A childhood shaped by abandonment. A nation on the edge of civil war. A 12-year-old girl who wins a singing contest and then gets trafficked through a powerful corporate pipeline. That’s the true story pastor and anti-trafficking advocate Jaco Booyens shares with Tim Barton, and it’s the kind of conversation that changes how you think about human trafficking, trauma, and what it really takes to protect kids.

We start with Jaco's early years in South Africa and the formative “root lies” that can set in before we even have words for them. He describes living through apartheid and the volatile tension of 1994, then brings it painfully close to home as his sister Ilanka is trafficked after landing a major music opportunity. When she’s finally rescued in 2001, Jaco recounts a moment he says he heard God speak: “not another one.” That phrase becomes a calling and a blueprint for a mission focused on child trafficking prevention, survivor advocacy, and defending the vulnerable.

The conversation doesn’t stop at the headline. We also talk about what trauma does to the body, why survivors can carry pain long after the danger is gone, and why healing requires truth, patience, and deep faith. Along the way, Jaco ties the fight for children to liberty and justice under God, reminding us that rights and protections only matter if we’re willing to steward them.

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