Sexual Abuse Survivor Rescues Trafficking Victims

When Britney Higgs went on a high-risk mission to northern Iraq, she met a group of women and girls who had just been rescued from trafficking by ISIS.

As she looked into their eyes, they shared heartbreaking stories. Even though they were physically free, many of them wished they had died in captivity. Britney knew that couldn’t be the end of their story.  

That moment inspired Britney to create a nonprofit that helps survivors of human trafficking. Listen to more of Britney’s personal journey of sexual abuse to helping others live in freedom on this episode of GPS: God. People Stories. 

Connect with us through email at gps@billygraham.org or on Facebook at Billy Graham Radio. 

If you’d like to know more about beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ, or deepening the faith you already have, visit FindPeacewithGod.net. 

If you’d like to pray with someone, call our Billy Graham 24/7 Prayer Line at 855-255-7729. 

Transcript

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:00:00] A quick word before we get into our story. That this episode of GPS: God. People. Stories. contains material about abuse that might be disturbing. Listener discretion is advised. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:00:13] I was able to sit on the ground and look at them in their eyes and hear the devastation that had happened to them. Even though they were physically free, even though they were on the other side of the rescue, they still wished that they would have just died in captivity. And that broke me. My heart cry was, God, there has to be something more after the rescue. There has to be something for them. This cannot be the end of their story. Where is your restoration? 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:00:40] As Britney Higgs’ heart broke for a group of women she met in northern Iraq, she knew there had to be a way to help human trafficking victims complete their journey out of darkness. It’s a journey that begins with Britney’s own experience with sexual abuse to where she know helps others live in freedom. Welcome to GPS: God. People. Stories.  It’s an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. I’m Jim Kirkland. Britney Higgs knows firsthand that true and complete healing only comes from one source. The Bible shares where to find it as Billy Graham explains. 

Billy Graham:
[00:01:15 Seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah the prophet said, “With His stripes we are healed”. The stripes mean all the physical and spiritual sufferings of Christ. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:01:27] Billy Graham will talk more about the healing offered by Jesus Christ later in this episode. You can discover what it means to be healed by Jesus Christ’s stripes right now at our website FindPeacewithGod.net. That’s FindPeacewithGod.net. And you can always find the link in our show notes. 

Audio tag:
[00:01:46]

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:01:52] Britney Higgs grew up in Montana with a Christian family who were influenced strongly by her grandparents. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:01:59] I grew up in an incredible family. Both sets of my grandparents were in the ministry in one way shape or another. And my grandparents on my father’s side, they were the ones that really said we’re going to follow the Lord. And we’re going to break this cycle of just abuse and other things that were happening in that family. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:02:18] Her grandparents on her dad’s side constantly opened their home to those in need planting the seeds of ministry in Britney from an early age.  

Britney Higgs: 
[00:02:26] They constantly were bringing in people to their home. So, they had farmhouse in eastern Montana. And it was always a mystery who was going to come to Christmas and Easter. They would just bring in anybody off the street. There were homeless people walking on the railroad tracks that would just end up in their house and just knew it was a safe place to get a meal, to be loved, and just to have community. And so, that’s what I grew up with. It just was normal for us to just come alongside of, you know, the least in our-in our communities. The people who were marginalized and-and just be the hands and feet of Jesus to them. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:03:02] In fact, it was with her grandmother that Britney made the most important decision of her life. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:03:08] When I was 5 years old, my grandma was tucking me in late at night. And as she was tucking me in, she started to tell me about Jesus and what Jesus had done for her life. And my grandma had experienced so much heartache and abuse when she was little and also had lost almost everybody in her family to death and tragedy. And so, for her to talk to me about this, to share the joy and the peace that she experiences in Jesus, I understood that there was something really significant about this. And as she was telling me that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that He wanted to come and be my Savior, something jut clicked within my heart. And I told her I want to know Jesus. I want Him to be my Savior. So right there in that upper room in her farmhouse, she prayed the prayer with me. And I accepted Jesus into my heart. And truly, at that age, I just knew that Jesus was real. And I wanted to live my life for Him. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:04:06] Even though Britney grew up in a Christ-centered home, she still fell victim to darkness at an early age. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:04:13] The earliest memory that I have of some sexual abuse was when I was 3 years old. And it was at the hands of a family friend. And then, truly, I think when that seed gets planted, there’s something in the spirit too. And it kind of just brings more people that are predators to your door. Like I don’t know how else to explain it.  

