Rob Chartrand (00:02.375)
What we are so excited to have with us today on Church in the North, Jackie Meyer. She is with her victory in Calgary, Alberta, and we're gonna learn a little bit more about what that means in a second. But Jackie, welcome to Church in the North.
Jacquie Meyer (00:15.968)
Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here.
Rob Chartrand (00:18.951)
So let's talk about her victory. Let's get started there and then we'll listen in and find out a little bit more about your story and how you got involved in what you're doing. But what is her victory? Give us a little bit of a quick summary.
Jacquie Meyer (00:30.624)
Yeah, so her victory, her actually stands for healing exit restoration. We're a ministry based out of Calgary, located on one of Calgary's last prostitution scrolls. And so our heart is truly to serve, advocate, love on those that are caught in the sex trade, exploited, or at risk of being trafficked. And so like I said, we're located right here in Calgary and we...
We open our doors, we are located right in an outreach church and we open our doors three days a week for women to come in that are directly involved in the sex industry, you know, to get showers. We have a clothing bank, food, food hampers, emergency food hampers, and just ultimately to meet our team, to just meet her where she is at and go at lengths just to reach her in the name of Jesus ultimately. And I always tell our team that
when they walk through those doors, we want to make sure that they feel the presence of God and they meet Jesus and that they're loved. So not only are we located just here on site, we like to go to all the dark pockets of the city. So our team also goes out to, we are in the prisons every week. So we minister to women that are caught in exploitation in the jails and we're able to pray with them, but also serve them.
outside of incarceration once they're released. We're in over half the massage parlours here in Calgary. So we have teams that have built those relationships with the madams and the people in the parlours and the women that are just feel very stuck and just bring light, bring hope. We also are in district clubs here in Calgary. We partner with a great organization out of the States called Heels to Halos.
Rob Chartrand (01:55.303)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (02:16.64)
Yeah, I mean, we've got an evening stroll team that heads out in their environment. Like I said, we're located right on the prostitution stroll. And so we're able to bring not only care packages, but we really get to build trusting relationships with a lot of these women. So in the event they just say they're done or they just need some sort of lift or support, when they come back to our facility, we have trauma crisis counselor on site. We've got a social worker, a case worker.
You know, just people really to just embrace them and love them and bring them back into community.
Rob Chartrand (02:48.718)
Wow, okay, so many questions. There's so many deep dives I could have on that. But first, let me just talk about your organization. First of all, you're part of Victory Outreach Foundation. You're a subset of that or you're a partner with that or how does that work?
Jacquie Meyer (02:51.008)
That's a lot.
Jacquie Meyer (03:03.616)
Yeah, so the Victory Outreach Foundation has been around for 30 years, also based out of Calgary. I've been a part of their organization on a voluntary basis for 25, sat on their board. And they are really, their mission is to reach the impoverished and marginalized here in Calgary. And so her victory was actually birthed out of the Victory Outreach Foundation, just myself working.
Rob Chartrand (03:11.815)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (03:30.208)
and volunteering on this location that we're located here in Calgary. So yeah, they've been just a tremendous support, you know, with prayer and finances and just as of last year, we recently, they've released us and we're our own charity and organization. So we've hit the ground running and just grown substantially.
Rob Chartrand (03:37.607)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (03:45.575)
wow, okay, yeah.
Yeah. So I can imagine that when you graduated from high school or even from college, you probably didn't see yourself doing exactly what you're doing now. Is that correct? So how did you tell us about the trajectory of how you ended up in your role?
Jacquie Meyer (04:05.024)
was not on my radar, let me tell you, at all. You know, I got a bachelor's in business. I owned and operated my own companies probably for about 20 years, but always had a heart for the marginalized, always had a heart to serve. I would volunteer here at our location that we are at now, which is on the stroll. And it was great. The church was providing sandwiches and some practical needs, but there was women were...
Rob Chartrand (04:06.631)
Okay.
Jacquie Meyer (04:35.36)
being asked their stories, they weren't being reached, they weren't being heard, I felt that we could disciple them so much better. And so it was really, you know, God put this on my heart two years before I hit the ground running and hung my suit up with my work and said, you know, this is what I want you to do. And it was really just out of obedience. And he's just given me a lens and a heart and a compassion for women that are caught in these situations.
Rob Chartrand (05:01.383)
Hmm. So what did you like, were you the founder of some organization, some companies or something or like entrepreneur and then you
Jacquie Meyer (05:08.768)
Yeah, I owned and operated and ran business centers here in Calgary. And in doing that, I did a lot of consulting work for a lot of the companies that were clients of mine out of the business center. And so I did a lot of business development, strategic development, investment, I go in and do some major, whatever needed to be done. And so, yeah, God called me out of the corporate world. So this is a 180.
Rob Chartrand (05:19.527)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (05:24.263)
Okay.
