A Letter From Our Founder:
10 years ago I sat in a room full of high-school students and watched a documentary about child soldiers in Darfur. Anger stirred within me. My heart broke for these children. I was a freshman in high school at the time and had big plans for my future, all of which included pursuing a career in which I made a sizable income. As I sat watching these children speak about fleeing for their lives, everything changed. I desired for my life to be one that would be used to change the world, but I was scared. Fear held me back from unleashing the passion within me, so I bid my heart's desires good-bye and attended Texas A&M University.
After graduating from Texas A&M, I taught elementary school for one year. I loved my students and teaching, but the Lord was whispering that He had something more for my life. I was drawn to the issue of human trafficking, which inspired me to go on an 11 month mission trip to 11 countries called the World Race. The World Race led me to many different continents and countries, but pieces of my heart were left specifically in the countries of Haiti, Moldova, Thailand, and the Philippines.
The poverty level and high demand for commercial sex in these countries makes them a breeding ground for human trafficking. Ironically, the vision for the27project was born after watching the movie Taken in a shack in Moldova. What started as a simple idea was soon fueled by reality during my time in the Philippines. Each day that I innocently played duck duck goose and patty cake with the children in Puerto Galera, I thought of the young girls being sold into brothels by their families. As I said good-bye to them at the end of my time there, I vowed to commit my life to stopping the injustice of human trafficking.
The27project is an organization that will organize a nation-wide running event called 27K for 27Million, which will provide funding for organizations on the forefront of change, as well as inspire participants to use their voice to take a stand against human trafficking. My heart is to raise awareness, raise funding, and create a ripple of change in the nations. The journey is just beginning, will you come along?
Love,
Stacey Compton
