When hearing the word “home,” many think of a safe place. For others, the word “home” has no meaning. For these individuals, the “home” they were born into was barely more than a roof over their heads and never brought them feelings of safety and security.
At any given time, there are at least 27.6 million victims of human trafficking in the world.* These victims live silently all around us, caught up in this horrendous crime that many of us would like to pretend doesn’t exist. Even if we want to help victims or take a stand, we wouldn’t know where to begin. Thankfully, Reverend Deb Kluttz and The Homestead team in Manhattan, Kansas, took a stand — stepping up and accepting the challenge from God to build ONE home that works to restore dignity and purpose for survivors who have found a way out.
The Homestead has been working to “provide housing, hope, and holistic healing to adult female sex trafficking survivors since 2011.”** This ministry was birthed out of the hearts of people from Westview Community Church in Manhattan, Kansas, and grown into a fully operational 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry in 2016. Every step of their ministry journey, their desire has been to serve as a transforming presence of Christ for these women.
After attending human trafficking training, Rev. Kluttz knew something needed to change — even if at that time she didn’t know where to begin. She along with others from Westview Community Church started driving the streets, neighborhoods and truck stops where women were being targeted and simply started praying. For two solid years, prayer was their focus. They continued asking God for direction and eventually, in ways that only God can move, doors started opening.
In 2012, the first home opened with a focus on rehabilitating trafficked women. Partnering with other organizations in Manhattan, The Homestead offers survivors a free home and free holistic care helping women heal in every aspect of their lives: emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually and financially. Rev. Kluttz knew if they were going to help provide lasting changes for these women, they would need to help provide complete rehabilitation.
“The Homestead ministry is an amazingly beautiful ministry,” shared Reverend Brian Smith, lead pastor of Westview Community Church. They reach into “the darkest places of human sex trafficking in America … and gather women into a home and family of healing and restoration.”
Part of the restoration work is providing career training. “From the beginning it became obvious that if these women didn’t have a career path with something better than entry level pay that would allow them to support themselves, they would fall back into survival mode,” said Rev. Kluttz.
The ministry began to partner with different organizations that were willing to provide apprenticeships and eventually jobs to these women. The Homestead considers themselves a bridge between the survivors of the trafficking industry and the community in which they live.
In addition to helping these women learn a whole new way of living, they are also fully integrated into the life of the church. “The Homestead itself is a ministry of healing and intentional discipleship, but they also have the women engaged with a church family from the first day to have community not only around them but engaging their gifts and talents to serve in that community of faith,” said Rev. Smith. “This is not without challenges, and sometimes it is more planting seeds than harvesting them, but helping women find healing through Jesus requires an authentic community. … It is such a beautiful thing.”
Reverend Nate Rovenstine, Kansas District superintendent, supports the ministry of The Homestead. He shares that Global Partners Executive Director Dennis Jackson “often reminds us that every local church has a mission to reach their here and near and far and hard places in the world. I am so grateful that Westview Community Church, through The Homestead, takes this Acts 1:8 orientation seriously as it reaches into hard places with the love of Jesus.”
In July 2012, The Homestead opened up her doors with a six-bed residential facility in Manhattan, Kansas. Their second home was started in April 2021 in Salina, Kansas. But they aren’t stopping there! The Homestead is currently praying for God to move and allow them to open up a third location within an hour’s drive of the Manhattan home, expanding the number of women who identify the word “home” with safety and hope.
*U.S. Department of State, “About Human Trafficking,” https://www.state.gov/humantrafficking-about-human-trafficking.
**The Homestead Ministry, http://www.homesteadministry.org.