What would happen if the church stopped talking about loving vulnerable people and started building a culture where compassion became part of everyday life?
I believe the local church has a unique calling: to recognize vulnerability, move toward people experiencing it, and respond with the mercy of Christ. But how do we turn that conviction into something practical? How do we help ordinary churches and ordinary people move beyond good intentions and become part of the solution?
On this episode of The MERCYCast, I bring together four perspectives from the Let My People Go community to explore what it looks like when compassion becomes more than an idea. You'll hear from me as the founder of Let My People Go, a board member who helps steward our mission, a pastor putting this work into practice in Oklahoma, and a church partner in New Jersey whose congregation supports and participates in this work.
Together, we share why Let My People Go exists to equip the local church to love its most vulnerable neighbors—and how churches can make that commitment part of their culture, relationships, and resources.
From Fighting Human Trafficking to Seeing Vulnerability
My own journey toward founding Let My People Go began in 2011, when God broke my heart for human trafficking. In 2012, I moved to New York City to become involved in the anti-trafficking movement. But as I learned more, I began to recognize that trafficking was not an isolated issue. It exploited vulnerability for commercial gain.
One moment changed how I understood the church's role. On my way to an anti-trafficking meeting, I remembered stepping over someone experiencing homelessness. I was working to fight exploitation, yet I had overlooked a vulnerable person right in front of me.
That conviction pushed me back into Scripture. From God's care for the widow, the orphan, and the sojourner to Jesus' words in Matthew 25, I began to see a consistent message: God identifies with those most vulnerable and invites his people to meet him there.
We don't have to bring God to vulnerable people. He's already there. He's inviting us to come.
That became the heart of Let My People Go.
Four Perspectives, One Shared Mission
1. Aaron Hembree: Building a Culture of Justice and Mercy in the Local Church
Aaron Hembree, pastor of Heritage Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma, shares how his congregation moved from wanting to help vulnerable neighbors to building a practical structure to do so.
Through a Justice and Mercy Team, Heritage Church learned to assess community needs, connect with local nonprofits and schools, and identify where the church was uniquely equipped to serve. Aaron explains why giving a ministry a team, a budget, and a place in the church's structure helps make compassion part of the congregation's DNA.
2. Jenelle Gaynor: How Church Partnerships Create Local Impact
Jenelle Gaynor, project manager of the executive team at Evangel Church in New Jersey and leader of its human trafficking team, explains why her church began partnering with Let My People Go.
Evangel wanted to support local anti-trafficking work, not just organizations serving people worldwide. That partnership has grown into practical community engagement, including food assistance, survivor support, homelessness outreach, hotel outreach, and collaboration with organizations such as City Relief and the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking.
Jenelle shares how equipping church members to recognize vulnerability has helped people build relationships, respond to needs, and create opportunities for hope.
3. Tyler Gresham: Why the Church Must Love Without Expecting Anything in Return
Tyler Gresham, board chair of Let My People Go and administrative pastor of students at Fairhaven Baptist Church in Demopolis, Alabama, describes how the ministry has shaped his congregation's approach to missions and community outreach.
His church has partnered with a Spanish-speaking church to offer English as a Second Language classes for immigrant neighbors. It is also preparing to host a day program through United Cerebral Palsy for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Tyler highlights an important gospel principle: We are free in Christ to love people without requiring reciprocity. We may plant or water seeds of faithfulness without seeing the outcome, trusting God to bring the growth.
4. Raleigh Sadler: Why Let My People Go Exists
I share how Let My People Go helps churches move from awareness to action. Our goal isn't to convince every church to launch a new program or solve every problem in its community. It's to help congregations recognize and respond to their most vulnerable neighbors, understand the needs around them, and collaborate with people and organizations already doing the work.
We want to equip churches to build a lasting culture of compassion—one where vulnerability is seen, dignity is celebrated, and people are welcomed rather than overlooked.
What You'll Discover in This Episode
1. Why Human Trafficking Is Connected to Broader Vulnerability
Human trafficking involves the exploitation of vulnerability. Understanding its root causes helps churches recognize how homelessness, isolation, unmet needs, and other forms of vulnerability can put people at risk.
