BLIND EYES OPENED

New film about sex trafficking in America

Thursday, November 21, 2019

By Anne reed

Reprinted from: American Family Association

When Blind Eyes Open: New Film About Sex Trafficking in America

Over six years! That’s how long it has taken Geoffrey Rogers and his team to produce Blind Eyes Opened: The Truth About Sex Trafficking in America.

Its targeted audience is the body of Christ – the church in America. For what purpose?

…to open eyes, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness (Isaiah 42:7).

I met Geoff in April 2012 when he spoke at a retreat I attended with fellow ministry leaders in Tampa, Florida. He had recently taken a huge leap of faith, leaving his 15-year, successful career with IBM. Though he had quickly risen to the position of vice president and earned numerous, distinctive awards, he says each rung “became more and more hollow” as he climbed the corporate ladder.

With each passing year, Geoff and his wife Kerri sensed a call from God to start a production company that would create film content to wake up American Christians to critical social issues.

The couple founded Ships of Tarshish in 2011, named after sea vessels that carried valuable merchandise, described in Ezekiel 27:25 as “very glorious in the midst of the sea” for the purpose of honoring the Lord God (Isaiah 60:9).

At our event, we learned the nonprofit’s first production would be a Christian reality TV series following a group of post-abortive women seeking to heal from post-abortion trauma. What a huge encouragement it was to us, as we were all there because of our work in the area of post-abortion recovery.

Geoff and Kerri believed it was important to show the truth about abortion, the severe, long-term damage it inflicts while pointing to Christ’s redeeming work in the lives and hearts of those affected. We knew the church was largely silent in this area and were, therefore, enormously grateful for their desire to bring awareness to the body of Christ.

In 2013, the series aired first on the Internet and received attention from Fox national news, Moody radio, CBN, The Mike Huckabee Show, The 700 Club, and more. After being picked up by national and international Christian television networks, the series was shown in nearly 200 million homes. (All 10 episodes are available here.)

Ships of Tarshish was off to a great start.

When Geoff and Kerri began to dig into their second project – the dark realities of sex trafficking in America – they had no idea where it would take them. In a sense, they got stuck. By that, I don’t mean they were struck with writer’s block or they lost a sense of direction in their filmmaking. Rather, the more they knew, the more they knew they had to do something.

It would take over six years to complete the production documenting their discoveries in the film Blind Eyes Opened, now slated to release January 23, 2020 – a one-night-only Fathom event.

During those six years of production, Geoff co-founded U.S. Institute Against Human Trafficking (UIAHT) with Kevin Malone, retired professional baseball manager.

UIAHT works to end human trafficking in the U.S. through prevention, combating demand, rescuing victims, influencing government policy – and providing safe refuge for the restoration of survivors. In fact, Geoff opened the first home of its kind in the nation – a refuge for sex trafficked boys.

As I sat on the sidelines, it was surprising to see how Geoff’s life changed so dramatically over the years. He just wanted to make a documentary. But something happened! When the blinders came off, everything changed.

Are you willing to have your eyes opened to the reality of sex slavery and the appalling abuse of vulnerable human beings in our nation? In your state? In your city?

Blind Eyes Opened: The Truth About Sex Trafficking in America is a must-see for the American church.

For information and to find a theater, click here.

Watch the trailer below:

VIDEO URL