By Amanda Cowie
Ezekiel 34:16 says, “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays…I will shepherd the flock with justice.” Project Exodus, a local anti-human-trafficking organization, seeks to do just that.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that between 600,000 and 800,000 human beings are trafficked across international borders every year. After drug dealing, human trafficking is the second most lucrative illegal industry in the world, and it is growing at an alarming rate.
Project Exodus was created in 2008 by Pepperdine alum Mike Masten. Masten’s desire to make a difference in the world led him to become president of Pepperdine’s International Justice Mission (IJM) in 2007, and to create Project Exodus just one year later. Masten’s inspiration came from a similar campaign called Not For Sale, which is one of the leading efforts in the modern-day abolitionist movement. Upon meeting Not For Sale’s creator, David Batstone, Masten was inspired to get involved in the abolitionist community. He began to raise awareness of the issue on campus, and even designated a part of IJM to specifically address anti-trafficking activities. However, the idea of spreading awareness without action frustrated him.
“You learn, yes, it’s happening overseas, and yes, there are a handful of groups dealing with it,” he says. “But it’s also taking place in America. It’s happening in our back yards…and who’s doing anything about it?”
The idea to create an organization to help these victims was somewhat of an epiphany for Masten.
He recalls, “There was nobody looking for these slaves and trying to free them. We got to the point where we were like, there needs to be someone that’s searching for these people. There needs to be someone that’s trying to find and rescue these slaves. And if nobody else is doing it, then we’ll create an organization that does do it.”
Project Exodus is a Christian organization whose vision is “to see a world free of modern slavery.” It seeks to do this through a series of observations and reports in the Los Angeles area. Observations are divided into two categories: external and internal.
In external observations, teams of trained volunteers explore sections of Los Angeles for suspicious areas where trafficking may occur.
“We try to document things that we see and find at suspicious places like massage parlors,” said junior Karee Maxson, a Project Exodus intern. “We document what we see and we try to gather enough evidence.”
When asked about what types of people frequent these potential trafficking spots, she replied, “It can be anything from the stereotypical creeper guy that you would expect, or just a normal ordinary guy that you would see on the street. It does catch you off guard. You can’t judge someone by their appearance.”
After gathering enough evidence to deem a location as having a possible slavery situation, Project Exodus volunteers may move on to internal observations. Through internal observations, volunteers interview potential trafficking victims within the establishment. The volunteer is trained in identifying trafficking victims and has the goal of discreetly asking questions aimed at discovering the true nature of the situation. Through the information gathered from these observations, volunteers compile a report to be given to the Los Angeles Police Department in hopes of shutting down the establishment and rescuing its victims.
This year, Project Exodus was a part of with Pepperdine’s annual volunteer event, Step Forward Day. Thirty-four students got to experience firsthand the excitement as well as the apprehension of talking to people on the street about human trafficking.
“I learned so much from being there and going into L.A.,” said freshman Chelsea Nestlerode. “We’re in such a bubble here in Malibu…God really opened my eyes to what things are like elsewhere, rather than just where I’ve lived my whole life.”
Project Exodus will be holding a training session for anyone who is interested in volunteering and/or participating in observations. The training will be held on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. in Culver City. To arrange a carpool, E-mail IJM@pepperdine.edu. For more information on Project Exodus and volunteer training, visit www.project-exodus.org, or come to International Justice Mission on Monday nights at 9 p.m. in the HAWC.
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