Texan Rescues Enslaved Children

There has to be a better word than “hero” for those among us who, without regard for their own lives, risk all to help others. I’m not talking about the one-time hero who answers the unexpected call, rushing into a burning building to save the baby, or even the career heroes like firemen and policemen whose extraordinary daily efforts rightfully earn them the honor. I’m talking about a class of people who don’t get regular paychecks, but sacrifice all for a greater good anyway. They are those who are not only willing to die for a cause, but willing to live for one. Maybe we do have words for these people—words like saint, angel, deliverer, savior. Most would be uncomfortable with these epithets. Certainly, Matt Osborne of Operation Underground Railroad would be. Yet, nothing is more fitting for a man who has dedicated his life to rescuing children from the nightmare world of human trafficking.

Operation Underground Railroad was founded in 2013 by another deliverer, Tim Ballard, an ex-Homeland Security agent whose 10 years in service to the United States government combating child sex slavery prepared him for his ultimate mission: saving as many children as possible. Child sex trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise worldwide, with estimates of two million children in bondage. Operation Underground Railroad is comprised of ex-Navy Seal, CIA, and Special Ops operatives — along with a variety of other highly specialized individuals — who in conjunction with local law enforcement identify and extract victims of child slavery and sex trafficking. Every person involved with this mission has his own remarkable story.

This is Matt Osborne’s.

“I met Operation Underground Railroad founder and CEO Tim Ballard back in the year 2000 when the two of us were graduate students at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. After school, Tim started with the CIA and then moved over to U.S. Customs, eventually winding up with the Department of Homeland Security. I served the U.S. government for over 12 years with the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. Department of State. I covered issues such as counterterrorism, counter-narcotics, organized crime and human trafficking,” said Matt, a tall Texan with friendly green eyes and an easy smile.

“Tim and I kept in touch as we forged our respective U.S. governmental careers, and over the years he discussed with me his proposal to create a private organization that would support U.S. and foreign governments in the fight against child exploitation and child sex trafficking.

“He spent many months trying to persuade me to give up a promising career, stable federal government salary, and a U.S. government pension that would have been waiting for me in just seven to eight years, to join an organization where I would only get paid if the donations came in that month. I was hesitant at first, but after much time spent praying and fasting, I decided to take the plunge, resign from the U.S. government, and join Operation Underground Railroad. I came on board six months after its inception,” said Osborne, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who believes his career path was preparation for a higher calling.

Osborne is quick to credit his family for the strength and support to do what he does: “My family could not be more supportive, although it must be said that my wife and father thought I was a bit crazy to give up my secure government job to join a non-profit.

“My wife is always a nervous wreck when I go off on a rescue mission, and she equates her situation to what the spouse of a first responder must feel like, not knowing where the spouse is, what they are doing, or when they might return. My wife is very cognizant of the importance of this work, and says that there are some endeavors in life that are worth taking on a bit of risk to make the world a better place.”

Her concerns are not misplaced. The missions Operation Underground Railroad undertake are fraught with danger. Many times the extraction team itself is temporarily arrested by local authorities to keep up the ruse and not let the traffickers know it was a set up. Such was the case with a recent extraction in the Dominican Republic:

“We were in the Caribbean last year and expected to take down one trafficking network and rescue about seven girls. However, one day before the operation our jump team was approached by two other greedy traffickers who had heard about our ‘sex party,’ and they offered to bring girls of their own. We did not want to miss out on the chance to save additional trafficking victims, so of course we said yes. We ended up having a very successful rescue that resulted in the liberation of 29 trafficking victims, including 14 minors, and the arrest of seven traffickers from three different networks.”

What happens to the children after the rescue is a priority to Matt and to Operation Underground Railroad:

“Operation Underground Railroad does not operate in a country unless the rehabilitation infrastructure is in place. Our first hope is always to get the kids back with their parents, but in many cases that is not possible because the kids are orphans, or their own parents were the ones who sold them into slavery.