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:04:33] Sadly, this wasn’t the only instance of abuse Britney experienced. As she just hinted, other predators would enter her life. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:04:43] From there, I just kind of had these experiences growing up. Not necessarily sexual abuse just boys doing things that I clearly had said no. And yet, it just was something that kept happening in my life. So, I believed this core lie that this is what my worth is. That men expect one thing. And that it my duty and responsibility to be at service to boys and men that are wanting to use my body for their own pleasure. But as a little girl, all I remember is feeling shame. I just felt that something wasn’t right. Nobody had talked to me about that. Nobody had told me that that was wrong. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:05:21] That pattern of abuse and those feelings of shame affected Britney’s outlook on life beginning a pattern of self-destruction and rebellion against God. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:05:30] I always had this understanding of what was truth, and what was right, and what was the life I was supposed to be living. But at the same time, it wasn’t personal, and it wasn’t relational. And I still was living in so much shame and guilt from some of the stuff that had happened to me when I was little. And from that shame and guilt, the overflow of that was a life of just running away from Him. I was drinking, smoking pot, you know, hanging out with people that I shouldn’t be, living kind of a promiscuous lifestyle. And that was just what I was doing trying to get away from God but really desperately seeking for intimacy that can only come from Him.  

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:06:09] Finally when Britney was a senior in high school, God got her attention. 

Britney Higgs:  
[00:06:14] I was about to graduate high school sitting in church one Sunday not paying attention. And out of nowhere, the first time ever, I heard the voice of the Lord. And He said, “Go work at Trails End Ranch” which was a camp that I had grown up going to. That wasn’t like a very significant thing that He said, but it was just hearing the voice of God. And even though I was not walking with Him, even though I wasn’t living for Him, I wasn’t even seeking Him out. And yet, He came to me in that moment. And in that, when I heard His voice, my entire world changed. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:06:50] Something in Britney broke. She began to weep.  

Britney Higgs: 
[00:06:55] After church, I told my mom I need to go and work at this camp. And she just knew the life I was living. And she said, “Oh, sweetie, I don’t think they want you there”. But I just packed up my bags right after I graduate, drove my car up to Montana, and ended up working at this camp.   

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:07:11] That camp was where she met her husband, Sammy. 

Britney Higgs:  
[00:07:15] He was one of the very first people I met. We mistook when we were supposed to be there. So, we got there a week before any of the other counselors. Didn’t know what to do with us, so they put us on a whole bunch of work projects. And we just talked for a week and really got to know each other. And the rest is history. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:07:31] After dating for seven months, Britney and Sammy got married. Soon after that, they started their own photography business together.  

Britney Higgs: 
[00:07:39] After college, we really were loving film and photography. So, we ended up creating a film company with another partner and really were passionate about story telling. We were partnering with marketing firms, and doing short documentaries, and just getting really involved in the film world. We absolutely loved it. We honestly thought that’s what we were going to do forever. And we were super content with where we were at in life. And then, that is when God stepped in and completely changed the trajectory of what we were doing.   

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:08:10] The jumping off point for that was through a contact Britney and Sammy had in their own local network of contacts.   

Britney Higgs: 
[00:08:18] Through that, we met a photographer who was taking trips over to India and Nepal and working with a safe house over there that was helping to rescue women and-and children that were being sex trafficked through brothels. When she came back from that, I asked her out to coffee. And I said tell me about what you just did. I want to learn more about this.  