Rob Chartrand (05:33.182)
Yeah, wow. But I'm sure, and we'll get into this, like there's some transferable skills that you brought with you that it would be a real help to the organization you're serving. And what's the stroll? I mean, you've mentioned the stroll a couple of times. Some of our listeners might be not familiar with that term.
Jacquie Meyer (05:49.024)
Yeah, so a stroll is just basically the act. It's a, you know, here we've got it's about, I want to say 15 blocks where there's active prostitution, women that work in the sex trade. A lot of things are moving online nowadays, but these are the women that really it's survival sex, to be quite frank with you. And so it's called the stroll and this is where women work and it is active 24 hours, seven days a week.
Rob Chartrand (05:58.919)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (06:03.719)
Right. Yeah.
Rob Chartrand (06:16.263)
Right. Okay. So the idea is the Johns or whatever drive up and pick them up and yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (06:20.507)
Yes, we had the, yeah, John's will come up for dates, pick the women up. And, you know, I just want to just break a misconception that, you know, it's always the guy in the white van or, or the truck. And unfortunately what we're seeing, especially with the Calgary Stampede around the corner, any large sporting event, exploitation increases. And so we're seeing, you know, John's from all...
postal codes and all income levels and all walks of life, unfortunately.
Rob Chartrand (06:50.351)
Right, right. So not the assumed creep in the van that you know, you would think, but it could be anybody. Yeah, that you would, you'd be surprised by who's using women in this way.
Jacquie Meyer (07:00.128)
Yes, that's.
Jacquie Meyer (07:04.992)
Yes, and I mean we can get into it a little bit later but as well as these women are very vulnerable to trafficking and this is what we're seeing, we can talk about that in a little bit, is a lot of these women are being sold on the dark web is what it is and they're being kidnapped and transferred to other cities or moved around, brought in strip clubs, parlours. So trafficking is very prevalent in every city.
Rob Chartrand (07:15.079)
Sure.
Rob Chartrand (07:30.151)
Yeah. So you've listed a lot of different ways her victory has been helping those kind of trapped in this way of life. Is there other things that you want to highlight or point out to us that you haven't covered?
Jacquie Meyer (07:42.912)
You know, I just really want to you know her victory our biggest thing we you know God has called us on to be relational and Really to have trusting relationships with these women and it's working you know, we
Rob Chartrand (07:52.615)
Hmm. Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (07:57.696)
Not only obviously we can offer, you know, we've got the counselor and the social worker and, you know, the practical needs, but ultimately too, we know that freedom is in Jesus. And so every person that walks in our doors is going to hear about Jesus and the hope and the healing and the rest. Like we serve a restorative God. And we're in the process right now of opening our safe home, which will be, you know, for women that are exiting exploitation. And that will be fully Christ -centered programming as well. And just,
Rob Chartrand (08:12.423)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (08:24.391)
Mm. Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (08:27.36)
what's different, we just walk with these women, we embrace them in community, we disciple them, we make sure that they're advocated and cared for. And I think, you know, when we go into, you know, we advocate in court, you know, we've had judges say like, what are you guys doing that's different? And of course we want to say it's Jesus, but you know, they look at you like you have a couple heads on your shoulder, but it's really all about gaining that trust and having that trusting relationship with her.
Rob Chartrand (08:35.079)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (08:46.535)
Right.
Rob Chartrand (08:54.599)
Yeah. So you guys have like, like offer showers a place for them to get cleaned up as well.
Jacquie Meyer (08:59.84)
We have showers, we have clothing, we have care packages, we have food hampers, because a lot of women will sell themselves because they just have no food to eat. And that is just heartbreaking. And so we are offering the things that we can. Obviously, we've got social workers that can provide resource, addictions applications, or with other. We work with a ton of other social agencies. We have a very, very strong partnership with Calgary City Police.
Rob Chartrand (09:08.839)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (09:29.031)
Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (09:29.935)
Just being able to assist them with excellence and care.
Rob Chartrand (09:33.863)
Yeah, yeah. So how would you respond to someone who would say, well, you know, you're giving them showers and clothes and whatnot, aren't you enabling the choices that they've made already by doing those sorts of things?
Jacquie Meyer (09:49.696)
Well, let me talk to a bit of the stigma that comes with prostitution. Let's go there. Because right now, you know, there's anti -trafficking movements and other, you know, there's a very, you're on one side of the fence or the other. And I'm just going to speak from personally from doing this for as many years that I have that prostitution is harmful first and foremost to the person. It is very hurtful. I have...
Rob Chartrand (09:51.623)
Yep. Let's do it.
Rob Chartrand (10:03.975)
Mm -hmm.
Rob Chartrand (10:10.791)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (10:15.392)
talked to, spoken with, counseled thousands of women in the sex industry. And I've yet to meet one that has said that this was a choice. This is either stemming from, whether it's from youth, usually from youth, sexual abuse, some sort of trauma, some sort of crisis in their life. They were raised with parents that just didn't have the capabilities to raise them in a loving, safe environment.