2. How to Identify Your Church's Most Vulnerable Neighbors
A community needs assessment helps churches listen to residents, schools, nonprofits, and community organizations. It also helps congregations recognize vulnerable people already within their own walls.
3. What a Justice and Mercy Team Can Do
A Justice and Mercy Team gives people who care about serving vulnerable neighbors a practical way to work together. It can help a church identify needs, build partnerships, establish priorities, and make compassion a lasting part of its mission.
4. Why Churches Need Collaborative Community Partnerships
Churches don't have to do everything themselves. Working alongside local nonprofits, schools, shelters, and anti-trafficking organizations helps congregations meet real needs without duplicating existing efforts or burning out volunteers.
5. How to Support Immigrants, Families Experiencing Homelessness, and Vulnerable Youth
Our guests share examples of churches responding to local needs—from English classes for immigrant families and support for families experiencing homelessness to helping parents recognize the risks young people face online.
6. Why Loving Vulnerable People Requires More Than Meeting Immediate Needs
Compassion involves more than handing someone a meal or providing emergency assistance. We discuss the importance of identifying, providing for, protecting, including, and empowering vulnerable neighbors.
7. How the Gospel Frees Us to Love Without Reciprocity
We aren't called to serve people only when they respond the way we hope. Tyler reminds us that we can be faithful in planting and watering, trusting God with the growth. Loving our neighbors means walking alongside them without demanding a particular outcome.
Why This Conversation Matters
Churches can easily feel overwhelmed by the needs around them. Human trafficking, homelessness, poverty, exploitation, immigration challenges, and isolation can seem like problems too large for one congregation to address.
But the answer isn't to do everything. It's to begin seeing the people God has already placed in front of us.
Throughout this conversation, our guests remind us that vulnerability exists in every community—and that every church has an opportunity to respond. Sometimes that response begins with a conversation. Sometimes it's a shared meal, an ESL class, a partnership with a local nonprofit, or a team of people committed to serving their neighbors.
The goal isn't to make people dependent on the church or require something in return for our help. It's to recognize their dignity, come alongside them, and create space for relationships that reflect Jesus' love.
At Let My People Go, we believe the local church can become a place where vulnerable people are seen, protected, included, and empowered. And that work doesn't belong to someone else. It's part of what it means to be the church.
Questions to Consider After Listening
Who are the most vulnerable people in my church and my surrounding community?
Do I know which local organizations are already serving those neighbors?
What might change if my church listened to vulnerable people before deciding what they need?
Could a Justice and Mercy Team help our congregation turn compassion into consistent action?
Am I willing to love someone without expecting anything in return?
What is one practical step I can take this week to move toward a vulnerable neighbor?
Take the Next Step
If you're a pastor, church leader, ministry volunteer, or someone who wants to make a difference in your community, I encourage you to start by looking at the people around you.
You don't have to solve every problem. You don't have to build something from scratch. Start by identifying an unmet need, listening to the people closest to it, and connecting with organizations already doing meaningful work.
To learn more about how Let My People Go equips churches to love vulnerable neighbors, visit LMPG.org and sign up for our newsletter. You'll find resources, encouragement, and practical ways to respond to vulnerability—including ways to pray and take action against human trafficking.
You can also explore more conversations about compassion, faith, and adversity at MercyCast.com. Follow @MercyCastPod, and if this episode encourages you, please like, subscribe, and share it with a pastor, church leader, or friend who wants to put compassion into action.
Find more conversations about learning the art of compassion through life's adversity at MercyCast.com. You can also connect with us on social media at @MercyCastPod. Explore more conversations about faith, suffering, and learning the art of compassion through life's adversity at MercyCast.com.
The church doesn't have to wait for someone else to love the vulnerable. We can begin right where God has placed us.
You are loved.
Listen to the full episode:
For more conversations like this one, check out my book, Vulnerable: Rethinking Human Trafficking.