The Freedom Challenge is a movement of passionate women who participate in physical challenges to raise funds and awareness to disrupt human trafficking. The recent Tahoe one-day event saw 38 hikers, 5 prayer team members, and raised over $30,000, surpassing the original goal of $25,000. The event was marked by unexpected encounters, butterfly migrations, and moments of transformation and awareness.TakeawaysPassionate women participate in physical challenges to disrupt human traffickingThe Tahoe one-day event exceeded fundraising goals and was marked by unexpected encounters and moments of transformationChaptersTahoe One-Day EventUnexpected Encounters and Transformative MomentsThe Significance of AwarenessUpcoming Events and Closing ThoughtsThroughout the conversation, Tracy and Daria reflect on the importance of awareness, the courage it takes to say yes to something bigger than yourself, and how prayer, fundraising, and participation work together to create lasting impact.Whether you've joined a Freedom Challenge before or you're still wondering if it's for you, this episode offers an inspiring glimpse into what happens when women pray, give, go, and trust God with the journey.

What if your steps today could help transform a place marked by exploitation into a place of peace, refuge, and rescue?In this special Tahoe Challenge prayer episode, Freedom Challenge Prayer Coordinator and host Ruth Peyton Wellett invites listeners to lift their eyes from the reality of human trafficking to the power and presence of God. Reflecting on Psalm 29, Ruth explores God's strength, His peace, and His ability to break strongholds that seem impossible to overcome.As participants hike through the breathtaking beauty surrounding Lake Tahoe and Reno, this guided prayer encourages listeners to imagine a different future for Northern Nevada—a region known as a trafficking hotspot—and to believe that God can bring lasting change. Ruth also shares a powerful challenge to pray boldly for multiplication: multiplying prayers, multiplying awareness, and multiplying the impact of every step taken on behalf of freedom.Whether you're hiking, praying from home, supporting a participant, or learning about the issue for the first time, this episode will encourage you to look beyond the darkness and fix your eyes on the God who brings peace, freedom, and hope.Join us as we pray for Reno, for survivors, for those fighting trafficking, and for a movement of people willing to take small steps that make a lasting difference.---Want to learn more? The Freedom Challenge US: thefreedomchallenge.comOperation Mobilization USA: omusa.orgInstagram: @freedomchallengeusa / Facebook: @thefcusa

The conversation delves into the journey of Dawn Hesse as she steps out in faith to create her own My Challenge, addressing human trafficking. It explores her personal growth, physical and spiritual transformation, and the challenges and surprises she encountered along the way. The power of collaboration and the impact of seeking help are also highlighted. The conversation explores surprising realities, navigating hardship, the spiritual journey, challenges and spiritual growth, lessons learned, approach to fundraising, raising awareness, dreaming and planning, learning and growing, and gratitude and impact. Dawn Hesse shares her journey of organizing the My Challenge event and the valuable insights gained from the experience.TakeawaysPersonal growth and transformationThe power of collaboration and seeking help Navigating hardship leads to spiritual growthRaising awareness is key to successful fundraising

What if the thing you love could help change someone’s life?In this inspiring conversation, Tracy Daugherty sits down with Jenny Barber, co-founder of Talitha Coffee, to share how a simple passion—coffee—became a powerful tool for advocacy and restoration. What started as roasting beans at home has grown into a business creating meaningful employment for survivors of human trafficking.Jenny shares the deeper need many survivors face after leaving exploitation. The need for dignity, purpose, practical pathways forward, and how their work is helping bridge that gap through job training, community, and opportunity.But this story is about more than coffee. It’s about what happens when someone chooses to offer what they already have.Whether it’s baking, creating, organizing, or simply showing up consistently, this episode will challenge and encourage you to see your passions in a new light: not just a hobby, but an opportunity to make an impact.Shop Talitha Coffee: https://talitha.com/collections/retail------Want to learn more about Freedom Challenge? The Freedom Challenge US: thefreedomchallenge.comOperation Mobilization USA: omusa.orgInstagram: @freedomchallengeusa / Facebook: @thefcusaSupport the show

The conversation explores the theme of vulnerability and the role of men in advocacy for vulnerable individuals. It delves into the emotional impact of engaging with vulnerable boys and the complexities of human trafficking. The discussion emphasizes the importance of embracing vulnerability, letting go of control, and learning and growing in advocacy. It also highlights the role of men in advocacy and the need for prayer for vulnerable individuals and advocates.TakeawaysEmbracing vulnerability in advocacyThe role of men in advocating for vulnerable individualsChapters00:00 Introduction to Freedom Challenge15:34 Media Portrayal and Vulnerability23:07 Impactful Experience31:39 Emotional Connection with a Young Man39:05 Learning and Growth45:20 Letting Go of Control51:00 Prayer for Vulnerable Individuals

