Fundraiser in Regina to free children from horrors of sex trafficking

By Pamela Cowan, Leader-Post May 26, 2011 5:38 PM REGINA -- Since Dr. Al Purvis and his wife Terry began living in Thailand 30 years ago, they have seen the ongoing horrors of human sex trafficking there and in Cambodia.

Based in Sriracha, Thailand, the couple have set up churches in nine Asian nations under the banner of Victory Churches International.

Purvis said finding a solution to the sex trade is a delicate process.

“You can take girls out one end and new ones will just come in the other end,” he said. “These operations aren’t going to stop just because some of the prostitutes get rescued.”

Purvis will speak at an international feast being held Friday night at Regina Victory Church. The event is being held in partnership with Not4Sale, an organization that raises funds to establish safe houses for children who are exploited in the sex industry in Thailand and Cambodia.

“Our approach is if we can plant churches in there along with these social operations, we can give the people some hope, give them some reason to live,” Purvis said. “It definitely takes time ... The hope is really to train the next generation who will rise up as leaders.”

Poverty is rampant in Cambodia which is why Purvis believes more children are sold into that country’s sex trade than in Thailand.

“You have mothers who will sell their daughters or allow their children to go into prostitution just to survive,” Purvis said of the sex trade in Cambodia.

He described Thailand’s sex business as “flashy and slick” and generally prostitutes aren’t young children forced to work in the trade.

“There’s all the nightclubs and cabarets and it’s common everywhere,” Purvis said. “A lot of families think, ‘Here’s our opportunity.’ ”

In Pattaya, 20 kilometres south of where he and Terry live, a beach is divided into sections.

“The first section is guys looking for girls, the next section one would be pedophiles, the next one would be guys looking for guys,” Purvis said. “It’s blatant ... The pimps will pull into a village in rural Thailand and say, ‘We have an opportunity for your daughters to go to work in Bangkok.’ They’ll take them on the understanding that they’re going to get a job and then they’ll end up as prostitutes.”

He said human sex trafficking can be heartbreaking unless you think long-term.

“In the short term, you do what you can to save lives,” Purvis said.

He and his wife added to their family by rescuing orphans of the Vietnam War from refugee camps.

“These kids were ripe for the prostitution thing,” Purvis said. “We have four of our own and another 27 that we have legal custody of in Thailand. Some of them we got when they were newborns, some were up to six years old.”

Only two children remain in the Purvis home.

“They have grown up and are such tremendous men and women. They’re working in jobs and are leaders of society. It’s a long-term job, but the results are really rewarding.”

The feast at Regina Victory Church begins at 6 p.m. The $30 tickets can be reserved by calling 545-7885 or on the website (www.reginavictory.com).

pcowan@leaderpost.com