”A father who sold his daughter into prostitution, twice, told me, ‘Whatever my daughter can do to make my life better is what she should do.’”

Lauran Bethell was the keynote speaker at the 2012 North American Baptist Women’s Assembly. She is a renowned international Baptist advocate for women who have been exploited or abused, and a consultant to those who minister to them. She didn’t start out to become an advocate. Indeed, she didn’t even want to be a missionary. “So often, with God’s calling, you find yourself in a place you never expected to be,” she revealed in her opening-night message to the Assembly. “You don’t even know what the next step is going to be, or the next . . . and God says: ‘Great. So now you’ll rely for everything.’ You step out and work out in faith, not knowing what you’re doing – but God provides what you need, at the moment.”

Thailand was not Bethell’s choice either – her missions agency sent her there.  And to get to her language lessons, she had to walk through the Bangkok’s red-light district. With each walk, her questions become more pointed and her burden grew. “What are we doing to help...