Mercy Gate Ministries co-founder Chae Spencer fought back tears and was visibly moved as she listened to “Jennifer” share her story with the more than 200 guests of the “Hope in the Hill Country” fundraiser for Mercy Gate Ministries last week.
It wasn’t because Jennifer’s story was so tragic … and it was … it was because Spencer had walked alongside Jennifer as she made her transformation after decades of abuse and the bad choices that ensued.
“I am 36 years old and have been in and out of the justice system since I was 17,” Jennifer said. “What looked like an intentional pursuit of crime was really a mask that covered a damaged, broken and hurting woman.”
Jennifer said her parents divorce deeply affected her, but said the pain began when her mother remarried a man who turned out to be a pedofile who “took advantage of me of an on throughout my early childhood.”
She said the people that should have helped her didn’t and she was left holding the guilt and shame by herself at a young age.
Jennifer said she was filled with rage, but also continued to seek the approval of others. She described herself as being “good in school” and active in extracurricular activities, including church youth group.
“Although I had been introduced to God, I never really knew him, because I was hiding behind so many secrets,” Jennifer said.
Feeling lost, Jennifer said she went on to make bad decisions while seeking approval and love, including having a child with an abusive man.
“I began drinking in my 20s and as the abuse continued, so did my substance abuse,” Jennifer said.
She said she began using multiple drugs to relieve her pain, which resulted in a series of arrests, which ultimately landed her in the prison system.
“After prison, I attempted to change my life. I went Christian Women’s Job Corps and took every suggestion except when it came to relationships,” Jennifer said.
She committed three more crimes and was unable to successfully complete probation requirements and fled Kerr County, only to be arrested again.
It was then that she met Spencer, who advocated for her in the court system and helped her get her life on track through the Mercy Gate Ministries program.
At the end of her speech, Jennifer apologized to the citizens of Kerr County, local law enforcement and thanked probation officers and the judge who took a chance on her and gave then credit for helping her gain confidence, self-respect, and peace.
After Jennifer left the stage, Spencer commended Jennifer and another Mercy Gate Ministries woman who provided testimony.
“You are the reason why we do what we do,” Spencer said. “I’m so proud of you. You can’t imagine how hard it is to hear these stories every day. It’s beyond what we can put into words.”
Spencer that that most women who come through the Mercy Gate program were sexually abused as toddlers around the age of two.
“Familial trafficking is a real problem in Kerr County,” Spencer said.
With that, Spencer introduced keynote speaker Kathy Givens, co-founder of Twelve 11 Partners, and victim of sex trafficking herself.
In 2018, Givens was invited into the Oval Office to witness a bill she advocated for signed into law. In 2021, Givens joined the United States Advisory Council on Human Trafficking by presidential appointment. During her time as a Program Director, Givens developed a trauma-informed restorative care program for adult survivors of trafficking.
Givens said she is amazed at the stories she’s heard from other women and pointed out that it was only by God’s grace that they were rescued … physically, spiritually, and emotionally, saying it takes a community to save the women who are victims of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Givens said she is of Jamaican descent, was raised in Canada and finally became a Texan.
“I have a very diverse background,” Givens said.
Givens described her early childhood as being nurturing and loving, but her choice of a romantic partner took that away.
“How could this once-nurtured little girl, who grew up in church, end up in brothels and walking the streets and having a gun to my head,” Givens said. “I met a guy in Houston through some mutual friends. This guy was very attentive to my needs. He was very affirming. He knew the right things to say. He knew my vulnerabilities that I had not identified yet.”
Givens said the “guy” was listening and was very strategic.
“He knew I had come from a broken home, where my parents were divorced at a very young age,” Givens said. “We relocated to Texas when I was 14 years old. It was a big move for me.”
Givens said she was sexually assaulted in high school, but never told anyone.
So, when Givens met the “guy,” she said he knew everything about her, including her schedule, her likes and dislikes and fears.
“You can say they’re red flags now, but when you’re experiencing it, to me, all I saw was red roses,” Givens said. “I was so happy that he wanted to know everything about me.”
Ultimately, Givens said the “guy” forced her into prostitution for a very long period of time.
