’s the most beautiful thing when you see girls who were completely trapped and hopeless, now completely filled with hope and joy.” On top of this, the team got to pray for the bar owner and prophesy over him. To hear the full story with more details, click here.
It’s the most beautiful thing when you see girls who were completely trapped and hopeless, now completely filled with hope and joy.
On their last retreat, the team took 13 girls with them. All of them gave their lives to Jesus and 12 of them got baptized. ‘’They were so hungry for God, I was shocked. They all talked about wanting know how to read their Bible and wanting to learn who Jesus is.’’
The story continues and our help is needed Unfortunately, this testimony does not paint the full picture. ‘’There’s so much trauma. For them, it’s so complex. They actually don’t always want to go out and that is the most heartbreaking thing. They struggle to think long term of what is the long term impact on their family and the possibility to break the cycle of poverty in their life completely.’’
She continues: ‘’They’re thinking so much short term, how can I provide for my family? We’ve seen girls come out, but we’ve seen more girls not come out. There’s also traffickers getting in their ears saying, don’t trust them, you’re not trustworthy. Some of them will say as badly as they’re just going to kill you and sell your body parts in the black market.’’
The conclusion that can be drawn is that our prayer is still necessary, but also prayer on whether the Lord wants us to be practically involved in this sort of work in our environment. But, Abi discloses, discernment plays a key role in this because it is a heavy industry. ‘’The Lord really stopped me from doing work in this for a long time. If you feel called to this, go on your own pursuit of healing, because it’s really important to make sure you’re healed and whole going into this.’’ In the meantime, Abi suggests watching documentaries by Exodus Cry.
