However, what many do not know — but are starting to — is that she has added pioneer, activist and abolitionist to her repertoire of titles. In June of 2012, she officially opened the East Coast A21 office in Mount Pleasant.

The A21 Campaign, or simply A21, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose purpose is “abolishing slavery in the 21^st century.” The slavery that they are referring to is human trafficking. According to the A21 website, “There are more slaves in the world today than at any other point in human history, with an estimated 27 million in bondage across the globe. Men, women and children are being exploited for manual and sexual labor against their will.”

When people think of human trafficking, Eastern Europe immediately comes to mind. Rarely does anyone equate the term with something that could be happening in the United States, the land of the free. Moreover, Charlestonians could never fathom human trafficking happening in their own back yard, the Holy City.

Sadly, it is happening in the United States, and it does happen around Charleston. And, it is a bigger problem than we have solutions for, says Surratt. That’s where she comes in.

Surratt “stepped into her purpose,” as she puts it, to combat the horrible injustice and lack of awareness related to human trafficking, but not on purpose. At the urging of her husband to become more involved with the ministry, she attended a Christian women’s conference where she struck up a conversation with a fellow knee surgery sufferer. It just so happened that this woman was Christine Caine, a motivational speaker and founder of The A21 Campaign.

At first, the thought of becoming involved with anything like that was scary, Surratt says. But, as the months went on the signs were all around her, and she felt God was calling her. While preparing to speak at a women’s retreat (unrelated to A21 or human trafficking), she felt very connected to the Book of Esther, and her purpose became obvious. “I felt this huge responsibility. I finally just surrendered and began looking into it,” she said.

“There are organizations all over the world that are fighting trafficking in Eastern Europe, but who’s doing it in our back yard?” she asks. The answer is she is.  She began by talking to law enforcement and started networking. Before she knew it, she had made contacts all the way to the top state officials and had rallied a community of volunteers to get involved. She corroborated with Caine of The A21 Campaign and became the director of its East Coast, United States office.

A21’s tactics?

• Prevention through awareness and education
• Protection by providing shelters and transition homes to victims
• Prosecution of traffickers through legal representation
• And, partnerships with law enforcement, service providers and community members to strengthen the response to human trafficking

A21 was asked recently to participate with a state task force led by the Attorney General’s office as an NGO, nongovernment organization, to help with educational awareness efforts in the community relating to trafficking. From speaking at seminars to distributing awareness brochures in the community, she hopes her efforts and those of the volunteers will reach far and wide.

CSU has chosen The A21 Campaign as one of seven ministry partnerships for 2013. To find out more or get involved with The A21 Campaign and their national or global initiatives, visit their website: www.thea21campaign.org.

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Quick Facts about trafficking[1]:

• Every 30 seconds another person becomes a victim of human trafficking
• 99% of victims are not rescued
• An estimated 27 million men, women and children across the globe are exploited for manual and sexual labor against their will
• Average age of trafficking victims is 12 years old

National Statistics:

• NHTRC (National Human Trafficking Resource Center) reported 2,165 potential human trafficking victims in 2011, the most recent statistics available[2]
• Of these victims 67.48% were exploited for sex trafficking
• 10% of the victims were minors
• Call volume to the NHTRC crisis hotline increased 61% from 11,874 in 2010 to 19,427 in 2011
• California, Texas, Florida and New York had the highest number of reports
• NHTRC has received reports of potential human trafficking in every state
• It is estimated that there are 100,000 children in the sex trade in the United States each year, according to NHTRC

South Carolina Statistics:

• 18 potential cases of human trafficking in S.C. during the first three quarters of 2012, the most recent statistics available[3]
• 170 calls to the NHTRC referenced S.C. in 2011
• NHTRC reported 20 potential human trafficking cases in 2011 for S.C.
• Approximately one quarter of the potential human trafficking cases in S.C. reference minors
• The highest concentration of calls were from the Myrtle Beach, Columbia and Charleston areas, respectively
• S.C. first confirmed case of human trafficking occurred in 2007 and involved a 14 year old girl[4]
• June 18, 2012 Gov. Haley signed Bill 3757[5], strengthening human trafficking laws in S.C.
  
