Two years ago, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I made my way to Italy to study abroad and travel around Europe. Both vigilant and confident at the same time, I didn’t think anything bad could happen to me. I was aware of my surroundings and made decisions with caution, but I could not account for what I did not know.
I was almost “kidnapped.” It is by the grace of God that I am here today. Let me explain why…
I had bought a ticket to visit my friend in Switzerland. The cheapest flight left at 6:00 am, which seemed like a no-brainer to me—a penny saved is a penny earned! This meant I had to leave at 4:00 am to get to the airport. In an extremely unlikely “coincidence,” I learned that my friend was on the very same flight as me. Both naïve of how to even get to the airport at 4:00 am in Italy, we decided to figure it out together.
I found an app online that seemed reliable. I thought it would be safer than a cab because there would be electronic evidence of me submitting a request to the site. It didn’t occur to me that the app could be part of a trafficking process.
At 4:00 am, the day of our flight, I received a notification on my phone that a car had arrived. I went down with my friend and here is where the alarm bells in my head began to ring. I am going to spell out the signs as I tell this story so you can be aware too.
1. We were greeted with an enthusiastic “HOLA!” – this seemed strange given we were clearly American and he was clearly Italian.
2. The driver was an attractive, friendly young man – these characteristics and profile are often used to charm girls into trusting them.
3. Without a second to spare, his first question was to learn more about our situation. We told him we were studying abroad and going to visit friends. Already, we were vulnerable.
4. His second question was “How old are you?” There is NO reason he should need to know our age. Naively we told him, 20 and 21.
Read our previous blog post here: November Update
After a few minutes he received a phone call and started speaking in Italian. From the little Italian that we knew this is what we made out...
5. He told the other person on the phone our ages, where we were from, and where we were going. C r e e p y ! Why would we need to tell that information to someone? He was assessing what to do with us.
6. The call then ended and he could tell that we had gotten quiet. He probed, “Could you understand that conversation?” This seemed suspicious. We hesitantly said that we only knew a little Italian.
I started to get nervous at this point and texted my friend back in America to make someone aware of our situation. The driver’s questions continued to get more peculiar. Questions like these are asked to determine the type of security we have in ourselves. Will we make ideal victims?
7. “Do you feel safe here?,” he asks. Such a strange question, right? Although I was afraid, I challenged him back, “Do you think we shouldn’t feel safe?” Traffickers want timid, insecure victims.
Finally, the last question that was undeniably terrifying…
8. “Do you girls have tracking on your phone?” I responded with, “What?” thinking he did NOT just ask me that question. But he did. He follows up, “Can people track your location at any time?” Could he be any more obvious that he was trying to kidnap us?
Like any sane person would, I told him I definitely had tracking on my phone and that people could access my location at any time (even though that wasn’t true). Obviously, this would make us not ideal victims for him.
Throughout this seemingly endless car ride, there were many signs of a potential trafficking situation. However, with God’s hand over us, we made it to the airport safety.
It could have been me.
I could have been the one Catalyst Ministries was advocating to rescue. I could have been the one who needed a program for my healing. I am thankful to be on the side of this issue that gets to advocate for others.
Every trafficking story is different. Unlike my near-trafficking experience, most trafficked persons are not even kidnapped, rather they are manipulated and coerced. There is no typical trafficking story. Therefore, everyone needs to be vigilant and aware. We are called to lean into God as a protector and a provider. He runs after the lost, broken, and hurting. Catalyst Ministries exists to be God’s hands and feet in this. We want to partner with Him in raising awareness and restoring through Jesus Christ.
If you are interested in donating your time or talents to the mission at Catalyst Ministries, please fill out a volunteer application here.
-Nicole
Proverbs 31:8-9