By Nicole Wick

I was adopted from an orphanage in Saigon a week before South Vietnam fell to the communist regime. I’ve written about my adoption story here and here. And I have written about my birth mom here. In 1975 only 3,000 of the thousands of Vietnamese children living in orphanages were flown out. The rest remained in that war torn region destined to age out of the orphanage system, often into a life of crime, servitude, or the sex trade.

And today, many Moldovan girls are in a similar situation. In fact, Moldova has one of the highest rates of sex trafficking in the entire world. If you read Anne Jackson’s (Sex Cafe) or Tom Davis’s (Sex Traffickers and the Craziest Day Ever) posts from their recent trip to Moldova, you get an idea of just how awful this situation is.

On my birthday, I shared that Tom Davis’s organization, Children’s HopeChest, is my favorite orphan care ministry. I love what they do to care for orphans around the world. I am especially thrilled about the work that they are now doing in Moldova.

When Tom returned from Moldova he told me about a safe house where five girls that have been rescued from the trade are living. They’ve been rescued from a life where having sex for money was a daily obligation. A life where having sex while pregnant satisfied a fetish and commanded a higher rate. And now, thanks to Children’s HopeChest and their ministry partner Home for Hope, these girls are receiving housing, food, education, and pastoral care. These five girls are being given hope.

These five girls and their children.

So, here is where you come in… today I’m celebrating the 35th anniversary of my adoption. And today, in honor of my adoption anniversary, I’m giving back. I’m giving out of gratitude for what I have been given. I’m giving to honor those that were left behind. And I’m hoping that you will consider giving back with me.

Here’s the need: Children’s HopeChest and Home for Hope provide counseling services for girls rescued from the trade. These services are currently being limited due to physical building needs.

$1,200 will finish renovation on the group counseling area.

$14,500 will provide an addition onto the building that will serve as an individual counseling area.

Will you help stop the secret?

Donations can be given directly to this project here.

Thank you so much for helping this amazing organization. As a special thank you I will be giving away a signed copy of Tom’s book, Fields of the Fatherless, and a gift from Sephora to two winners.

Enter to win by giving a gift in any amount (even $1.00 will do) and leaving a comment below. You can enter a second time by tweeting a link to this post and leaving a comment letting me know that you did. You can enter a third time by adding this post to your Facebook wall and leaving a comment for that too. Two winners will be drawn from the comments on May 25th.

Update:

June 1st, 2010

Nicole’s birthday wish came true.  Through her blog and social networking Nicole was able to raise over $2,000 for girls who are being restored from the wounds of trafficking.  If you would like to see the progress or give a donation to Nicole to reach her goal of $3,000 click here.