Rob Chartrand (10:22.951)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (10:40.8)
This became a survival mechanism. It created vulnerability. And then, you know, it just, it happens like that. In an instance, you can slip into this industry and it is very, very difficult to get out. Whether that being due to food security, vulnerability, abuse, addiction, lack of supports, the control and manipulation, the national stat, you'd be surprised. It's around 1 % women that actually can exit once they are caught up in it. So...
Rob Chartrand (10:58.343)
Yeah.
Rob Chartrand (11:10.311)
Mm.
Jacquie Meyer (11:10.816)
You know addiction and exploitation, you know, they go hand in hand and so Like I said, it's harmful it's it's not the God Intended purpose for these women it strips them of their dignity of all worth You know the shame the guilt it sits so heavily on them and that's why we rely so heavily on Jesus and when we pray for them and
Rob Chartrand (11:14.823)
Right.
Rob Chartrand (11:20.775)
Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (11:39.072)
just to break those bonds and those chains that they carry. It's a lifetime of feeling.
Rob Chartrand (11:42.631)
Yeah, I have to imagine. Yeah, I was gonna say I have to imagine that the addiction helps to cope with the exploitation, but the addiction keeps them in the exploitation as well. There's a circle, this cycle of addiction that is almost impossible to break apart from God.
Jacquie Meyer (11:59.104)
Absolutely, when I talk about survival sex, it's to, they're working to feed their addiction. And it's just an, it's a evil dark cycle that without the proper supports and people to walk alongside you, it's very hard to break. And ultimately we've seen women that have done that, we've prayed over addiction and the lifestyle and, I mean,
Rob Chartrand (12:17.575)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (12:25.152)
God can break anything and we've seen him do it. We've seen the best of miracles here. The hardest, the darkest of time, but the best of miracles.
Rob Chartrand (12:31.367)
Right.
Rob Chartrand (12:34.791)
Yeah. Well, so let's let's let's talk about that then for a bit like, like, success stories, quote unquote, air quotes here, right? What are success stories? And what does that look like? I mean, so someone might assume that, you know, success only looks like a complete 180 degree turn away from that lifestyle into a new way of life, fully restored, fully healed, gainfully employed, starting a new family. And you know, at the other end,
Jacquie Meyer (12:41.12)
Mm -hmm. Yep.
Jacquie Meyer (12:59.648)
Mm -hmm.
Rob Chartrand (13:03.751)
Can you speak to that? What does success look like from your perspective and from the perspective of her victory?
Jacquie Meyer (13:11.648)
Mm -hmm. And let me tell you, we get asked that question all the time. What? Yeah. And what's your biggest success story? And absolutely, we have women that have exited. We actually, you know, years later, they come back and actually volunteer in our clothing room. They want to give back. They have such a heart. They want to help these women. And it's a beautiful story because...
Rob Chartrand (13:15.751)
I bet you do. Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (13:33.344)
There's so much relatability there. So there is actually women that have successfully exited and gone through healing and restored relationship with their children, their family. So we never give hope up hope on that. But to be realistic, we had to really shift here at her victory what success means and what that looks like. And ultimately, on a daily basis, that may be she's a chosen at that moment to tackle her addiction. She's chosen to leave her pimp. She's chosen. I'm going to take the first step.
Rob Chartrand (13:58.311)
Mm.
Jacquie Meyer (14:03.072)
to healing. We've had some of the women that have got visits once a week, visits with their kids. That's success. That's just another step. We talk about taking one step at a time each day, not the whole staircase. But ultimately too, when women meet Jesus and there's a salvation, that is success, success. Eternities have changed in the eyes of God. We've seen women get baptized.
Rob Chartrand (14:14.343)
Mm. Yep.
Rob Chartrand (14:27.655)
Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (14:30.912)
They attend, we've got a street church here that they will attend. So success looks, it can be, it looks different. And I just to play off that, I get a lot of questions say, well, Jackie, if it's less than 1 % or it's around 1 % people will exit. Are you spinning your wheels? Like, are you actually making a difference? And I will tell you that last week we had 50 women in and it was just in a two hour period.
and the love in that room and the community that they felt. And like, you know, one lady said to me, you're giving me back the dignity that I don't even give myself. You know, the prayer that they're met with, the presence of God, you know, meeting Jesus at the door. You can't put a success price on that. So, you know, God has called us and I believe every single volunteer that we have on this team, God is handpicked. And just being we're going to put our hands on the plow and be obedient. I mean, we're letting
Rob Chartrand (15:20.839)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (15:26.656)
all glory be to God, but just the fruit that has come out of this ministry. And, you know, sometimes we don't see women for two years and then they come back and they're in recovery or they come back and say, I've slipped. I need to, I know you guys, I trust you guys, help me again. And so we're just, we're available.
Rob Chartrand (15:39.079)
Hmm.
Yeah. So I can imagine those incremental milestones that are all really helpful. Because if you're working on the inside, and all you have is the end, the final end, and that's the only step that you can see, then all these other ones become invisible in many ways. And so you really have to be clear on all of these other little victories along the way.
