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Robert and Jenny Barber are the Leaders and Founders of the Justice 180 Ministries at Youth With A Mission Los Angeles. They have served as missionaries for about 5 years. They grew up in a small town in central California and moved to Redding, California shortly after being married. They have two beautiful daughters and are pregnant with their third daughter. Robert discovered his passion for anti-trafficking ministry after radically encountering Jesus at the age of 18 (2006) and doing an outreach to a Red Light District in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2011. There he saw a married, western man soliciting a young Thai girl. From that moment his heart was not only broken for the victims who supply this issue, but also for the men and women who are the demand.
After being exposed to the realities of trafficking at a young age, a traumatic early childhood and some rough teenage years- Jenny knew that she wanted to dedicate her life to stand for the vulnerable and fight for those who were unable to fight for themselves. Brenna O'Connor joined Justice 180 staff in August 2014. She has lived in Southern California her whole life. In 2012, she received her degree in Social Work from Azusa Pacific University. Brenna discovered her heart for anti-trafficking ministry through seeing different awareness campaigns, and wanted to find a way to take a stand against this injustice. During her Justice Discipleship Training School in 2013 Brenna became even more passionate about this area of ministry. She is passionate about raising awareness about human trafficking, doing prevention work with at risk youth and reaching out to the girls on the streets of Los Angeles. Her heart is to see young girls and women receive freedom and for them to understand they are a daughter of the King. Emily Hopf joined Justice 180 staff in August 2014 after doing her Justice Discipleship Training School at YWAM Los Angeles in 2013. She grew up in Seattle, Washington. Emily first became interested in the issue of human trafficking at the age of 14 when an Anti- Trafficking organization came to her church and shared about the issue. Emily is passionate about raising awareness about the issue of trafficking, working with at risk youth and vulnerable people, and reaching out to the women on the streets of Los Angeles. Emily has dreams to work with our Justice 180 Coffee Ministry and eventually open a hair salon and use the business as a ministry in combating human trafficking. She also has a heart for Cambodia and the Philippines, and has a desire to reach out to those affected by trafficking in those countries. Laura Godon grew up in Scotland, but in August 2014 she moved to LA to join Justice 180 staff. She got her Masters degree from Strathclyde University in 2010 and is a qualified pharmacist; however, during a worship conference in 2013 God placed it on her heart to reach and love the most vulnerable people of the world. This led her to do her Justice Discipleship Training School where she discovered her heart for justice ministry. She is passionate about discipleship: seeing young people develop confidence in who they are and step out in the gifts that God has given them. She believes that if at risk youth were to realise who God has created them to be they would be much less vulnerable to exploitation and loves being able to speak identity over the girls we reach out to on the streets of Los Angeles. Her heart is for children around the world who are being trafficked: to love them and to see them set free. Melany is 23 years old. She grew up in Miami, Florida and did her Justice DTS in Los Angeles, CA in 2013. Melany has always had a heart for missions and Justice, but during her outreach to Mexico City she realized she had a life long passion for it. During her trip, she met a young teenage girl in a safe home who had been trafficked. She became so close to this young girl and after spending several weeks with her, there was no doubt in Melany's mind that she wanted to come back and join the Justice DTS staff in 2014. Since then Melany's passion has continued to grow and with each person she meets and story she hears more passion ignites. Melany loves the idea of hosting street churches; being like Jesus and going out to where the people are. She also has a big passion for Latin America and dreams of visiting every country; bringing a message of hope to those who don't have any. Naomi joined our Justice 180 team in August 2014. She was born and raised in Germany. After watching a documentary about Human Trafficking in 2012 she decided to do the Justice DTS at YWAM Los Angeles in fall 2013. This is when God put it on her heart to be part of anti-trafficking ministry long-term. Naomi has a heart for seeing young people discover their passions and the callings that God put on their lives. She is passionate about raising awareness about Human Trafficking and reaching out to the women on the streets of Los Angeles. Her heart is for the children, women and men who are being trafficked around the world, doing outreach overseas and to see other people stand up to join the fight against Human Trafficking. |