“How could someone do that?” Givens said. “It didn’t make any sense to me, and it was very scary out there. But you know what was even scarier than this person deceiving me and abusing me and exploiting me? It was the people that were supposed to be supporting me. It was the buyers. They looked like people I was taught to trust.”
She said she had no trust that she could be helped but was holding on to the hope that she would survive.
“It was a very dark period in my life,” Givens said. “It was awful.”
Givens said when she finally was able to be freed from being “that life,” she wanted to return to it.
“Because I didn’t think the community would accept me,” Givens said.
Givens said she didn’t have an organization such as Mercy Gate to seek help from and ultimately put her trust in God to help her recognize her own dreams and seek to fulfill them.
Givens commended the guests of the event, saying she knows the stories are hard to hear, but also said they should understand that without “buyers” and demand, women would not be sex trafficked and exploited.
“We’re here tonight because we care,” Givens said. “It’s community. It’s not those poor people that have been abused and the rest of us. It’s all of us. What is God telling you about your own story? In order for you to partner with Mercy Gate … in order for you to partner with someone like me, you have to own and recognize and honor your own story.”
Earlier in the evening, Spencer invited Kerr County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jason Waldrip to speak and praised local law enforcement and judicial system.
“I want to really brag on Kerr County,” Spencer said. “On the specialty courts, on probation and as you can imagine, we work with law enforcement around this state and even outside of the State of Texas and we (Kerr County) have the best of the best.”
She then asked members of the local court system and law enforcement to stand and be recognized.
“We thank you so much,” Spencer said. “We could not do what we do without you. We really couldn’t.”
Kerr County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jason Waldrip provided a recap of the past three years on their efforts to combat sex crimes in Kerr County.
“Since Sheriff Leitha took office, criminal investigation division investigators have arrested 78 suspects as defendants on sex-related crimes,” Waldrip said. “Unfortunately, not a week goes by that our criminal investigation division doesn’t get some sort of referral regarding a sex-related crime.”
Waldrip highlighted a recent case that the KCSO and 198th District Attorney’s Office worked together on and announced that the suspect accused of continuous sexual assault of a child was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
As a law enforcement officer, Waldrip said he is very pleased with the determination of the local court system, saying that suspects from other areas that are arrested in Kerr County find that they do not get probation or a light sentence like they would in larger cities.
Waldrip said KCSO has been involved in multi-agency operations that included Mercy Gate Ministries over the past year and said that their work has resulted in identifying 11 victims, three of which were accepted by Mercy Gate.
“We’re very proud of this work,” Waldrip said. “And take your hats off to Mercy Gate for the work they do in rescuing victims. It’s very difficult work.”
At the conclusion of the event, Spencer explained the current needs for expansion of the program, saying Mercy Gate receives more applications from victims than they have beds to offer.
“For every single bed that we have, we have a minimum of eight applications,” Spencer said. “Really, we have more, but that’s bare minimum. So, we don’t have enough room.”
Spencer said the lack of affordable housing in Kerr County is detrimental to the success of women transitioning out of the Mercy Gate Ministries Journey program.
“We’ve been blessed. We have a thousand testimonies, but what we need now is transitional housing,” Spencer said.
Spencer said an anonymous donor has provided a five-bedroom transitional residence for them, but renovations and repairs are needed.
“It will allow for us to have an additional 10 women there,” Spencer said. “It’s going to cost about $200,000 to renovate.”
Spencer said the hope is that the home will be ready in mid-2024 and asked the guests at the event to partner with Mercy Gate.
The transitional residence will supplement the needs of the 12-bed facility, The Haven, which was made possible by donations as well.
Mercy Gate Ministries is actively involved in the prevention, rescue, restoration and advocation of victims of human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and sexual trauma. The organization was formed because of three Kerr County women joining hearts and visions to see poverty eradicated, and trafficked victims supported into freedom. Founding members Chae Spencer, Lisa Carpenter, and Lana Seibert have a combined ministry experience of over 30 years, each of them dedicated to personal ministry until forming Mercy Gate as a means of reaching a greater scope of those in need.
For more information on Mercy Gate Ministries, visit their website, www.mercygateministries.com.
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