Jacquie Meyer (16:05.216)
Yeah, and we do celebrate them. We, you know, at part of this ministry, we see a lot of unwanted and unexpected pregnancies. And so success for us, for example, a lot of these women, they believe their only option is abortion. And they literally have an appointment at four o 'clock and we're like, hey, listen, like, let's let's talk about this. Like, we'll walk with you through the process. We will walk with you.
through your medical appointments. Let's speak life into that baby's life. And we've had eight successful adoptions out of her victory, actually, beautiful Christian couples that have been trying to conceive for years. And a lot of these women, I had one, she said to me, Jackie, you don't give up your baby because you don't love them, you give them up because you do. And so it's a, and then we become the bridge between birth mom and parents. And so that's...
right there at the ministry, we say this ministry is for the one. You know, Matthew 18 says rejoice over the one. And that's really what we're all about.
Rob Chartrand (17:05.767)
Yeah. So, so if you ever like mapped out all of the steps, like, like, or do you just kind of do it intuitively? Like everyone's journey has got to be different, obviously, but, but, you know, there were probably some common points that are there for most people or.
Jacquie Meyer (17:22.688)
So this was the biggest learning curve for myself. I obviously jumped around a bit, but at one point I said to God, like, what do I have to offer? I've no, I don't have a behavioral science degree. I don't, my background is business and yet God will use your giftings. And he just said, I will equip you for this. And so I'm sorry, I deviated from your question. You said, mapping out the journeys. Yeah. So each individual walks through our doors.
Rob Chartrand (17:25.159)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (17:39.047)
Mm -hmm.
Rob Chartrand (17:44.775)
mapping out journeys and mapping out those points.
Jacquie Meyer (17:50.88)
every circumstance is different. There is not a cookie cutter way that you can just assist or walk with somebody. But however, you know, we do have a process here and it starts with their, first of all, it's love and it's acceptance and meeting you where you're at. And then it's just getting you practically a shower, a shower. I will tell you, we've seen women come out of those showers and they're a new person. And then it's like,
Rob Chartrand (18:07.047)
Mm -hmm.
Rob Chartrand (18:16.007)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (18:17.536)
How can we help you? And they'll meet with our caseworker, our social worker, if they're open to it, our trauma crisis counselor. And then we work with other social agencies as far as whether addictions program for 90 days and then we'll get you in some housing. It's a wide variety. There's no map. Everything, everyone is different. And they come from a different level of trauma. We have girls all the time that come in that have just been raped.
Rob Chartrand (18:32.839)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (18:37.575)
Yeah.
Rob Chartrand (18:43.591)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (18:47.072)
We had a girl come in last week that was wrapped in tin foil that was just kicked out of a bad date and just absolutely terrified. And so we just want to embrace her, know she is supported, get her showered, get her clean, get her clothed, and then just walk with her wherever she wants to go from there.
Rob Chartrand (18:54.663)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (19:09.607)
So I want to ask a question just to help for our listeners who might not be aware of the prevalence of human trafficking in Canada. You mentioned before massage parlors and madams.
Jacquie Meyer (19:19.744)
Mm -hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (19:24.832)
Mm -hmm.
Rob Chartrand (19:26.439)
What are those? I mean, what is a massage parlor with a madam? And really, we have things like that happening in Canada, you know, a, a democratic nation with good laws and good mores. Like, how can this be?
Jacquie Meyer (19:44.576)
So a lot of, we get this question a lot and they say, you know, I was over in Vietnam or I was overseas and you see a lot of this, but it is prevalent and it is happening. I believe in Calgary now there's some somewhere just over 60 illegal massage parlors. And so when I say illegal massage parlors, yes, these establishments have business licenses. They have the front of being a massage facility like a spa.
Rob Chartrand (19:50.087)
Yeah.
Rob Chartrand (20:01.671)
Yeah.
Rob Chartrand (20:11.815)
Mm -hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (20:12.096)
However, they are for men that can come in for sexual favors and for sexual reasons. And we just know from our experience, the demographic in these massage parlors are primarily from immigrants overseas. And unfortunately, these women, they don't speak the language. They don't have the skills. They don't have the support. And this is what it is. A lot of them, they don't know how to use an ATM. They don't have a bank account.
Rob Chartrand (20:27.559)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (20:42.016)
And so they are literally stuck at the mercy of where they've been placed, to be quite honest. And so a madam, she's usually like a manager of the spa and looks after the girls. So what's beautiful is our team has create relationships to come in to just re -instill hope that, you know, like there are options and we are here to support you.
Rob Chartrand (20:44.231)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (20:51.751)
Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (21:04.352)
What's amazing that God has opened the doors that we haven't been thrown out. We were in the first couple of years. It has taken 10 years to really establish these relationships. So we're in over just over half the parlors here in Calgary.