What is beauty? Why is beauty important? How is beauty distorted? Listen to understand beauty through a new and impactful perspective."A strange thing to me is that God has not just been highlighting His beauty or general beauty but my beauty.  I said to Him, 'I'll believe you, but I don't understand why it matters.' To which He responded, 'If you don't think you are beautiful what does that make Me? You have been made to image Me.' As I pondered this, I realized just how much the enemy and this world has attacked beauty and love in general and my beauty and my love specifically." -Ruth Paton-WillettListen to the previous episode mentioned. Ep.15: FREEDOM through Wholeness for Survivors of Sex Trafficking, with LCSW Chelsea Van EssenWant to learn more? Visit our websites:The Freedom Challenge US: thefreedomchallenge.comOperation Mobilization USA: omusa.org

What does it look like to step into hard places—and stay?In this powerful conversation, Tracy Daugherty sits down with Freedom Sister Wheeler Fisher, who has spent nearly a decade walking alongside women impacted by trafficking. From her early days in Kansas to frontline work with survivors in San Diego, Wheeler shares what advocacy really looks like behind the scenes—both the heartbreak and the hope.You’ll hear how one encounter changed everything, why choosing to “show up for the one” matters more than fixing everything, and how healing can look slow, messy, and deeply beautiful.This episode also offers practical encouragement for anyone engaging in this space—how to stay tender, care for your soul, and continue showing up without becoming overwhelmed or numb.You don’t have to solve everything, but you can still make a difference.------My Challenge: https://givebutter.com/hessemychallenge26------Watch the episode: https://youtu.be/QPM_jC87xGk ------Want to learn more? The Freedom Challenge US: thefreedomchallenge.comOperation Mobilization USA: omusa.orgInstagram: @freedomchallengeusa / Facebook: @thefcusa

In this powerful conversation, host Tracy Daugherty sits down with Jeannie Hudspeth, a first-time participant of the Arkansas One-Day Freedom Challenge, to unpack why this event was so much more than she expected.Jeannie shares how a simple Google search led her into a life-changing experience marked by genuine community, embodied prayer, and a deeper understanding of biblical justice. As an anti–human trafficking prevention educator with the Set Me Free Project, Jeannie also offers practical insight into how trafficking actually happens today—and what parents, churches, and communities can do to prevent it.Together, Tracy and Jeannie explore:Why Freedom Challenge events are experiences, not just eventsThe power of corporate prayer and worship in the fight for freedomHow focusing on one face instead of statistics changes everythingWhy prevention begins with teaching intrinsic, God-given worthHow worship becomes a spiritual battleground where God brings victoryThis episode will encourage and invite you to gaze at Jesus while boldly engaging a broken world—together.------Watch the episode: https://youtu.be/uYaVb590YGo------Want to learn more? The Freedom Challenge US: thefreedomchallenge.comOperation Mobilization USA: omusa.orgInstagram: @freedomchallengeusa / Facebook: @thefcusa

In this prayer-centered episode, Ruth Paton Willett, Prayer Coordinator for The Freedom Challenge, invites us to pause, reflect, and intercede for those affected by human trafficking—especially in Arkansas.As participants take steps in the Arkansas Challenge, Ruth reminds us that our prayers carry real weight. Drawing on Scripture, recent data, and a posture of glancing at the issue while gazing on Jesus, this episode creates space to pray for survivors, frontline workers, government agencies, and a future where freedom is no longer rare.Whether you’re walking, listening quietly, or praying with others, this episode is an invitation to respond to God’s heart for the oppressed—and to believe that freedom matters deeply to Him.---Want to learn more? The Freedom Challenge US: thefreedomchallenge.comOperation Mobilization USA: omusa.orgInstagram: @freedomchallengeusa / Facebook: @thefcusa

What happens when advocacy turns into lived experience?In this powerful episode, Freedom Challenge Director Tracy Daugherty sits down with Teresa Vardilos and Jennifer Lemburg to reflect on their recent mission trip to Pattaya, Thailand, where they served alongside the Tamar Center, a long-standing ministry supporting women affected by sexual exploitation.Teresa and Jennifer share what it was like to move from knowing the statistics to standing face-to-face with the realities of human trafficking. Through stories of bar outreach, prayer walks on Soi 6, haircuts, gel nail classes, and deep relational ministry, they reveal how God meets people through consistency, compassion, and presence—not forced transformation.This conversation explores the emotional and spiritual weight of witnessing injustice, the importance of preparation and prayer, and how anger, grief, hope, and faith can coexist. It’s a raw, honest look at what it means to say yes when God invites us into hard places—and how that yes can transform both the giver and the receiver.---Watch the interview: https://youtu.be/0U4TD2oVeoMRead the blog: www.thefreedomchallenge.com/blogposts/2026/3/18/trafficking-in-thailand---Want to learn more? The Freedom Challenge US: thefreedomchallenge.comOperation Mobilization USA: omusa.orgInstagram: @freedomchallengeusa / Facebook: @thefcusa