First Pres supports local mission agencies throughout the year. This month, our mission focus is New Creation, which is fighting human trafficking by offering survivor-made goods and fair trade accessories in their shops and providing prevention education.

We asked Sabrina Dorman-Andrew about New Creation’s work.

If you only had a sentence or two to tell someone about New Creation, what would you tell them?

I would want people to know that we need them to come close to the issue of human trafficking. Our hope at New Creation is to be a bridge to everyday people joining us in being a catalyst for real change, in our community and world!

What is the local impact of human trafficking?

Our community is not immune to the issue of human trafficking, an issue that many times is hidden in plain sight. The reality is human trafficking has been reported in every single state in our nation, and exists in cities and towns big and small. We have seen prosecuted cases of both labor trafficking, involving a local restaurant, as well as an international sex-trafficking case involving a 17-year-old victim, here in our city. The reality remains that for these two “seen” cases there are countless others that go unreported. Experts believe only 1% of cases of human trafficking are ever reported in our country.

Sabrina Dorman-Andrew, director of New Creation

How have you seen New Creation’s impact?

Part of our mission is to help connect local students to prevention education. We believe this curriculum will not only protect kids from becoming a statistic of the issue, but also prevent them from becoming future perpetrators of it! Our hope is to help raise up a generation of change makers. We have funded The Prevention Project, in a local school system for years.

This is one of the quotes we received after a student completed the course: “The Prevention Project has opened my eyes to the true mass and complexity of human trafficking in the world today. It has instilled within me a desire to stay better informed about the goings-on in my community and to stay vigilant against those who would manipulate others to their own benefit.”

We are so honored to play a part in opening eyes and protecting students in our community!

Your shop has been open since 2015. What has happened since you opened?

A lot has changed since those early days. To date we have partnered with over 100 organizations to create dignified jobs for those rescued from, or vulnerable to, human trafficking. We not only have that brick-and-mortar store, but also a website, an app and a subscription box. All of them strengthen our mission around the world. Last year, we also launched a wholesale collection that we design and create alongside our artisan partners in Moldova. We have connected this line to over 50 stores across the nation, telling the story of how art and design can be leveraged for justice.

How can we pray for you and support you?

We are beyond grateful for prayers of protection, strength, wisdom, divine connections, and for us to be filled and led by the Spirit in all that we pursue. That eyes would be open to engaging in this issue, that the Lord would convict and change the hearts of those involved in the selling and purchasing of people, that He would deliver anyone who has suffered from this injustice and bring true freedom-that only Jesus has.

Anything else we should know?

• Be educated. We urge everyone to become OnWatch certified. This free digital training is a great first step in engaging with this issue.
• Shop for change.The reality is there is a story behind every product we buy, and when you shop with New Creation you are ensuring freedom is a reality. Whether you shop in person or online, you are helping us connect dignified jobs, helping to break the cycle of poverty and exploitation around the world!
• Donate to our mission. We only exist because of people like you! Every gift given helps us creatively counteract human trafficking with a local heart and global approach. In the past we have used funds to give scholarships to survivors, created an onsite boutique for a residential facility serving juvenile survivors of exploitation, connected over 6,000 students to prevention education and more. Those things only happen because community members decide to give.