Rob Chartrand (21:09.191)
Mm.
Hmm.
Wow. I wondered if you could speak also to the street church that you've talked about. What is that?
Jacquie Meyer (21:22.14)
So we have space here. It's Victory Outreach, Eastside Victory Outreach. And so we are a church first and foremost, but during the week we are an outreach center as well. And so we do hold, there is a church service on Sundays. When I say street church, I have to be careful. We're not outside, but we, you know, it's an established church with a pastor. But you know, the beautiful thing is people come in here during the week, you know, very broken people and they meet somebody here and, you know, and I'm here, I bring my kids here and...
you know, like come in and even if you come for the worship for a little bit and they really get to be a part of a community and what a better community than the church community. And afterwards there's always a big meal that's served and a lot of the outside community comes as well and it's just loving and welcoming. It's flavorful. There is never a dull Sunday but this church has, you know, homeless, prostitutes, there's been gang members, you name it. It's beautiful and I always
Rob Chartrand (21:58.119)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (22:17.447)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (22:19.904)
believe that if Jesus was walking the earth like this is in Cancangri this is where he would be. He would be sitting at this table.
Rob Chartrand (22:25.511)
Hmm.
Yeah, yeah. Wow. I'm gonna go take a little bit of sidebar with this. You mentioned family. How is your family caught up, connected, shielded from all of the work that you do? Talk to us about that real quick.
Jacquie Meyer (22:36.832)
Mm.
Jacquie Meyer (22:45.6)
Yeah, so I have two teenage girls. So this, you know, and of course people always joke, maybe they don't have a choice, but you know, they're also on mission. I believe family mission is important. It's never, you know, a forced thing. I'm very cognizant of their ages as well and what's appropriate, but you know, they both have servant hearts and I think it's just important that your kids don't live in the bubble. I'm going to be quite honest and see this side of life.
I grew up in a neighborhood like this in the city of Edmonton. These are real people. When we become Christians, everyone becomes a minister of the gospel. That's to everybody. John 3 .16 is for everybody. We're covered, especially this ministry, we have a prayer team that's all they do. There's people all over the world that pray over this ministry, cover us in protection and prayer and just provision the things, favor over this ministry.
I'm going to be honest with you, we use discernment, but God is so faithful in protecting the people in this ministry. I could go on and on with stories where we've been in drug houses where the police are like, Jackie, we don't even go in there, stop going in there. But I'm not in a blue uniform. I have relationship with the people there. And we've prayed for Johns that are in sheds and women that are stuck in trap houses.
Rob Chartrand (24:02.503)
Wow.
Rob Chartrand (24:10.983)
Hmm. Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (24:12.992)
You know, we use discernment, but it's, we feel covered. Yeah. God is faithful.
Rob Chartrand (24:18.503)
Wow, wow. Now, in the nature of the work you're in, it can be a grind. You can see, you know, you're gonna have great hope in some people and then see them fail miserably, right? Two steps forwards, three steps backwards sometimes, right? So, you know, and you've already talked about prayer, but I mean, how do you keep going? How do you stay hopeful? How do you stay grounded in the work you're doing?
Jacquie Meyer (24:27.04)
Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (24:35.872)
yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (24:46.592)
I get asked this all the time and it's yeah, there's been points and I think any leader would be lying if they said they didn't want to step out at certain times when it got really, really difficult. I know more for myself that a few times it's been a safety issue. But and I'm not trying to sound cliche, but I take it to prayer. I do like Jesus is freedom. He is hope. He's protection. I don't know how you.
Rob Chartrand (24:55.815)
Mm -hmm.
Rob Chartrand (25:06.983)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (25:16.096)
would do this without having a relationship with Christ. I always say to my team to do normal things because you have to be careful that this can become normal and it's not. So I, you know, we take it very seriously as far as Sabbath and rest is very, very important, especially with your family. I'm very protective of that.
Rob Chartrand (25:19.879)
Hmm. Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (25:30.151)
Yeah, yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (25:44.736)
But you know, it's what is it Psalm, I wrote it here Psalm 127, unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted or in vain. And so I believe like as long as we just keep building his kingdom, like he just provides everything else. And that's the grace and the peace and the coverage. That's honestly the most honest answer that I can give you. And yeah.
Rob Chartrand (26:02.315)
Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do you have like peers or people who are in similar work or whatnot that you can act as or even mentors that people you can act as a sounding board to and just sometimes you just got to talk to somebody about something.
Jacquie Meyer (26:23.808)
Yes, and it can get ugly and it can get, this is a messy ministry. When I say messy, I mean it is messy. And I always encourage my staff and my team, you need your person. And I do have a pastor and actually my board has made it mandatory that, you know, once a week I do see a counselor because we do deal with a lot of violent situations, a lot of crisis. Like we hear a lot of things that can be either triggering or.
Rob Chartrand (26:30.919)
yeah.
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (26:40.583)
Wow.
