Ministry Corner: Interview with Sarah Scott Webb

Recently, Stimulus sat down across the internet with Sarah Scott-Webb. Growing up on a farm in Geraldine, Sarah felt a strong call towards social justice that eventually led her to volunteer for an anti-trafficking organisation in Cambodia. She has since worked for fifteen years in the fight against trafficking of vulnerable people, with World Vision, Hagar, and now at SIM International. Sarah lives in Christchurch with her husband, her daughter who loves ballet, and with her dog. 

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and the work you do?

I live in New Brighton, at the beach in Christchurch. I’m married to Kieran, and we have one daughter Tessa, who’s ten. I co-lead a ministry called “For Freedom.” It’s the anti-trafficking and anti-exploitation ministry of SIM International. This is a global mission organisation, with 4,000 workers with at least seventy countries around the world. We established this ministry two and a half years ago in response to our international leadership feeling a calling from the Lord to engage in this area of anti-trafficking and caring for the vulnerable. With my co-leader Karine, our main role has been to coordinate the anti-trafficking work of SIM and develop a framework for how our teams can engage in anti-trafficking. Our focus is on prevention: preventing human trafficking and protecting the vulnerable in our communities. A big part of our role is helping our teams around the world; to look at what they’re already doing and see how they can extend that to protect the vulnerable people groups in their community.

Can you tell us a bit more about the work you do?

A lot of raising awareness, both of human trafficking and also how we can respond. Many people have quite a narrow understanding of human trafficking. They think it’s sex trafficking and only happens overseas. They may therefore feel they can’t do anything. But sex trafficking globally is only twelve percent of trafficking. There’s also labour trafficking, forced marriage, begging, organ, and baby trafficking; it’s actually very broad. When people start to see that, they realise it is happening in their community. It’s realising trafficking doesn’t happen on its own; it’s a symptom of a broken world. Wherever you find trafficking, you find high rates of gender-based violence, addiction, gang involvement, homelessness. This prevention model of caring for the vulnerable is broader than anti-trafficking. It’s about protecting people from developing addictions, from leaving school and falling into gangs. It’s also about resilience building.

What does it mean to you to have a calling to this kind of work?

For me, the calling part of it means I’m doing what God made me to do. I feel like now I’m in this role, I can see where so many threads throughout my life have led. I haven’t had a traditional linear career path and have often wondered why God has taken me here or there. In this role, I really feel a sense that all these different aspects of my life and skills and talents he’s giving me are being used. It’s a really cool feeling. I love it.

Could you talk about significant people or places that shaped your journey in this calling?

Yes! There’s three things. Band Aid in 1984 had a real impact on me. I wasn’t a Christian. I had a faith but wasn’t serious about it. I remember lying in bed on the farm in Geraldine crying, being so upset. There was an overwhelming sense that it wasn’t fair that people should be suffering when there is so much resource in the world. It’s not fair! I really feel God ignited a big justice button in me with that.

The next one would be in my late twenties when I was living in Christchurch and attending Spreydon Baptist, sitting under the teachings of Murray Robertson. I remember one time he was preaching from Amos and teaching how we are all called to serve the poor and the oppressed. He listed all these ways people are called. Some people are called to speak up and advocate and bring about change. I just got filled with the Holy Spirit. I just wanted to jump up there and grab that mic off him and start doing stuff!

The third thing was that God really fine-tuned my justice buttons when I did my year’s mission in Cambodia in 2005 and 2006. I’d gone over there to teach music in Hope School. I ended up volunteering as a music therapist for Hagar. I worked with children aged four to fourteen-years old who’d been rescued from brothels. They were so traumatised; they often couldn’t speak. I was asked to do some music therapy, to help them get their feeling and connection back. That had a really profound impact on me. I left Cambodia with a clear calling that this was it—this was the area I was to invest in. This was where God was calling me to serve.

I’m appreciating that God ignited your justice button and your desire for justice was also fine-tuned. I’m wondering, who in your life has supported this passion for justice?

My husband Kieran. We met when we were both working in World Vision. When we got married, we made a very conscious decision that always one of us would be serving in some sort of justice work. We didn’t just want to prioritise this financially. We wanted to make a commitment that any time any one of us would use our skills and giftings to do this work. At times it’s been Kieran, at times me, at times both. It’s been a conscious decision we’ve made and a very important value. He’s been very supportive of that. My Mum was also a huge support when she was alive, in terms of helping look after family. The rest of my family and most of my friends think I’m a bit bonkers!

