Welcome! We are so glad you are here!
What do we believe?
Our mission statement and beliefs can be found here.
We are a faith-based non-profit 501c3 that use hospitality and awareness to prevent child sex trafficking
What that means is we encourage and equip you to fight and prevent the evil of child sex trafficking. We have found the best way to do that is by having an important conversation where you share stories & facts and then share all of that with as many people as you can.
WHY WE ARE PASSIONATE…
In the summer of 2016, the founder of beLydia, Terri Ingraham, heard a story that changed her life. A twelve-year-old girl went to a party with her friend and was gang-raped. That assault was video recorded and used to bribe her to be “sold for sex” for the next three years.
She attempted suicide 7 times but never told anyone what was going on. Each weekend and after school, she was forced to have sex to meet a “quota” set by her trafficker/pimp.
The crazy part of this story is that she lived at home, went to school each day and her parents had no idea this was happening.
How beLydia started…
beLydia was started in March 2016 when Terri had a dream where she heard “be Lydia” over and over. She woke up the next morning and had what she calls a “download from the Holy Spirit” about being like Lydia in the book of Acts who heard Paul preach the Gospel and responded by showing her faithfulness through hospitality. She was supposed to respond by using hospitality and awareness events to prevent children from being ensnared by these evil traffickers.
At that time, she didn’t even know what child sex trafficking was and certainly had no idea it was happening in the United States much less her own neighborhood!
Unlike drugs which are a one time sale, people can be sold over and over and over again. It’s happening all across America, not just in big cities but in small towns or foreign countries.
Kids are being tricked into sex slavery/trafficking and we need to stop this!
To learn about beLydia and how this all started, read Terri’s story of when God opened her heart to respond in a dream.
Here’s a video from our first event where Terri hosted her first gathering and wasn’t quite sure what God was doing but trusted that it would all come together!
beLydia Gathering — A Modern Woman’s Response to the Gospel from Jackson Ingraham on Vimeo.
Teen Awareness Program
Our Teen Awareness Program started with us just talking to teens and getting to know them. We set up a Teen Advisory Board because we realized they could teach us a lot of really valuable information.
We also did some thinking about why this is happening.
Why are so many teens being tricked into sex trafficking? We realized that it’s because they don’t know who they are in Christ. Even girls that are from “solid” Christian families are being tricked so they may know Jesus but maybe don’t believe He loves them.
They don’t know their worth.
From that realization, we came up with a Teen Conference called Open Hearts where we had the conversation about what happens when God opens your heart and what happens when the world opens your heart. We taught them who they are in Christ, how God created them to be unique, how to bible journal, how to deal with anxiety and much more.
beLydia Open Hearts Conference 2018 from Jackson Ingraham on Vimeo.
Your donations prevent child sex trafficking
Sign up to be a“beLydia Backer” and donate $10 a month to help further our mission to prevent child sex trafficking in every city in America (and also get a really soft and flattering t-shirt!).
Because Jesus
We share a weekly devotional on our blog because we know that without the Gospel, there is no hope.
Be armed with information
Looking for resources to keep your kids safe? Check out our Stay Informed page.
Despite this incredibly dark topic, we do manage to find ways to laugh our heads off. Thank God for humor otherwise we would go insane.
God is so faithful to bring these women to beLydia and what’s amazing is that we all have some connection to sex trafficking. That’s not an accident!
We would be so honored if you joined us in this fight, either by praying for our ministry, volunteering, attending an event or by donating and becoming a beLydia Backer.
