“We Had the Means to Help, So We Said Yes”: How One Church Is Choosing to Step Into the Messy Work of Restoration

Long before Church ONE22 ever partnered with Rescue America, human trafficking had already broken Johnny’s heart (the pastor at ChurchONE22). 

“Way back in the day, I got involved with anti-trafficking work through IJM,” Johnny shared. “God just wrecked my heart for it.”

Years later, that burden would become deeply personal when his wife joined the work of Rescue America firsthand.

“I’ve been up at three in the morning praying while my wife is on the phone with someone in crisis,” he said. “People trying to get out of oppression and trauma and darkness.”

For Johnny, supporting anti-trafficking ministries isn’t simply a charitable initiative. It’s part of what it means to follow Jesus.

“We want to be a yes church,” he explained. “When there are needs involving the hurting and vulnerable, I’m proud to be part of a church that says yes to things that matter.”

That posture shaped Church ONE22’s recent support of Rescue America.

“We gave because there was a need and we had the means to do so,” Johnny said. “To know there’s a need and to have the means and not give… that’s not an option in the Christian life.”

But for Johnny, partnership goes far beyond writing checks.

Church ONE22 members have stepped into direct ministry opportunities as hotline advocates and intervention volunteers alongside anti-trafficking partners like Rescue America and Elijah Rising. Some answer hotline calls for people in crisis. Others prepare to serve in outreach and intervention efforts during the upcoming World Cup.

“Dollars and cents are great,” Johnny said, “but if you can be part of the work… be part of the work.”

That heart for action is woven deeply into the church’s identity.

The church’s name itself comes from James 1:22: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

“Everything we do as a church gets filtered through that,” Johnny explained. “If it’s in Scripture, let’s do what it says.”

Recently, their church studied the book of James and reflected on caring for the vulnerable.

“The devotion we say we have to God that is true,” Johnny said, “is to take care of those who are broken and vulnerable.”

Again and again, he returned to one central truth: Christians have personally received mercy from God, and that mercy is meant to overflow into the lives of others.

“We were the orphan. We were the widow,” he said. “God met us in our mess and loved us through it. So now we get to participate with Him by offering that same mercy, forgiveness, grace, and care to others.”

That’s one of the reasons Rescue America resonates so deeply with him.

“What I appreciate about Rescue America is that they meet people in the darkest places, but they also provide very practical care,” Johnny shared. “It’s not just, ‘We care about you spiritually.’ It’s also, ‘We’re going to help you get to a shelter. We’re going to send you an Uber. We’re going to stay on the phone with you while you’re scared.’”

He described watching his wife gently walk survivors through terrifying moments — reassuring them while they prepared to board planes, leave traffickers, or step into an entirely unknown future.

“Sometimes it’s not even the dramatic moments,” he said. “It’s the subtle ones. Watching someone lovingly reassure a survivor who’s scared and wondering if they can really leave. That basic human care can be life-giving.”

And while the work is often messy, Johnny believes that’s exactly where Christians are called to be.

“Rescue America is down for the mess,” he said with a smile. “And honestly, that’s what God has called us into.”

For churches or individuals wondering whether they can make a difference, Johnny’s encouragement is simple: start somewhere.

“Don’t just know it’s a problem,” he said. “Be involved in the solution.”

Whether through giving, volunteering, answering hotline calls, or simply taking one small step of obedience, Johnny believes every believer has an opportunity to participate in God’s restoration work.

“If God has convicted you, make it personal,” he said. “A monthly donation, buying a car seat for a survivor, taking a hotline shift — whatever it is, do something.”

Because ultimately, he says, this work reflects the very heart of Christ.

“He went into the depths to rescue us,” Johnny said. “And now we get to participate with Him in bringing people out of darkness and into life.”