The Miracle of the Non-Story
Written by Julie Ann Walton
It’s an odd way to start the year, I suppose. But as we look ahead to this year, it’s true. Of all the things we are planning, all the projects and programs we’ll work diligently to implement with excellence, all the families we hope to impact - out of all of this, what we are most looking forward to is the non-stories we’ll have to tell.
Allow me to explain.
In our field, it’s often the flashy stories that are oft repeated. The daring rescues and heroic endeavors often capture our attention. We are so grateful for these stories and for each life saved that they represent.
But we have to admit that we have a bias towards the non-story.
We’re most excited to tell you about the young families that live in the city dump in Thailand. They’re certainly poor in material things, but rich in everything that matters. Day after day, they’re collecting trash to find recyclables and faithfully working to provide for their children. Come and visit them with us some day, and you’ll see how much they love their kids. The non-story? Those are all kids who are being daily protected from trafficking and exploitation because they’re safely tucked in a family.
We’ll never get to tell you a dramatic rescue of these children because the’ve been safe all along.
Or the non-story of a young woman who was placed in our emergency shelter last year. The local social welfare office asked for our help as she had faced some deep trauma within her family. Over many years with us, she has been given a safe place to heal. This year, when many in her same circumstance might age out of care alone, only to need rescue at some point, this young woman is transitioning into safe independent living. She’ll be living with one of our staff members as she continues to grow stronger and braver by the day. The miracle and the non-story? This is the kind of young woman who is most vulnerable to trafficking, but she too will not need to be a story of rescue we tell you. Instead, we’ll get to tell you the story of her triumph, how she has learned resilience and how to overcome.
Moving forward, we get to launch GCA Tanzania this year. As you read this, we are working with two specific children who will likely be reunified with their biological families this year. They were unnecessarily separated from their family due to poverty and lack of education and our newly hired team on the ground is working diligently to get them home. Those will be stories we cannot wait to tell you! But we are equally excited about all of the non-stories waiting there too.
Across Tanzania today, there are hundreds of families right on that same brink - right at that same breaking point where lack of financial resources could lead them to make a disastrous decision to surrender their child to a local children’s home. But as our new team begins their work, they’ll be training local church leaders to spot these families before they break apart. This means we might not even know the extent of the impact we have. Those families will never need our rescue, because we were able to stand with them before the crisis hit.
That’s the miracle of the non-story.
You’ve heard us say it before, and we’ll say it again here: less than 0.1% of all human trafficking victims are even identified each year according to the US State Department. Even fewer are able to be rescued. We are grateful for each story of rescue, but around here, we are looking forward to a year of investing in non-stories.
This means that GCA is stretching and growing like never before in our history. We added Myanmar as a new country of focus in early 2021. This year, we’re adding Tanzania and Sri Lanka. The truth is that we need your support and generosity more than ever. As you plan your generosity and giving for 2023, we’d be so honored if you’d continue your investment in GCA.
After all, we need your real support for all of our non-stories that are waiting to be told.