Destiny Rescue shares the urgency of child trafficking rescues and their impact

JOPLIN, Mo. — In life, every second of every day counts. That’s especially true for a global nonprofit organization.

Destiny Rescue, an international Christian non-profit organization, focuses on rescuing children from human trafficking and sexual exploitation and strengthening their freedom.

Outreach was founded in 2001 by Tony Kirwan, who was on a mission trip to Thailand and Cambodia at the time.

“While he was there, he was exposed to the vulnerability of children — in a way that he had never been exposed to in the past,” said Jason Tash, CEO of Destiny Rescue USA. “During that trip, he also heard a man offering a child for a sum of money — and that really weighed on Tony. He actually wasn’t sure if he had heard exactly what it was — so he asked the people that he was in the group with — and they started talking to him about child trafficking and child sexual exploitation. And there, on the street corner, Tony prayed and said, ‘Lord, have mercy on these children,’ and then he stopped and paused and said, ‘No, God, have mercy on me if I don’t do something for these children.’”

After founding Destiny Rescue, Kirwan and his wife, who lived in New Zealand and Australia, moved to Thailand to further expand the aid network. The network now operates in 16 countries around the world.

When Destiny Rescue began working in the United States in 2007, Jason Tash was pastoring a church in Indiana. Then, Destiny Rescue members showed up, wanting to share their message with his congregation. This introduction led to Jason and his wife volunteering for the organization. In 2017, Tash joined the organization full-time as National Development Director.

“Over the years, God would expand the opportunities I would have with the organization,” he says, “even going overseas, serving as a burn officer and helping with rescue operations.”

Officials with Destiny Rescue say their organization has rescued nearly 17,000 children from human trafficking since the program began in 2001. So far in 2024, they have rescued more than 2,000 children. In 2023, they have rescued a total of 3,352 children. The average age of a child rescued is 15.

“This is happening all over the world,” Tash exclaimed. “It is an evil that demands our outrage. We should be outraged for these children. I have partly failed these children. It is estimated that at least a million children are trafficked every year. At least a million children are caught up in this evil every year. That is why we exist.”

Destiny Rescue leaders say there are many aspects that determine their ability to lead rescue operations.

“If we were to narrow it down to just four out of five quick buckets, one would be what we call online – we have an online investigation,” Tash said. “So we go into the dark web and we go into chat rooms and places where kids are being offered something like that. We also have border checkpoints and transit stations – so these are places where there is free access to go from one country to another and there are no checkpoints – so we end up as those checkpoints. We can be strong on behalf of the kids in those places. Another would be raids and coordination with law enforcement. So we work with other government law enforcement agencies, bring a case and conduct a raid to rescue more kids at once and bring justice to the trafficker.”

He adds, “Then we have an undercover relationship with the rescue communities – so we go into the communities – we go to the hill tribes – we go to remote places – we go undercover, we build relationships, we try to understand what’s happening in the open light or they’re hidden from the public and try to figure out what the story is there and work for the freedom of the children. So those are the primary ways that we do a rescue and always – the survivor – the victim here has the choice to say yes to rescue. So it’s vulnerable, you’re building trust with them – at the same time – you’re protecting your identity – but trying to give them hope that this doesn’t have to be a reality – there is a future that God chooses for you – and we can help you find that path so that you can make the choices for that kind of freedom.”

Once a successful mission is completed, outreach members help the children return to a safe environment, often with their families. The organization will also provide resources to help the child succeed and live in freedom.

Tash says Destiny Rescue has taken him across the United States and other countries, including Africa, Southeast Asia, Nepal and Thailand.

“You see things that you’re used to… that you’ll never forget,” Tash claims. “It’s just images and things that you’ve seen that keep you up at night.”

Despite this, Tash says the success of the program keeps him motivated to continue.

“But I can tell you what keeps me going – the urgency is there – but it’s on the other side of the rescue when you hear them laugh again,” Tash said. “When you hear what they’re doing with their dreams – we have survivors who are now college graduates – who are entrepreneurs. They own their own hair salon, they own their own restaurant, they run a hotel. They work with computers or technology. They do artistic design, some become missionaries, some are teachers, some are nurses. It’s amazing – the resilience that they have – the courage and bravery that they find to say yes to freedom and to do the hard work to stay free.”

He adds: ‘When you visit them, hear their story and see what they have done with their freedom, it gives us strength and makes us say: ‘We are winning, God is winning this battle.’

Tash, who works at Destiny Rescue with his father, Rocky Tash Sr., attributes the success of Destiny Rescue to the spiritual and financial support of many individuals, churches and businesses.

“Everybody has to do something,” Tash said. “I like to say this, I can’t do everything – but I can do something – and that something will change everything in a child’s life. You want to change the world – start changing the world – start doing that and see what happens – and when she goes out into a free life and grows up and chooses to have a family, her children will never know the darkness that their mother had to go through – and you break the cycle – and start a new generation of freedom.”

Destiny Rescue will be speaking to two local churches on Sunday morning, September 22. Jason will be speaking at the House of Prayer in Riverton, while Rocky will be speaking to attendees at Corinth Baptist Church in Cassville.

For more information about Destiny Rescue or to donate to their cause, visit their website here.

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