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:08:36] Britney’s heart broke as she listened to the stories that photographer shared. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:08:41]  I think this message of, God, break my heart for what breaks yours; He really will. He really will break your heart for that. But what’s interesting is I believed that before the beginning of time God has created and set into motion the destiny, and plans, and purposes that are before us to really carry out His will on this earth. And so, in that moment where my heart was completely broken, all I understood was I will never be the same. The veil has been lifted, and I cannot turn away from this issue. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:09:13] After that day in the coffee shop, Britney began to pray with Sammy for God to show them how they could help with the issue of human trafficking. The answer came in the form of an NGO or non-governmental organization who was visiting the Higgs’ area in Montana. The NGO shared they were going overseas to war torn areas to help trafficked women reintegrate back into their families.   

Britney Higgs: 
[00:09:39] They didn’t share where they were going, but there was something about that that made me feel like, gosh, I think I’m supposed to be involved in some way. So afterwards, I went up and said, “Hey, if you ever need, you know, a documentary filmmaker, I would love to come and help tell this story and try to gain more support from churches. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:09:57] It wasn’t long before Britney received an email from the NGO about an opportunity to go with them overseas.   

Britney Higgs:  
[00:10:04] I was just floored. I showed my husband. And we immediately hit our knees. And our prayer was, God, if this is you, we are all in. But if it’s not you, we don’t want any part. So please, just make it abundantly clear what we’re supposed to do. And we both felt peace just rush over us. And so, I replied, yes, to that email. And then, I got a phone call later that afternoon that said, hey, we’re actually going to northern Iraq. There are Yazidi and Christian women that are being sex trafficked through ISIS ranks. And we are going over to come alongside local militia that are helping rescue these women and placing them back into their families and IDP camps. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:10:47] Britney was on a plane just two weeks later to meet these women in the IDP or Internally Displaced People camps. It was a dangerous time to be in Iraq. ISIS had hit a large city called Mosul. And hundreds of thousands of people were displaced. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:11:04] These are people who were all classes whether that’s middle class to lower class to upper class. Everybody had lost their homes and had ran for safety carrying just what they could on their backs and trying to escape what ISIS was doing to their cities. And so, you’re going into these IDP camps. And people who had homes, had careers. They were doctors; they were lawyers. They were teachers. All of a sudden, everything was stripped away from them. And so, you’re walking into these camps, and you just feel devastation. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:11:38] One portion of the trip stood out. It was when Britney documented stories for a group of women and girls who had just been rescued from ISIS.   

Britney Higgs: 
[00:11:46] I was able to sit on the ground and look at them in their eyes and hear the devastation that had happened to them. Even though they were physically free, even though they were on the other side of the rescue, they still wished that they would have just died in captivity. And that broke me. My heart cry was, God, there has to be something more after the rescue. There has to be something for them. This cannot be the end of their story. Where is your restoration? 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:12:14] But Britney and Sammy had not at all been expecting to or even thinking about starting a non-profit. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:12:20] We did not think that that was going to be a part of our story. Again, we absolutely loved our life. We lived in our first home we had bought. We had two small children. And we were doing our film company. Really, it was starting to be super successful. And we were very content with were we were at. But after this trip to Iraq and coming back from that, it broke both of our hearts. And we just knew that we were being called into something greater than ourselves. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:12:47] First though, Britney and Sammy prepared their hearts and minds for the journey ahead. Britney needed to work through the trauma of her past. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:12:56] Through therapy, through the grace of God, I started to unravel these pieces and start to really see who I was as a daughter and be able to stand in what that was instead of the brokenness I had experienced. If we’re constantly trying to serve people out of a place of our own brokenness, then it’s only going to hurt the people that we’re trying to serve. So, God took us through like a two year healing journey. And in that, we were walking in the hills of eastern Montana. And I just had a-a vision from the Lord. And in my head, I had this picture of a safehouse and just knew that it was something we were supposed to do. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:13:32] Britney stopped in her tracks and turned to Sammy. She told him she felt God leading her to start at safehouse, but she had no idea how to do that in the U.S. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:13:42] We had heard about it overseas but just knew that it was something we needed to do. And I do feel like when the Lord gives you a vision and He plants that seed in your life, again, kind of that spiritual attraction that happens after that. It really was miraculous. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:13:59] Britney and Sammy got connected to Rick and Pat Freeland, a couple that had been running a safehouse under the radar in Montana for over 40 years. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:14:08] We shared the vision of, hey, we’re going to start a safehouse. But in my husband and I’s mind, we were going to start it and find the people to run it. We weren’t going to do that. We’re a young, millennial couple with two small children. There’s no way that we’re-we’re doing this. And as we kept telling him, Rick kept correcting my husband saying, no, when you live in the house. And Sammy would be like, no, no, no. We’re not living in the house. But finally after like five times, my husband stopped correcting Rick and just kind of listened. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:14:37] On the way home from their visit, Sammy looked at Britney and asked, “Are we the host family?” 

