Forget everything Hollywood taught you about human trafficking. In this raw and eye-opening episode of The Kingdom Effect, hosts Kevin Beasley and Glenn “Buckshot” Buckley sit down with Jared Miller, founder of Freedom Aviation Network, to expose the massive gap between dramatic movie rescues and the brutal reality of helping survivors actually get free.
While films like Sound of Freedom are bringing awareness to trafficking, there’s a crisis happening after the credits roll that no one’s addressing: How do you safely transport a survivor with no ID, no resources, and a trafficker who knows exactly where to find them? Jared’s answer? Build a network of 100+ private pilots willing to donate their planes, fuel, and time to fly survivors to safety.
But this conversation goes deeper than logistics—it confronts the uncomfortable question every listener needs to ask themselves: How have I contributed to the problem?
Connect With Our Hosts & Guest
Resources Mentioned:
📖 The Truth About Sex Trafficking by Melanie Patterson - Available on Amazon
📖 The Insanity of God by Nik Ripken
📖 To Be Told by Dan Allender
Kevin Beasley - Co-host, Kingdom Effect Podcast & Discipleship Network Leader
🌐 Website: kevinebeasley.com
📘 Facebook: facebook.com/kevinebeasley
Glenn “Buckshot” Buckley - Co-host & Former Law Enforcement
📘 Facebook: facebook.com/rambler113.6
Jared Miller - Founder, Freedom Aviation Network
🌐 Website: freedomaviationnetwork.org
📘 Facebook: Freedom Aviation Network
📸 Instagram: @freedomaviationnetwork
Kingdom Effect Podcast Community
👥 Facebook Group: Kingdom Effect Podcast
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The Uncomfortable Truth: It’s Happening in Your Backyard
Glenn drops a sobering reality check: trafficking isn’t just happening in Colombia or overseas. It’s happening in Spring Hill, Tennessee. At Summit High School. In every major American city.
“We do want to make sure that those people listening understand that trafficking is a real thing. It happens globally, internationally... But it’s happening right here in Nashville, and Jackson, and Memphis, and every major city across the United States.”
Kevin admits his own awakening—hearing stories from Glenn and Harmony at Rescue One Global about incidents at his own kids’ high school. The enemy’s greatest lie? It’s somewhere else. Not here.
What Happens After the Sex Trafficking Rescue
(The Part Nobody Talks About)
Both Glenn and Jared emphasize that rescue is the easy part—and it’s over quickly. The hard work is restoration, which can take years.
The typical survivor journey:
Addiction recovery - Most survivors struggle with narcotics, alcohol, or sex addiction
Trauma processing - Can only begin after addiction is addressed
Multiple facility transfers - Rehab → safe house → restoration programs
Ongoing accountability - Survivors often want to run rather than face more counseling
Security management - The trafficker is often still looking for them
“The rescue part... that’s the Hollywood, attractive thing. But the hard work in my opinion—and I’m a rescue guy, give me a machine gun and let’s go—the hard part is walking alongside somebody through the recovery process and the restoration process.”
Glenn explains why he hasn’t watched Sound of Freedom: “When you’ve seen and experienced a lot of that firsthand in real life, watching it depicted on a screen triggers a lot of emotion... I haven’t worked up the courage to watch it and deal with all those emotions.”
Human Trafficking Signs Every Parent Needs to Know
Glenn offers practical guidance on identifying potential trafficking situations in children:
🚩 180-degree behavior changes - Extroverted kids becoming reclusive, or vice versa 🚩 New, unexplained possessions - Clothes, electronics, gifts you didn’t buy (grooming) 🚩 Friend group changes - Sudden shifts in who they’re hanging out with 🚩 Appearance changes - Dramatic shifts in how they present themselves
Critical action: Monitor internet activity and electronic devices. Glenn notes most parents are “behind the learning curve” on what happens on their kids’ devices.The Movie That Changed My Mind
The episode opens with each host sharing a film that shifted their worldview. Jared points to End of the Spear, the story of Jim Elliot and the missionaries martyred in Ecuador—and how their sacrifice led to generations of transformation, including in Jared’s own life. Glenn references Machine Gun Preacher and his own trip to Kenya that radically reordered his priorities about Western church culture. Kevin recalls Hotel Rwanda and the haunting scene where a journalist admits Americans will see footage of atrocities, say “that’s so sad,” and go back to eating dinner.
This sets the stage for the real conversation: What’s actually happening in anti-trafficking work that the movies don’t show?
The Transportation Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight
Jared shares the origin story of Freedom Aviation Network. After years working alongside Glenn in anti-trafficking operations, one 30+ hour rescue operation pushed him over the edge. A survivor with “compounding levels of risk” needed to be moved to safety, but the logistics put everyone—the team and the survivor—in unnecessary danger.
“I was angry for a few days. And I’m not an angry person. Glenn will tell you that... It was like a final straw. Why is transportation hard for us?”
