Sounding off on the Sound of Freedom

While we were on our Sabbatical, several members of the team took advantage and went to see the highly acclaimed movie, Sound of Freedom. For those that don’t know what we’re talking about, Sound of Freedom is a movie based on the true story of former Department of Homeland Security agent, Tim Burrows. As an agent, he was tasked with catching pedophiles and human traffickers and ultimately makes the decision to resign and go out on his own, risking everything including his life, to rescue the sister of a little boy he had rescued in one of his government-sanctioned sting operations. In real life, this individual’s name is Gardy, and the search and rescue of Gardy is still ongoing. While largely based on a true story, the rescue storyline is based on not just the efforts of Tim Ballard but the efforts of his associates through the non-profit he founded after resigning as a government agent, O.U.R. Operation Underground Railroad, more commonly known as O.U.R., has been instrumental in coordinating operations and rescue efforts such as Operation Triple Take, which resulted in the rescue of 123 human trafficking survivors, 55 of which were minors, off an island just outside of Cartagena, Columbia. In the movie, only the rescue of the children was depicted, but in reality, the number of victims rescued was way higher. While we don’t want to reveal all of the details and plot from the movie, we do want to share our thoughts and also take the time to highlight its significance by continuing to shine a light on a topic we’ve brought up before, human trafficking, a cause very near and dear to our hearts.

Kaitlin: I wish I could say this movie was eye-opening for me, but the sad reality is that I had already ventured down the rabbit hole of human trafficking documentaries and research a couple of years ago. It’s honestly the reason I got involved in non-profit work, especially with non-profits associated with foster care as there is a direct correlation between kids in foster care and human trafficking. No kid asks for this treatment or chooses to be trafficked, but yet human trafficking is quickly becoming one of the biggest criminal industries, quickly outpacing drug smuggling and illegal arms trades. So again, while the movie didn’t shock me, it was still a good movie, one that I highly recommend seeing especially for adults, parents, and especially parents with teenagers and maybe even have their teenagers tag along. It’s also encouraging to see how much awareness this movie has brought to the issue of human trafficking. Human trafficking is very real, and it does exist in the United States. It even exists right here in North Carolina. North Carolina currently ranks 9th out of the 50 states and US territories for human trafficking, as a result of its landscape and proximity to coastal access, ports, state highway network, major cities, and airports. So with that said, I encourage those who haven’t seen the movie yet, to go see it. To those that have seen the movie, pay it forward and sponsor a ticket for those that would like to go see it but can’t. More importantly, take the time to research this issue further, find other documentaries, or look up and support local organizations that are already combating the issue such as Fostering Futures, CrossRoads, or United Way of Alamance County. Fostering Futures was formed as a direct result of a child in foster care becoming a human trafficked victim. More than anything, we wish we could turn back the hands of time to take away that traumatic experience for her, but we can’t. Our focus and goal now is to help give her and others in foster care that are aging out a support system, hope, and a future, and raise awareness every chance we get.

Stephanie: A little over 10 years ago, I was in a conversation with my Aunt about human trafficking in America. It was through that conversation that she shared a documentary with me, which informed me that Superbowl Sunday, at that time, was the highest sex trafficked night of the year in America. That is where my awareness of the infestation of trafficking in our world began, especially within our own country. My naive thoughts that human trafficking was mostly in 3rd world countries came to a halt, and so began my journey of researching and becoming more aware of this horrific industry.

As a country and world, I think 2023 has been the year to awaken the eyes of so many who were unaware of how widespread this multi-billion dollar business has infested itself into all of our communities. Thanks to the movie “Sound of Freedom”, awareness is at an all-time high. However, awareness is not where it needs to stop. We each have to do our part.

For those who have seen the movie, the one continuous comment I have heard is, “I don’t know how to help.” I was there once, too. A sex trafficking situation was actually one of the founding reasons Fostering Futures of North Carolina was started. In January 2021, we were made aware of an emergency placement situation, where a 17-year-old girl had just been rescued. She had been missing for 7 years and was previously a kid in foster care who had been sex trafficked by her uncle. It shattered our hearts, and we didn’t know how to help. One of our goals at Fostering Futures is to help those who may have been trafficked in the past by giving them a brighter future through the help of educational resources or mentorship. Those in Foster Care, at times, can be targeted as a very vulnerable population to pull into human trafficking. We hope through our resources at Fostering Futures that we are able to help prevent some of these cases in our community by leading them to resources that could prevent this entrapment.

If you don’t know how to help, support an organization that is working to put a stop to human trafficking in your community, do your own personal research, be aware of who you allow children to spend time with, and have conversations with kids/teens about the seriousness of social media and people they may not know well.

I will end with this….If you have not seen the movie “Sound of Freedom”, please do. Also, share this movie with everyone you know in hopes that the awareness continues to spread to awaken our world.

Lastly, one instrumental focus that we want to point out is that while the movie itself focuses on the issue of human trafficking, it also focuses on faith. Throughout the movie, faith transcends amongst several of the characters in the form of a medallion with a biblical verse inscription of 1 Timothy 6:11. It transcends from a sister's form of protection to a brother’s love and ultimately to Tim’s calling. Although it meant something different to each of them, it bonded them together in life and in faith.

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, Godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:11 NIV

That’s what Tim Ballard did. That’s all any of us here at FFNC are trying to do.