Jacquie Meyer (26:51.232)
you know, can sit with you for a little bit. God's been faithful. I don't, I don't carry it. It's been amazing. I just the faithfulness of God on that. But also, you know, it's staying close to, yeah, the people that are, that are, I guess, within the same ministry or the same work within the same, on the same grounds, especially frontline is we always say, you get it, you know, you get it. And, and we do, and we make sure as a team, we get together every two months, we do a potluck.
Because there's not a lot of sometimes joy in this ministry. And so getting together and laughing and just enjoying and fellowship is so important. We do training seminars together just to, you know, we do a lot of suicide training and drug prevention training and those sort of things. But we do it together and we make sure we laugh. It's so important to keep. And really, you know, the devil does his best work when we're isolated. So we have to be glued. We have to do this together.
Rob Chartrand (27:39.207)
Okay.
Jacquie Meyer (27:49.152)
I always said that I'm not all about this ministry, this ministry. We're on mission together. Let's do it. We're better as a group supporting each other. It's like Moses with Adam and her, right? Lifting his arms. He only won the battle when they were lifting his arms.
Rob Chartrand (27:56.871)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (28:04.679)
Yeah. Well, that's sage advice. I mean, not just for people who are in your line of work, but anyone who's in ministry needs to listen to that and find those people to help lift up their arms and or people they can walk arm in arm with. Yeah. And isolation. I really appreciate that. Isolation is a killer.
Jacquie Meyer (28:17.344)
Absolutely.
Jacquie Meyer (28:25.536)
Well, especially for leaders because I don't know about myself, I'm a bit of an A type. And, you know, we tend to want to just run the race and it can get lonely. And I know in the first couple of years it did a little bit. It was just myself and a few volunteers. And, you know, we're coming up against the sex industry and we're making headway for Jesus and the devil is ticked off. So the arrows that come at my team, at myself, you know, personally.
are tough. Like you can, the spiritual warfare is very, very heavy. And we don't talk about that. I find that as much in North America, but it's when you go into the darkest pockets of your city, you're going to, you're going to look at it right, literally right in the eyes. So you got to be armored up. You have to be equipped. You have to make sure that, you know, your team, we do check -ins and debriefs all the time. How are you doing? Take breaks, take vacation and how's your joy? You know,
Rob Chartrand (29:08.647)
Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (29:21.472)
I think it's just very important, especially for your leaders. And my board makes me very accountable to these things. And I think it's important.
Rob Chartrand (29:29.455)
Wow, sounds like you have a very healthy board there.
Jacquie Meyer (29:32.352)
Very, yeah, I have a great board.
Rob Chartrand (29:34.815)
Did you recruit them all or would they some of them sent your way or how did you?
Jacquie Meyer (29:39.04)
I recruited them all. They're lucky people, but great group, come with a lot of different skill set, strong believers. Some have been in this line of work in other ministries. Others, we've got a businessman, other just have a heart. We've got another gentleman that was a pastor for many, many years. So we're just very fortunate to have a great team.
Rob Chartrand (30:08.447)
So how do you learn and grow? I mean, you've obviously you've been volunteering in this on the front lines, your role has probably been evolving. And as the organization grows, so your role changes. But how are you continuing to educate yourself in this work? Who are you learning from? How are you drawing from what you've done in the past? How are you growing?
Jacquie Meyer (30:21.696)
Mm -hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (30:31.768)
So, you know, the first thing I did when I started this feeling very ill -equipped was I got a mentor and this was a gal that had started another very similar ministry here in Calgary. And I said, I just want to sponge. I just want to learn. How are you having conversations? How are you approaching these people? I mean, I had volunteered for 20 years with this demographic. So there was some experience there.
Rob Chartrand (30:38.247)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (30:54.848)
But I continually learn from other social agencies. I'm constantly, I'm a bit of a sponge. You're at conferences with like -minded people. And honestly, it's the hard knocks learning. I have learned by getting my hands dirty. Actually getting my hands, I'm a very hands -on individual. I've told my board, obviously I'm at an executive director level, which has changed my role a bit, but I am absolutely about 25 % still outreach. It's my heart.
Rob Chartrand (31:10.823)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (31:24.583)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (31:24.832)
and just interacting with the people. And it is, it's, and honestly just relying on God's equipping moving forward. But you know, there's, we do a lot of on our own awareness. We speak in high schools, the average age of recruiting for trafficking right now is 14. And they are in high schools, they're in malls. And so we do a bit of, it's not our lane, but we do a bit of that. And just obviously I'm a reader doing a lot of reading when we go out and educate churches and.
Rob Chartrand (31:43.527)
Wow.
Jacquie Meyer (31:53.824)
and other organizations. It's a lot of self -taught.
Rob Chartrand (31:59.751)
Yeah. How did your previous work with, you know, with businesses and consulting work, what transferred over to what you do now?
