Podcast Summary: GPS: God. People. Stories.

Episode: Sexual Abuse Survivor Rescues Trafficking Victims
Host: Jim Kirkland, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Guest: Brittany Higgs
Date: July 23, 2025

Episode Overview

This deeply moving episode of GPS: God. People. Stories. shares the journey of Brittany Higgs, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse who has gone on to help victims of human trafficking find restoration and healing. Brittany recounts her early life, the trauma she experienced, how faith and community shaped her, and how she and her family built a groundbreaking safe house ministry—Her Campaign—to restore dignity to survivors. The episode explores the intersection of personal healing, family, and hands-on ministry, featuring transformative stories, faith reflections, and practical insight into fighting trafficking in local communities.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Brittany’s Upbringing and Family Influences

• Christian Upbringing in Montana

  • Brittany grew up in a Christian family, strongly influenced by grandparents in ministry ([01:51], [01:58]).
  • Her grandparents, especially on her father's side, broke cycles of abuse and welcomed marginalized people into their home:
    • "There were homeless people walking on the railroad tracks that would just end up in their house and just knew it was a safe place to get a meal to be loved and just to have community." ([02:24])

• Early Acceptance of Faith

  • Accepted Christ at age five, inspired by her grandmother’s testimony of God’s faithfulness despite suffering and loss ([03:08]):
    • "Right there in that upper room in her farmhouse, she prayed the prayer with me and I accepted Jesus into my heart... I just knew that Jesus was real and I wanted to live my life for him." ([03:50])

Brittany’s Battle with Abuse and Shame

• Early Trauma

  • First memory of sexual abuse at age three from a family friend ([04:13]).
  • Pattern of boundary violations and unaddressed trauma in childhood:
    • "I believed this core lie, that this is what my worth is... it is my duty and responsibility to be at service to boys and men that are wanting to use my body for their own pleasure... all I remember is feeling shame." ([04:41])

• Spiraling into Rebellion and Seeking Intimacy

  • Despite understanding of faith, shame led to self-destructive behaviors and a search for intimacy outside of God ([05:30]):
    • "I was drinking, smoking pot, hanging out with people that I shouldn't be, living a promiscuous lifestyle... Trying to get away from God, but really desperately seeking for intimacy that can only come from Him." ([05:30])

• Turning Point with God’s Voice

  • Senior year in high school, Brittany hears an unmistakable directive from God to work at Trails and Ranch—the moment changes her life ([06:14]):
    • "When I heard his voice, my entire world changed." ([06:46])

Marriage and New Vocations

• Meeting Her Husband, Sammy

  • Meets Sammy at summer camp; they marry after seven months ([07:14]).

• Film Business and God’s Redirection

  • The couple starts a successful filmmaking business, believing it to be their lifelong calling, until God calls them into anti-trafficking ministry ([07:38], [08:10]).

Breakthrough into Anti-Trafficking Work

• First Exposure to Trafficking Issues

  • Coffee with a photographer friend who works with rescued women in India/Nepal ignites a passion for the issue:
    • "God, break my heart for what breaks yours. He really will." ([08:41])
    • "The veil has been lifted and I cannot turn away from this issue." ([09:01])

• Calling, Prayer, and Decision

  • After praying with Sammy, the couple feels peace in accepting an invitation from an NGO working to help trafficked women reintegrate ([10:04]).
  • Brittany is soon on a plane to Northern Iraq to document stories of Yazidi and Christian women rescued from ISIS ([10:47]).

• Experiencing the Pain of Survivors

  • Brittany is shaken by the depth of survivors' trauma:
    • "Even though they were on the other side of the rescue, they still wished that they would have just died in captivity... Where is your restoration?" ([11:46], [12:13])

Founding “Her Campaign” Safe House

• Turning Pain into Healing Ministry

  • Realizes the gap between rescue and true restoration; feels called to provide for survivors post-rescue ([12:13]).
  • Goes through personal therapy and healing, believing “we can only serve others well from a healed place” ([12:54]).
  • Receives a vision of a safe house while walking in Montana ([13:31]).

• Training & Launch

  • Mentored by a couple who ran a safe house for 40 years, and trained by an Atlanta-based organization in trauma-informed care ([13:59], [14:44]).

• Running the First Safe House out of Their Home

  • Brittany and Sammy open their home as a safe house (“Her Campaign”), integrating up to three survivors at a time for up to a year ([15:17], [15:34]).