“Each country’s trafficking victims’ laws are different, and some countries allow us to have zero access to the victims we help rescue. Other countries are more lenient, and allow us to maintain contact with the survivors and help see their rehabilitation all the way through. Two success stories come to mind, one in Africa and one in Central America, where the generosity of Operation Underground Railroad donors is allowing us to help pay for schooling and professional training to give these girls a boost on their long and difficult road to recovery,” said Osborne.

Osborne credits Operation Underground Railroad founder Tim Ballard with rescuing himself in another, very personal, way by introducing him to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“It was actually Tim Ballard who first bore his testimony [of the Gospel] to me back in the year 2000 when the two of us were graduate students. I remember being impressed with the sincerity of his beliefs, even as I had no interest in seriously investigating the Church. I had grown up a faithful Presbyterian in Texas—though I admit to not knowing what the doctrinal differences were between the various Protestant denominations—and did not feel that I needed to examine another faith or make any changes in my belief system. And I certainly was not interested in . . . making the other necessary lifestyle changes. I politely accepted Tim’s proffered copy of the Book of Mormon and LeGrand Richard’s ‘A Marvelous Work and a Wonder’ but did not spend much time reading either of them, at least initially.

“Over the next decade I investigated the church halfheartedly, off and on, but . . . I never in a million years thought that the Church would be true, so I didn’t take it too seriously, nor did I tell any of my family members what I was doing, so as not to upset them unnecessarily. I joke that when I turned 40 I had a midlife crisis, but fortunately it was not a ‘ditch the wife, buy a Ferrari and date someone half my age’ crisis, but rather a true determination to learn whether the Book of Mormon was the word of God, and whether Joseph Smith had been a prophet of God. I finally decided to have the sincere heart and real intent that is absolutely required if one wants to know for sure, and I then proceeded to put Moroni’s promise [The Book of Mormon, Moroni 10: 3-5] to the test. The burning of the bosom response that I received on a number of occasions left me with no doubt of the truth of this work.

“However, I absolutely did not want to become a Mormon. I absolutely did not want to make the required lifestyle changes. I absolutely did not want to upset my wife and extended family members who I knew were laboring under the false assumption that Mormons are not Christians. So I delayed and procrastinated for many months. But fortunately Heavenly Father did not give up on this unprofitable servant, and continued to work on my heart and mind until the thought of defying God and not going through with this became a scarier proposition than actually being baptized and becoming a Latter-day Saint. I am a pioneer in my family, with only my two daughters thus far having joined with me, but I am at peace and have faith that truth will ultimately prevail,” said Osborne, who was baptized in Mexico City in 2013.

“I did not convert to the Church to join Operation Underground Railroad, and I did not join Operation Underground Railroad convert to the Church. And yet . . . Heavenly Father knows me inside and out—just as he knows all of us—and I believe He knew that I first needed to live the life of the natural man with an exciting CIA job that earned me the accolades of the world, before He could put my heart and head in the right place to hear the truth of the restored gospel.

“I think He knew that I first needed to acquire the skills of an intelligence officer and later a U.S. diplomat, to give me the tools and credibility to do what I need to do to rescue exploited children with Operation Underground Railroad. Finally, I think He knew that my conversion would further develop inside of me a servant’s heart, to allow me to play my small role in saving some of God’s precious children,” said Osborne.

Operation Underground Railroad is not a religious organization, Osborne is quick to point out: “Our organization is non-partisan and non-denominational, but it was founded by a Latter-day Saint and counts LDS members as about half of its total staff and contractors. We are grateful to have the support of so many different faiths, as well as people of no faith, who have united in a pledge to do all we can to eradicate modern day slavery and the exploitation of innocent children.”

Operation Underground Railroad likens itself to, and draws inspiration from, the underground railroad of 19^th century America, which guided many slaves to freedom. Certainly, Matt Osborne and his brave companions would join their voices to that of the famed original underground railroad conductor Harriet Tubman who said, “I have heard their groans and sighs, and seen their tears, and I would give every drop of blood in my veins to free them.”

A 2016 documentary titled “The Abolitionists” follows an Operation Underground Railroad extraction team on its first three daring missions, resulting in the rescue of 57 children and the arrest of seven traffickers. Visit www.OURrescue.org to learn more about Operation Underground Railroad and to become an Abolitionist in the fight against child exploitation and child sex trafficking.