How do you think justice is part of a Christian life?

I see justice as being absolutely integral to our faith as believers. For me, my understanding of justice is really about making things right. When God created us, we were made to be in right relationship with him, with each other, and with creation. When the Fall happened, it became broken and out of whack. Relationships were broken; our relationship with the Lord, with people and how we treat each other. This is the extreme end of the work I’m in. I see justice is part of God’s redemptive purpose of restoring that original design and relationship. I think it’s something we should all be passionate about.

In the area I’m working in with trafficking, and the previous work with Hagar, I came to see that the healing comes through relationship, through restoration. It’s that relational part of us that’s been broken. That’s what I see justice as being. Yes, there’s a punitive definition of justice. But for me it’s the holistic relational thing, that’s what needs to be restored. That’s why I get so angry when I see people being treated wrongly.

Could you tell us a particular challenge in your ministry?

The biggest challenge in this ministry is getting the church to care and engage. In my previous organisation, the challenge was: how do we light that fire in Christians that they are not just feeling overwhelmed, but they’re actually saying, “That’s terrible, I’m going to do something to change it?” In my role now, which is working with the global church, the issue there is still the same: the challenge to motivate a local church with the passion and the conviction to engage, to reach out, and protect the vulnerable people in their midst. It’s about not just being inward-looking, but being outward-looking. The church is in such an amazing position to be able to respond. We are everywhere. Imagine what would happen if even fifty per cent of churches really started engaging in ministry to the vulnerable? Another part of the challenge is the historical divide in some denominations between preaching the gospel versus works. Actually, you need to do both; you can’t do one without the other.

What do you feel a sense of pride or satisfaction about in this work?

We partner with people on the ground doing the hands and feet work. One example would be when we provide training to people and you see them really get it. They then take this knowledge of awareness-raising, prevention, caring for their communities and protecting the vulnerable to their communities and they run with it. We work closely with a partner ministry in Zimbabwe. I provided them with some training to their team who work with orphans and vulnerable kids. They trained seventy-five teacher volunteers who had a reach of more than 40,000 kids. That was really cool. We’re working with them on COVID prevention work where they are going around really vulnerable communities in Eastern Zimbabwe with a lot of returned migrants. There’s no food; it’s really quite desperate. They’re not only teaching Covid hygiene and providing PPE, they’re also teaching them to migrate safely. If someone’s offering you a job with a ridiculously high salary, it’s probably not going to work. They’re getting this prevention message out too. It feels like a very tangible influence.

I also think about the quote from Mother Teresa: “If I look at the many, I will not act. If I look at the one, I will.” If you look at the whole, at homelessness or trafficking, it’s just too huge. But if you stop looking at that and think about how can I help that one person, that’s where it starts.

If you could say one thing to the church in NZ about this ministry, what would you say?

I think now more than ever God’s calling the church to care for the vulnerable. The impacts of COVID are creating a new world where there are going to be millions more people left vulnerable. It’s not just about trafficking, but high rates of violence are already occurring. We really need to step up and engage; to not be afraid of engaging. To look at who’s in your immediate community that you can reach out and connect with.

What sustains you in this challenging work?

My faith in God sustains me. The fact that this is a battle that he’s already won. You can see some pretty horrific things. But it’s not in vain, Jesus has won the battle. Evil is not going to win. That is a big thing. Having a young daughter is really good, because I have a finite period where I can dive into this stuff. Come three o’clock, I have to put my Mum hat on and switch off. And I think I’ve been doing this kind of work for a long time and I’ve learned the hard way that you’ve got to look after yourself first. I limit the amount of stuff I read as otherwise it’s not good for your mental health. The other thing is not working full-time. I wouldn’t do this work full-time. We also live on the beach. We have a beautiful beach I can walk on with the dog.

In drawing this interview to a close, what is a future hope you have Sarah?

A big hope is that the global church would engage in protecting the vulnerable in their communities. It’s been nice being able to talk about this.

Thank you, Sarah, for sharing your passion for this work. It’s been inspiring. We wish you well in continuing to be sustained in it.