• Family as the Foundation of Healing

  • Healing moments happen in daily family life, not just through formal therapies:
    • "Healing happened around our dining room table and during breakfast... through family and community and being trusted with our children." ([15:38])
  • For most survivors—many formerly in foster care—the experience of genuine, stable family life is transformative ([17:04]):
    • "85% of the women we serve come from the foster care system... being integrated into a family system is just not something they've experienced." ([17:04])

The Power of Innocence and Community

• Impact of Their Young Daughter
  • Brittany’s toddler, Emmy, naturally comforted a survivor with complex PTSD—demonstrating the innate power of unconditional love:
    • "My daughter... would go and crawl up on her lap, hold her face, look in her eyes, and breathe with her until she would calm down." ([18:04])
    • "Even if the survivor was in a different room, Emmy would have a sense of, 'oh my goodness, she's not okay'... and help her to calm down." ([18:51])

Expansion and Program Development

• Emergency Stabilization Programs

  • Collaboration to create an 8-week emergency stabilization program in Billings, MT and Denver, CO ([19:03]):
    • "We really address the person holistically, looking at the body, the spirit and the mind... to stabilize, to get them outside of their trauma so they can make an informed decision for their future." ([19:23])

• Testimony of Rapid Healing

  • Shares a story of a survivor trafficked by her own parents, who, after connecting with Brittany’s team, experienced “unprecedented” transformation ([19:48], [21:59]):
    • "She hears this voice... and the voice told her... 'You made the right decision and only you could have made that decision.' And in that moment she just felt peace wash over her..." ([21:59])

Unwavering Hope and Purpose

• Scriptural Foundation

  • Brittany roots the ministry in Psalm 68 and Isaiah 61, emphasizing God’s design for family and freedom for captives ([17:39], [23:51]).

• Trafficking is Everywhere—Call to Action

  • "Trafficking is everywhere. It is in plain sight. And so this is a huge issue. What we know is that without a safe place to go, a majority of women will go back into human trafficking." ([23:28])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Breaking the Cycle:
  "We're going to follow the Lord and we're going to break this cycle of just abuse and other things that were happening in that family."
  — Brittany Higgs ([01:58])

• On Healing and Restoration:
  "God, there has to be something more after the rescue. There has to be something for them. This cannot be the end of the story. Where is your restoration?"
  — Brittany Higgs ([11:46])

• On Ministry from a Healed Place:
  "If we're constantly trying to serve people out of a place of our own brokenness, then it's only going to hurt the people that we're trying to serve."
  — Brittany Higgs ([12:54])

• On God’s Design for Family:
  "God is a father to the fatherless. He places the lonely in families, and he sets the captives free."
  — Brittany Higgs ([17:39])

• On Turning Trauma into Strength:
  "Wherever your greatest struggle and your greatest oppression is, is actually your greatest strength. The enemy is not creative... what we have to give to other people is what he has forgiven us for."
  — Brittany Higgs ([27:09])

• On the Scope of Trafficking:
  "Trafficking is everywhere. It is in plain sight."
  — Brittany Higgs ([23:28])

• On Human Value and Healing:
  "Getting to see the person she was when she first entered the home and to witness... the joy and the hope and her dreaming again, that unlocking, getting to dream again is just unreal."
  — Brittany Higgs ([23:01])

Key Timestamps

• 01:13 – Billy Graham on healing through Jesus Christ
• 03:08 – Brittany’s childhood faith experience
• 04:13 – First memory of abuse
• 05:30 – Descent into rebellion and seeking intimacy
• 06:14 – God’s call at end of high school
• 07:14 – Meeting her husband
• 08:41 – Heart breaks for trafficking victims; call to act
• 10:47 – Arriving in Northern Iraq to help rescued women
• 11:46 – Revelation of survivors’ deep trauma
• 13:31 – Vision from God to start a safe house
• 15:17 – Launching “Her Campaign” in their own home
• 17:04 – Family integration creates new hope for survivors
• 18:04 – Daughter Emmy’s role in survivors’ healing
• 19:23 – Emergency stabilization programs
• 21:59 – Survivor hears a voice from God and stays in the program
• 23:28 – The pervasiveness of trafficking in society
• 27:09 – Turning trauma and oppression into strength

Tone and Closing Reflections

The episode is unflinchingly honest but deeply hopeful, placing faith and community at the center of both Brittany’s personal journey and the ministry she leads. The stories are relayed with empathy and humility, highlighting the pain trafficking survivors face but also celebrating their milestones of healing. The ministry’s scriptural grounding and integration of faith, therapy, and family life testify to the life-changing impact possible through Christ.

“One of the most beautiful things that we can do... is understanding that the things that we've gone through and what he has forgiven us for is actually what we have to give to other people.”
— Brittany Higgs ([27:09])

Resources and Further Action

• To learn more about finding hope and spiritual healing: findpeacewithgod.net

This summary provides an in-depth look at the episode’s story of redemption, healing, and practical advocacy against trafficking. It serves as both a recap and a call to compassionate action within listeners’ own communities.