Jacquie Meyer (32:10.56)
Yeah, I would say a lot of the skill was just development. So coming from just a small little ministry where I just had a heart, thought I was going to do this voluntarily and just the structure that we have now, I would say, and even just in engagement and networking with other social agencies, with other corporations. Obviously I do a lot of fundraising speaking. We do a lot of media work. Just having how to deal with people.
Rob Chartrand (32:40.743)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (32:41.527)
Sometimes the corporate world is worse. I don't know. Right? Teach you how to deal with people that are in full addiction. But it's... Yeah, you know, I don't know how to answer that question. I think God gifts everybody differently. I questioned how I was going to use my background and I really, I say to God, okay, you've really used, you know, all my giftings in the corporate world and to...
Rob Chartrand (32:44.999)
Okay.
Jacquie Meyer (33:10.4)
to develop this ministry, which is growing so rapidly. I mean, we've been asked to franchise it and bring it to other cities and other provinces actually. So that's, which would be great. We'd love to see her victory in every single province of Canada.
Rob Chartrand (33:16.903)
Yeah.
Rob Chartrand (33:28.743)
Well, I can imagine, I mean, budgeting, working with volunteers, creating staff structures, scaling, how do you scale an organization, working with a board, like all of those are, oftentimes a person who's working in this role is excellent at the front line, but to move into that other level of actually being an executive director of an organization is too big a leap, right? So that's, so yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (33:32.544)
all of that.
Jacquie Meyer (33:41.024)
All of those.
Jacquie Meyer (33:53.504)
Yeah, all of that came into play. All of that came into play. And, you know, from your books, because you got to, you got to watch your books and your finances, like you said, and building a team and building a culture. So we've built a real culture here for the team. You know, you don't, you can't just because you're a breathing body, let's bring you in to do this. You know, lives are at stake. And, and so it's really, yeah, I mean, leadership is key.
Rob Chartrand (34:14.695)
Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (34:21.568)
It comes from the top down. And so, yeah, all of that has come into play.
Rob Chartrand (34:27.047)
Well, let's talk about your volunteers then. How does somebody become a volunteer there? I'm guessing that churches don't just drop in on a Friday night to go and do a tour. Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (34:37.984)
No.
Jacquie Meyer (34:41.632)
So this is one of the questions, you know, we speak at a lot of churches and people grasp the heart and we've had people come down to do like a trial and they just go, okay, I can't do this like I'm out, which we entirely respect. But you can go to our website, which is hervictory .ca under our impact tab. And we do have a full application process that volunteers have to go through. Being, I said, it's a very, it can be a very.
Rob Chartrand (34:55.079)
Yeah.
Rob Chartrand (35:02.151)
Mm -hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (35:08.896)
There's a lot of trauma. There's a lot of, it's not just for anybody. You have to have a heart. I believe you have to be called for this. So there is a vetting process that you can go on our website and have a look. But, you know, we tell a lot of people, there's also other ways that you can get involved. If you can't be hands on, you know, become a monthly donor, pray for us. We've got other things, you know, on our website, a list of items that you can donate, like tangible items. We have events that we hold quarterly.
Rob Chartrand (35:12.711)
Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (35:37.728)
that we look for corporations to sponsor, where we serve up to 60 women, we'll put on a dinner for them, and we need sponsorship for food. So there's other ways to get involved. You just have to go to our website.
Rob Chartrand (35:51.079)
Yeah, advocacy as well. I mean, becoming aware and knowledgeable, yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (35:52.992)
Advocacy, yeah, all of that. Yeah, we're on our social media. It's a good way to keep up with our testimonials, you know, her underscore victory, just what we're up to. We've got a quarterly newsletter if you want to just, okay, what are these guys all about? We've got one coming out actually in the next couple days. You can register for that online.
Rob Chartrand (36:01.415)
Mm -hmm.
Rob Chartrand (36:09.383)
Hmm.
So let's hear your heart. Why do you do what you do? Why is this important to you?
Jacquie Meyer (36:21.184)
Why do I do what I do? Let me start off. I believe that this is a privilege. I say that to God every day. Like, I can't believe that I get to do this work. To see people set free, to see people loved on, to see the total broken, see a glimmer of hope. And, you know, I was called to this.
years ago and at first to be quite honest it was out of obedience because I thought this is crazy I can't do this and you know you live a certain lifestyle and everything is great but I honestly can't imagine if I had said no. God has given me a lens of compassion for these women one that I don't think I could have for myself. I don't see the brokenness when they come in I see God's heart I see someone who
Rob Chartrand (37:01.735)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (37:18.592)
has fallen into the pits of evil and just needs someone to give them a hand and walk through the clay with them. I love what I do. There are times at the end of the week that I'm exhausted and I'm done, but I can't wait to get back on Monday. I don't know. I can't explain it. And that's same with the team that we have here. It's just, I believe that, you know, we're very ground level and these are, you know, we're
I think society has outcasted, almost made these people invisible. And when you can make them feel seen and they have a sense of hope, you can't help but bubble up in blessing. You know, in the beginning when I started doing this, I thought, God, I'm so guilty because I feel so blessed to do this. But especially when you see change and transform lives, that's, you can't get that at a desk job. I'm not saying we don't need those, but.