  

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Children living in poverty-stricken areas of the world received the boxes which were packed with care by students and area church volunteers. Dean of Students, Clark Carter, and Campus Minister, Jon Davis, then drove the boxes to Charlotte to the regional assembly center.

Students, encouraged by their success in packing more than 300 boxes in one night before Christmas 2011, went all out to more than triple the number of boxes packed in 2012.

The Miracle League is an organization that provides a chance for children and young adults to play our national pastime.

Every CSU baseball player is matched with a child, or a buddy, for the day. The player and the child go out to their position, and field the ball and throw it. Then they get in the batter’s box and hit the ball off the tee and run to first base. Sophomore centerfielder Bobby Ison said, “My buddy was a kid named Braxton, and I treated him just like my best friend, and for that day, he was my best friend.”

It was a great experience for the baseball team and for the kids involved. “The smile doesn’t leave their face; the smile doesn’t leave your face,” Ison said.  “They help me become a better person.”

Volunteering with the Miracle League helped the team appreciate the game that they may seem to take for granted at times. “They’re the happiest kids in the world, and they’re only out there for an hour. It made me think that maybe we should step back and start living for the day.”

The Miracle League touches lives with the sharing of the game of baseball. It’s a game that unites those who seem to be different but aren’t really that different after all. It gives you a chance to appreciate what the game is all about when everything is over, which is everyone having fun. Stats don’t carry the weight and the score doesn’t decide the true winner.

The Miracle League was founded in 1999, and now after 14 years of existence, has a total of 250 branches. The Miracle League helps more than 200,000 people around the world take part in the game of baseball.

Using personal examples and anecdotes, Padilla, who is also campus director for FCA, encouraged the crowd to view God as a father figure who wants nothing more than for His people to love Him. He reminded the student-athletes that “the Bible is not a rule book but a love story of the relationship between us and our Savior.” According to Padilla, everyone falls into tough times and temptations, but they succeed when they choose God over those pitfalls.

He read a poem written by Paul Harvey titled “If I Were the Devil” that described the chaos that occurs when things of the world begin to replace God in society.  Even though it was written several decades ago, Padilla pointed out the similarities between the poem and today’s culture and told the student-athletes that the only way to avoid such temptation is to give their lives to Jesus because He has already conquered and defeated it all.

Vance’s 26 years in the corporate world have prepared him to lead CSU’s growing College of Adult and Professional Studies. In addition to the bachelor of science in organizational management, students may now enroll in the master of science in organizational management. The first classes for the master’s degree started in the fall.

“Our master’s program is accelerated, relevant and provides the skills that are important in today’s business world,” said Vance. The faith aspect of Charleston Southern’s program intrigued Vance. “We offer a servant leadership course to help people understand that model of faith leadership and help students explore what a Christian worldview means and what it means in the business world,” he said.

Vance received an undergraduate degree in engineering from Purdue and later earned a master of business administration from Winthrop through an online program.

His background and experience are serving him well in his new position. “My MBA gives me a good background from a student perspective of what it is like to go back to school, and my experience as an executive gives me a good idea about what managers would like for their people to know, skills like team building and critical thinking,” said Vance.

Vance plans to seek out opportunities to connect with his business contacts and help them see what a degree can do for their employees. “Because our program is online, it opens itself up to anyone – we have no borders, no boundaries,” said Vance.

The online program uses an asynchronous model which allows students to access their course anytime, and CSU partners with Pearson Learning Solutions to leverage leading technology innovations.

“Basically, we encounter people who think college is impossible, and we help them see it is possible,” said Vance. “The degrees we offer are relevant to the working world, and we want to show people how to make the impossible possible.”