If you walked through the doors of the Becker Beacon House of Prayer for the “Be Your Best You - Wellness, Beauty, & Art Expo”, held on Sat., April 20, you would have been immediately greeted with a sense of joy and purpose.  

Vendor tables lined a short hallway selling organic coffee and baked goods, including gluten-free and dairy free treats donated from The Bee Café, Coffee Shop & Boutique in Milaca, MN.  There were canned preserves and vegetables, apple crisp, art work and jewelry that would eventually lead visitors to the main room filled with vendors and visitors who gathered together to laugh and converse loudly.  It resembled a family reunion more than a bazaar.

For Mary Kisch, it was a family affair.  She was with her husband Steve, daughter Rebecca Krutzig, and grandson Samuel.  Kisch joked that they “had come to check it all out.”  Her daughter is the Secretary of the Board for Captives Freed, the reason for all the activity. Vendors donated a portion of their proceeds to Captives Freed while others donated 100% of their time and products.  The event also served to educate the public on their mission to help sex-trafficking survivors find healing and housing.  

Linda Holmes, co-founder of Captives Freed and Executive Director would like everyone to know that. 

“It is a worse situation in Minnesota than anybody knows.” she said.  “Small town, big city, it doesn’t matter where you are, it’s increasing.”  

Linda and her husband Brian founded Captives Freed in 2018.  They were working on “Uncovered”, their documentary about sex trafficking and traveled to Hawaii to “meet people in the fight.”  There they came into contact with the organization Ho’ Ola Na Pua, which means save the children in Hawaiian.  That organization has served as the inspiration for Captives Freed.  

“Our goal is to show the hope,” Linda said.  “That there is real hope.  That there is real recovery for these girls even though it’s tough.”

Captives Freed is still working to complete “Uncovered” and is also working on another film project, “Lights Out”.  They are hoping to open their first Recovery Home in June of this year.  They continue the work of educating and teaching vocational skills to those who have been caught in sex trafficking as well as advocating for them in state and local government.  

This was the first “Be Your Best You - Wellness, Beauty, & Art Expo”.  The hope is to make it an annual affair.  

Captives Freed is about hope. The kind of Hope that is expressed in Isaiah 6:11. Hope that “binds up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”