Britney Higgs:  
[00:14:44] I told him. I said I think we’re the host family. So, we then did a mentorship under another incredible organization out of Atlanta, Georgia that has been doing phenomenal residential care for survivors of human trafficking for 25+ years. And we did their trauma informed training. And they really helped us set up everything. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:15:07] It took Britney and Sammy almost three years to develop their non-profit. While starting the first safehouse out of their own home, they named it HER campaign. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:15:17] We just had a home with a mother-in-law suite. And we would integrate survivors into our home, into our family, and provide those wrap around resources. So, we did that for three and a half years and had three women at a time live with us for up to a year. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:15:34] In all, ten women came to live with the Higgs’ family in those three and a half years. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:15:39] In the beginning days when we were integrated survivors into our home, it really was a sweet time. We saw healing happen around our dining room table and during breakfast. We saw healing happen when these women were holding our babies and going on family vacations with us. They really were a part of our every day life while also doing these therapies and these therapeutic modalities to help them, you know, heal from what they had just experienced. But it was through family and community and being integrated and being trusted with our children that really we saw just something start to grow, and flourish, and come to life in these women. But we really did every day with these women. We would wake up in the morning and just like we do programs in our home, each hour was scheduled with different things to provide some structure. But we would just come alongside of them in that and, you know, do Bible studies, have breakfast, do dinners where we’re just talking about our highs and our lows like a lot of families do. Just modeling that to them and then watching them start to do that in their own families. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:16:52] Britney and Sammy recognized that while different forms of therapy helped the abuse survivors heal, it was the Higgs’ integrated family and community that helped them grow and flourish. 

Britney Higgs:  
[00:17:05] One of the things that they would tell us when we would ask them, you know, what was the most impactful thing about you coming to stay with us? It was always getting to be integrated into a family. To see the way that Sammy loves me. To see the way that we raise our kids. Eighty-five percent of the women that we serve come from the foster care system at one point in time in their life. So seeing a family and being integrated into a family system is just not something that they’ve experienced or that they’re used to. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:17:34] Britney truly believes the program goes back to God’s design for the family.  

Britney Higgs: 
[00:17:39] He says in Psalms 68 that God is a father to the fatherless. He places the lonely in families, and He sets the captives free. And we do feel like there’s this beautiful design that He within the family to help people heal, and grow, and find their purpose. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:17:55] One of the most beautiful parts of having these women in their home was seeing them interact with their young children. And how God has even equipped their kids to be a part of the ministry.   