What Jared discovered: Most shelters and case management agencies had been putting survivors on buses or trains and hoping they’d make it to the other side. A survey of 233 trafficking-dedicated shelters revealed they didn’t even recognize transportation as a significant problem—they’d just been doing “whatever it takes.”
The barriers are real:
No identification (traffickers withhold IDs as a control mechanism)
Safety concerns (perpetrators can track public transportation)
Cost (who pays for tickets?)
Accessibility (survivors can’t buy tickets without ID)
Jared’s solution? Become a private pilot himself and build a network of aviators willing to donate flights.
By the Numbers: Freedom Aviation Network Today
🛫 100 pilots recruited across 30 states (announced for the first time on this episode) 🛫 47 passengers flown to date 🛫 100% US citizens - every survivor flown has been domestic
🛫 More than half had no identification
🛫 $1,500 average in-kind donation per flight from volunteer pilots
Under FAA public benefit flying regulations, pilots must pay their “pro rata share” of each flight—meaning they cover fuel, aircraft costs, parking, and their own time. These pilots aren’t getting reimbursed. They’re donating flights worth $500-$2,000+ because they want to use their skills for eternal impact.
“Instead of going to get what we call a $100 hamburger—which now is more like a $300 hamburger—flying to the beach for the weekend... now you have an opportunity to actually affect a life indefinitely, permanently.”
The Hardest Question: How Do You Reconcile Evil with a Good God?
Kevin asks the question many are afraid to voice: How do you witness this level of abuse and still believe in God’s goodness?
Jared’s response:
“I believe that everything happening in our world is not a surprise... But in the midst of all that, the Lord is redeeming people’s spirits, hearts, minds, and bodies every single day in miraculous ways.”
He shares how God allowed him to go through his own “very, very, very dark, abusive, painful, used and abused time” before calling him into this work. That personal suffering gave him the compassion and insight to sit with survivors in their pain.
Glenn’s confession:
“There were times where I was angry at God... I felt like he didn’t protect me. You called me into this, gave me the heart and the passion to do it. But yet you’re not protecting me from all this trauma.”
Glenn had to remove his “selfish glasses” and trust that God’s faithfulness might not look like what he expected. He references The Insanity of God and the misconception that Christians won’t face persecution—when Scripture actually promises we will.
“We’re Not Superheroes—We Just Said Yes”
One of the most powerful themes of the episode: the people doing this work are ordinary.
“Not a single person in the world of anti-trafficking is a superhero, nor an action hero. That is not who we are. We are regular people who just made a decision to be obedient... to be his hands and feet.”
Jared pushes back against the “kick down doors” mentality:
“Every day when someone asks me what I do: ‘Oh, so you’re the one that goes and kicks down doors.’ No, actually, not at all. I just love on people as long as they let me.”
Both guests emphasize: God chooses people for this work. Glenn says if he could remove the calling and choose again knowing what he knows now? “I would say heck no. I want to stay as far away from that as I can.”
The Human Trafficking Call to Action That Will Wreck You
Jared closes with the most uncomfortable challenge of the episode:
“The most painful thing that you can do is ask yourself a very hard question: How have I contributed to the problem?“
This means examining:
Have I clicked on exploitative content?
How have I devalued human life?
What do I consume that’s produced through exploitation (labor trafficking, not just sex trafficking)?
Glenn echoes: “If there’s not a consumer, then there’s no need to have the product.”
The bottom line: You don’t need to be a rescue operator to make a difference. Pray. Give. Support. Champion those on the frontlines. Ask hard questions about your own consumption. And if God’s calling you into this work—say yes.
Key Quotes Worth Remembering
💬 “A person is not fully healed from their trauma until they can tell the story to someone else going through a similar trauma.” — Dan Allender (referenced by Kevin)
💬 “It’s a great tragedy to see others go through trauma. It’s a greater tragedy to go through trauma yourself. And it’s the greatest tragedy to go through trauma and it never be used for someone else’s good.” — Kevin Beasley
💬 “We experience trauma through the survivors... We share as much of that burden as we can without actually being the survivor. And that stuff sticks with you.” — Glenn Buckley
💬 “God never promised, ‘Hey, become a believer, and it’s easy sailing.’ It’s actually probably quite the opposite.” — Glenn Buckley
Next Steps
✈️ Want to fly for freedom? Visit freedomaviationnetwork.org to learn how pilots can join the network
💰 Want to fund a flight? Connect with Freedom Aviation Network to support survivor transportation
📖 Want to learn more? Read The Truth About Sex Trafficking by Melanie Patterson (available on Amazon)
🙏 Want to get involved locally? Reach out to Kevin, Glenn, or Jared to get connected with anti-trafficking organizations in your community
Kingdom Effect Podcast - Where ordinary people make extraordinary decisions to impact others for good. Available on all major podcast platforms and Substack.
