Superheroes do exist in real life. Having big hearts, they are ready to help people around them with their kindness, courage, and determination. Their jobs face many risks, and they might be anonymous, but these dedicated people still pursue their mission. They can’t change the world but they use their small acts to change the life of people who have sought help. They hope to bring them a second chance for a better life.
Image Credits: Instagram/ Tim Ballard
Tim Ballard is a true real-life superhero. He is a loving father of nine and a former Home Security agent. His fatherhood and working experiences make him understood how normal life is meant to children.
Image Credits: Instagram/ Tim Ballard
Image Credits: Instagram/ Tim Ballard
However, approximately 1.2 million children are victims of the sex trade, a booming illegal industry in the U.S. and around the world. Tim decided to do something to help these poor kids. He wishes them all were rescued, living the life that a kid is supposed to do.
Image Credits: Instagram/ Tim Ballard
In 2013, Tim launched Operation Underground Railroad (OUR). His team consists of 25 full-time employees and around 100 contractors. They are former CIA agents, past and current law enforcement operatives. These quit their high-paying, pensioned jobs to start the non-profit with him. Extraordinary people!
Image Credits: Instagram/ Tim Ballard
Image Credits: Instagram/ Tim Ballard
Till present, OUR has rescued 3,800 children and arrested 2,100 child traffickers.
Image Credits: Instagram/ Tim Ballard
While working with the Department of Homeland Security, Tim attended training courses on operating undercover as a “sex tourist”. This is a key factor in the success of their work. If he didn’t convince child traffickers that he wanted to buy children, he can’t catch them.
“I learned how to basically be just horrible things,” he explained. “I learned how to act like a pedophile or talk like a trafficker or a purveyor of child sex tourism—whatever I needed to do,” Tim said.
Image Credits: Instagram/ Tim Ballard
Tim said that his itself is incredibly traumatizing. He did, saw, and witnessed the vastness of the industry. These are hard on even the most resilient people and, of course, traumatize him, physically and mentally.
The man once thought that couldn’t continue doing this job. But luckily, his faith and wife kept him going. He started writing a book called Slave Stealers to recount stories of human slavery.
Image Credits: Instagram/ Tim Ballard
Image Credits: Instagram/ Tim Ballard
Tim is featured in the documentary film Operation Toussaint: Operation Underground Railroad and the Fight to End Modern Day Slavery.
He’s also starring in a film called Sound of Freedom that features child trafficking in Latin American countries.
Image Credits: Instagram/ Tim Ballard
If you want to help support OUR in their mission to end child sex trafficking, visit their website for more information and go to their donation page to support the cause.
H/T: Thoughtnova