I've often been asked when I go back and I'm like, I couldn't, I don't think that I could. So yeah, I just, yeah, I have a heart for justice for these women. I've always been one for the underdog and I thought, why not me? Like, why can't I spearhead this? And then I just, we kind of water the seeds and God does everything else.
Rob Chartrand (38:15.751)
Hmm. Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (38:29.639)
Yeah. Yeah.
Rob Chartrand (38:35.015)
Hmm.
So.
I wondered if in our final moments together, you could give a word of encouragement to our listeners. I mean, we have Canadian ministry leaders across the country listening in. And they might not even be aware of the depth that this is happening across the nation, but they're also caught up in their own work, doing God's work, whatever he's called them to. So, but I wonder if we could end today with you just giving a final word of encouragement to our listeners.
Jacquie Meyer (38:59.776)
Mm -hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (39:10.752)
Yeah, I think the first thing I would say that I think people, this is happening in your city. This is happening in your country. This is happening in your church. I want to say, and I wanted to mention this earlier, that we have a record number of pastor kids in jail that are coming to see us that are caught in the sex industry, like never before. We have pastors that, like never before, coming to her victory saying, there is a woman in my church and she's being trafficked.
and she works in the children's ministry or she's here. So this is happening in your church, your schools, your malls, and even for some it's in your family. So, you know, I just, you know, everyone has a role, but I encourage and pray for anyone to ask God, you know, first and foremost, like I did, like use you in mighty ways, ask God if you're gonna open that door that you'd be obedient to the calling. I believe God has that on every Christian's life.
It'll come at a cost, but you'll be saying yes to the cross and when I say it comes at a cost it absolutely does I believe you know every person in ministry whether leader or not has faced the cost but you've said yes, right and I believe that you know, especially for me that God really begins to move not only in the prepping but when you take the actual leap of faith, I know for myself it was it was
resistance at first and the moment I stepped out is when God started to move and so be prepared for the moving when you've said yes. It'll be uncomfortable, it'll hurt, it won't be what you you envisioned it would look like but to let like we do with this ministry we let it's led by the Spirit or this ministry will die so I think that's I'm hopefully encouraging that's how we go we know when we get ahead of God here because things start falling apart.
Rob Chartrand (41:04.935)
Hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (41:05.28)
God literally pulls the reins back and it's not always, it usually isn't the direction that we saw it going, but if we just let Him lead it, we're seeing the fruit. I just believe too that when you are helping people, I believe it's a commission God has commanded us to do, not just suggested. And so when we serve those in dire need or the ones that are the very grain of God's heart, we are actually lending to the Lord. And so I think what a better way
Rob Chartrand (41:10.239)
Mm.
Jacquie Meyer (41:35.712)
to do that, to lend to God, than to help another. So I just encourage in wherever you are, just to step out, but also to be aware. This isn't for everybody, but just especially that's why we do a lot of speaking in churches. We really want the body to be aware. It is the selling people, I'm gonna say it, is the largest industry in the world right now.
Rob Chartrand (41:40.839)
Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (41:49.927)
Right.
Rob Chartrand (42:01.895)
Yeah.
Jacquie Meyer (42:04.768)
hundred billion dollar industry and why not let the church step into the darkness and bring the light into that and the first thing you know once you see it you have a responsibility once you hear about it you have some sort of responsibility whether that's to pray or you know put your hands to the plow or support the people frontline that are doing it I just you know believe that that's one of the things God has commissioned us to do so as leaders to encourage other people be aware and encourage encourage your sheep
Rob Chartrand (42:34.191)
Yeah, good word. Good word. Yeah, I think it might be a surprise to our listeners to know that there are more people being trafficked in the world today than at any other point in human history. That's sheer numbers. Yeah, and it's happening down the street.
Jacquie Meyer (42:45.504)
That's absolutely. Yeah. And I think he's, it's happening in your neighborhood. Even in the, you know, the good postal codes. It's happening all over the place. And, you know, just in Canadian soil alone, 93 % of individuals that are trafficked on Canadian soil are Canadian citizens. So I just think we have a responsibility to, you know, the people that, of our nation.
Rob Chartrand (43:06.247)
Hmm. Hmm.
Rob Chartrand (43:12.199)
Yeah, we need to pay attention. Yeah. Good word. Jackie, thank you so much for the work you do, for the heart you have, for the work you do, and for joining us today on Church in the North. Thanks for your final words of challenge and encouragement to us.
Jacquie Meyer (43:14.464)
Mm -hmm.
Jacquie Meyer (43:29.376)
Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. Thank you.
Rob Chartrand (43:31.911)
All right, well, we'll be paying attention to the work you're doing and maybe catch up again in the future.
Jacquie Meyer (43:37.76)
Okay, thank you.