Cici’s Story

I remember the image I got when she explained that she was sometimes cold and hungry during her shift. Her hours were from 3:00 pm to about 2:00 am. When she reached the shift’s money goal, she could go home. Home meant finally cuddling with her sweet 1-year-old baby.

She had special outfits to wear during her shift - short, tight, and revealing, with no jackets or sources of warmth allowed. When Cici texted that she was cold, he would answer, “They need to see what they are getting - otherwise they might walk right past you.”

When she was hungry, she would ask if she could just step over to the gas station for a quick meal. He would answer, “What if someone is looking for you and you are not in your usual place?”

She cooperated with every word he spoke. They had a 1-year-old princess, and Cici’s first concern was always her little one's health and well-being. She ran away from her difficult home at 16 and soon fell in love with him. When she was pregnant, he explained that there was only one way they could provide for their new baby. She would have to work on the street to buy diapers, clothes, wipes....

Her sweet baby girl was hidden from her when her shift on the street began. She had no choice, no hope.

Until the day she overheard a conversation. Some guy was telling someone about a safe house in Tijuana. Girls could be rescued from street work and hidden away in safety, receiving gentle love and care. She quickly wrote her name and phone number on a scrap of paper and slipped it to the guy who had been talking about Ahava House. Then she ran - she had to put as much distance between herself and the guy as she could. She was always being watched.

Now she waited and hoped. She kept her phone hidden, on silent mode. She saw a missed call from a new number! A few days later, she was able to answer the call from the mystery number: “How can we help? Tell me your story.” And the complicated rescue plan began.

It took a few days to orchestrate the plan and put it into action. Because her little one was often hidden from her, they had to be very careful and cover every detail of the rescue. She was secretly rescued one night; they had meticulously planned her final rescue with her daughter for the next night. She said she was very nervous as she returned to her designated spot on the street after the planning session - the rescuers had given her the money she was supposed to earn that night to cover their tracks.

She was very strong and brave - he would suspect something if he sensed any change in her behavior. The next night, she was rescued with her sweet little princess Alice. They were taken straight to the warmth and care of Ahava House.

Warm beds, a refrigerator full of food, and caring housemothers awaited them. There were plenty of diapers and everything else she needed. Cici praised the God she had just met for rescuing her from the deep darkness of sex trafficking in Tijuana and giving both of them a new life full of light and hope.

We became really good friends! She knew a bit of English and was eager to learn more. We watched movies, laughed, cried, and lived life together. She learned to play the ukulele during the music teacher's weekly visits! It was fun to do life together, always looking to the Word of God for direction and strength.

After a fast 9 months at Ahava, Cici and Alice moved to San Diego, where her sister lived. She took with her a high school diploma, the English language, and hope in her Savior, Jesus Christ. She soon found a fellowship of believers at a welcoming church. She sent us a video of her baptism in a backyard pool!

Cici and Alice are forever in our hearts at Ahava House. She is a smart, capable, independent woman whom God chose to rescue and bring into fellowship with Himself. She has an amazing testimony of beauty from ashes and of turning mourning into joy. And little Alice has a new future - filled with the Light of Jesus. This miraculous story unfolds again and again before our eyes at Ahava House.

Since we began in 2020, more than 30 children and young women have stayed at Ahava House -rescued from the strong clutches of sex trafficking. We see their scared, dark eyes slowly fill with light. We watch their despair and pain turn into hope and faith. The gentle love and care at the house bring trust, peace, and healing to their traumatized hearts.

A miracle happens every single day within the walls of Ahava. The Holy Spirit lives and dwells with us - in a little hidden corner of Tijuana.

THE LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS, AND THE DARKNESS HAS NOT OVERCOME IT.
JOHN 1:5