After working for the CIA and U.S. State Department, Matt Osborne decided to work for a non-profit founded by a former classmate- Operation Underground Railroad. Today he works as the non-profit’s director of international operations.
Tim Ballard decided to found Operation Underground Railroad after recognizing a lack of resources as a special agent for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, working in a child crimes unit.
“He felt strongly called to leave the government to form out non-profit to support law enforcement in the U.S. and around the world. And that’s what we do, we empower law enforcement here and abroad to fight child exploitation and human trafficking,” Osborne said.
Because the U.S. is already working to fight human trafficking domestically, OUR Rescue focuses on international projects. They go undercover as American tourists interested in purchasing girls.
“Because, unfortunately, it is American tourists that often times are going overseas to exploit children, these traffickers look for the American face,” Osborne said.
The goal of operations is to arrest traffickers and rescue children.
On Sunday, Osborne and Ballard spoke at the Rexburg Tabernacle. Their address was entitled, “Finding Light in the Darkness.”
Dealing with traffickers can be heavy, but Osborne says he tries to find light in the darkness by remembering his two daughters and by recognizing that many of the thing he worries about are nowhere near the magnitude of the problems people that he helps rescue face.
“You can focus on the darkness, or you can focus on the light.”
To learn more about Operation Underground Railroad you can visit ourrescue.org.