Emily Bracey

Age: 16

By Shelley Galbreath | Photo by Mollie Shutt

Angola High School student Emily Bracey was challenged at a Christ In Youth (CIY) Move Youth Conference to make a difference in her community.

“The youth conference hands out challenge cards to every student who attends,” said Bracey. “My card instructed me to ask God to burden me with an injustice going on in the world and to act upon it. I accepted the challenge and decided to open my heart to whatever it was that I was being called to do.”

Bracey saw a film called ‘Finding Home,’ a human trafficking story about three young Cambodian girls who were victims of the sex trade and how Rapha House, an organization that provides safe houses for sex trafficking victims in third world countries, helped them heal and get back on their feet. It was obvious to Bracey that human trafficking was the injustice she was being called to act upon.

Based out of Joplin, Mo., Rapha House has three safe houses located in Thailand, Cambodia and Haiti, as well as a shop in Joplin and another online called the Freedom Boutique where they sell items made by the girls.

Bracey held an event at the Brokaw Movie Theater in Angola to benefit Rapha House.

“I opened the theater to the public for free, played the film ‘Finding Home,’ and sold bracelets made by the girls in Cambodia. Close to 200 people attended and between bracelets sales and donations, we raised close to $5,000 for Rapha House,” she said.

In December, Bracey and her family were invited to the Rapha House Christmas Gala and 15-year Celebration.

“We met so many amazing people, including the founder and co-founder of Rapha house, as well as three girls from Cambodia who had been victims,” she said. “They told their stories in front of everyone that night, and I remember being moved to tears by what these very young girls had gone through.”

Bracey has plans to travel to Cambodia to see the impact of her funding.

“I’m so excited to see the work of Rapha House firsthand,” she said. “It will be such an amazing experience to see where all the fundraising is going, as well as getting to meet some of the girls.”

Bracey was awarded the Student of Integrity Scholarship from the Better Business Bureau of Northern Indiana and was recognized at its annual Torch Awards for her work with Rapha House. She will use the $2,000 scholarship to attend Purdue University in the fall to major in speech-language and hearing sciences.

She admits, though, she would love to make her passion for Rapha House a career.

“I’ve learned from this experience that if you find something you are deeply passionate about, don’t be afraid to go ALL in no matter what, because you never know where it might take you,” she said. a