Britney Higgs: 
[00:18:04] When my daughter was one and a half years old and we were living in the safehouse, we had three women with us at the time. And one of those women really deals with complex PTSD. It was one of the toughest cases that we had seen. And any noise in the house would set her off in a panic attack. We would use our trauma informed, you know, de-escalation tools to try to help her calm down. And nothing really worked. But my daughter who was one and a half at the time, every time she would have a panic attack would go and crawl up on her lap, hold her face, look in her eyes, and breathe with her until she calmed down. We never taught our daughter how to do that. It was just something that God like was using and inherently gave her to help this survivor. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:18:45] The Higgs’ daughter, Emmy, comforted the abuse survivor over 20 times during her stay.   

Britney Higgs: 
[00:18:51] Even if the survivor was in a different room, Emmy would have a sense of, oh, my goodness. She’s not okay. So, she would go, oh, and say her name, run to the other room, sit on her lap, and help her to calm down. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:19:04] As the Higgs hosted survivors like this woman with complex PTSD, they realized there was another need to be met. They partnered with several other organizations to build out an emergency stabilization program in Billings, Montana and Denver, Colorado all to help survivors in the beginning stages of exiting trafficking.   

Britney Higgs: 
[00:19:24] And that’s an eight week program that is more clinical in nature. We really address the person holistically looking at the body, the spirit, and the mind. And how can we come alongside of them to stabilize? To get them outside of their trauma so they can make an informed decision for their future. And we help them get there to their long term goals. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:19:45] They’ve already seen God work through the program to change lives. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:19:49] We recently had a survivor graduate from our Denver campus. And she grew up being trafficked by her parents. And later in life, actually testified against them and were able to have them go to prison for the things that they had done to her and her siblings growing up. But after experiencing that, she just naturally went back into the life of exploitation and human trafficking. And up until a few months ago, she was still living in that lifestyle. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:20:21] A hotline advocate reached out through one of the survivors online escort ads and told her, hey, if you’re ready to get out, we’re here for  you. The survivor remembered that advocate and called them back. And the advocate, in turn, called Britney’s team.  

Britney Higgs: 
[00:20:40] And within a few hours, she was on a bus to Denver to our emergency stabilization program. She went from truly sleeping in a freezer in an abandoned building with this trafficker to on a bus to a recovery program where she was met with love and compassion by our staff. And just this therapeutic process to help her stabilize mind, body, and spirit. And as she came to us, she wanted this so badly. We saw her work so hard for her own healing every single day. And I think that’s a huge part of this is you receive to the level that you are putting in when it comes to this healing process. Healing is so difficult for all of us. I mean, we have self-protection. And we want to just avoid it at all cost because there’s this lie that really if I go through this painful thing, it’s going to kill me. But what we saw is she was taking every single day and stepping into it. Day three, she was really starting to experience some fear and wondering if she had made the right decision. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:21:46] The abuse survivor thought since she had made more than a few bad decisions, that she again had made a wrong one. So, she went outside to smoke a cigarette and come up with a plan to leave the program, but someone stopped her. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:22:00] She hears this voice. And she says she actually had to turn around to look because it was audible. And the voice told her … a man’s voice said you made the right decision, and only you could have made that decision. And in that moment, she just felt peace wash over her. And the desire to leave completely went away. She ran into the house. And she started yelling, “I’m staying! I’m staying”. And the whole program staff was like we had no idea you were leaving. But she chose to stay. And what we’ve heard from the therapists that have worked for-with her over that eight week period was this is healing that is unprecedented. We have not seen a survivor really heal and stabilize this quickly in this time. And I think she’s going to change the world. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:22:51] After graduating from the eight week program, the survivor stepped into a long term program that will give her job skills training and equip her for the future. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:23:02] Getting to see the person she was when she first entered the home and to witness the healing journey and what God has done in her life over that eight week period and the joy and the hope and her dreaming again, that unlocking getting to dream again is just unreal. It’s unlike anything else. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:23:22] Stories like that motivate Britney and Sammy to keep rescuing more women. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:23:28] Human trafficking is something that touches our churches, our schools, our communities. It doesn’t matter if it’s urban or it’s rural. Trafficking is everywhere. It is in plain sight. And so, this is a huge issue. What we know is that without a safe place to go, a majority of women will go back into human trafficking. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:23:51] For the Higgs, their anti-trafficking mission goes back to Isaiah 61 which says He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners. 

Britney Higgs: 
[00:24:05] This is what we are here for is to be hope for the hopeless and to bring salvation to those that need that need it the most. 

Music tag:
[00:24:13] 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:24:23] The Higgs are in anti-trafficking work to prepare a place where heaven can touch earth. They want the survivors of sexual abuse to find their freedom in Christ. If you’ve been listening and want to know more about placing your hope in Jesus Christ, would you go to FindPeacewithGod.net. Once you’re there, click where it says begin a relationship with Jesus. That’s FindPeacewithGod.net. You can also find this link in our show notes. Stick around because in just a minute you’re going to hear one significant way that God has worked in Britney’s life. 

Audio tag:
[00:19:43]

Billy Graham: 
[00:25:13] Seven hundred years before the birth of Christ Isaiah the prophet said with His stripes we’re healed. 

Announcer:
[00:25:20] Billy Graham … 

Billy Graham: 
[00:25:21] The stripes mean all the physical and spiritual sufferings of Christ. In Him and Him alone can we find the strength, the stability, and the certainty for tomorrow. Christ alone can bring truth to the mind, cleansing to the heart, and power to the will. Christ died as the representative of guilty men. It is in His death that we find the healing of the nations. By His stripes, all of our powers are brought to bear to resist the disease of sin. By His stripes, a man is restored to fellowship with God. By the stripes of Christ, there is power to overcome sin daily in your life. We proclaim that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures. And that He rose again according to the Scriptures. This is the only way that any man can ever be saved. This is the only solution any man has for the burning problems and questions which face him today internally and externally. You can receive Christ as your Savior today. Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. By His stripes are we healed. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:26:25] You can find true, spiritual healing today, in fact, right now. Remember the website we gave just a moment ago. It’s FindPeacewithGod.net. And when you go there, look for begin a relationship with Jesus. The address once again is FindPeacewithGod.net. And  if you aren’t able to remember that or jot that down, no problem. Go to our show notes. You’ll always find the link there. Our guest on this episode of GPS is Britney Higgs. She and her husband, Sammy, show survivors of abuse and human trafficking how to find complete healing through Jesus Christ. On her path to helping and teaching others, God has worked powerfully in Britney’s own life. 

Britney Higgs:  
[00:27:10] I think one significant way that God has worked in my life and I see this in the lives of the women that we get to serve as well is that wherever your greatest struggle and your greatest oppression is, is actually your greatest strength. The enemy is not creative. He actually can only morph what the Lord has set into existence. Before the beginning of time, the plans and purposes for each of us has been set into motion. The enemy tries to come in to destroy that before it happens. And so, I think for me, when you’re looking at my past and the things that I have experienced, I know now that it is actually my greatest strength to – and in my ministry is to help women step into freedom, and to know that they are chosen daughters of the King of Kings, and to step into their full destiny no matter what they’ve gone through. And so, I think, you know, one of the most beautiful things that we can do on this journey in life and-and with the Lord is just understanding that the things we’ve gone through and what He has forgiven us for is actually what we have to give to other people. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:28:21] Britney has a powerful story, and we are very thankful that she joined us on this episode. She is the CEO and founder of HER campaign, an anti-sex trafficking organization that provides healing between the gap of rescue and freedom. She’s also a mom to four children and wife to Sammy. If you’re ready to listen to more God stories, we have them. Simply subscribe to GPS on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube. We post a new episode every two weeks. I’m Jim Kirkland. This is GPS: God. People. Stories. It's an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Always good news. 

Music tag:
[00:29:02] 

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