God’s call on one graduate’s life began long before she landed in law school….

And now she’s an expert on a very important subject for family restoration – human trafficking. Read about Valerie Payne’s scholarly work in this letter she sent me below, and see her photos in our photo album as well.

Valerie was my Graduate Research Assistant, and part of my women’s discipleship group. It’s a joy to see where God is taking her! Who will be the next Valerie Payne????

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From: Valerie Payne [mailto:valpayne@gmail.com]
Subject: Letter of Invitation - First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking

Dear Friends,

When I was a journalism major and a senior at the University of Florida, God tugged on my heart during an interview in an impoverished area of Belize in a way that dramatically altered the landscape of my future and career. He pressed on me to use my writing for something more concrete and tangible -- to use it to help people in a direct way. It was that calling that led me to Regent and its law program. I had no idea what I was headed into, but that sense of calling was my frame of reference and I have since waited to see how the Lord would use me.

Specifically, one of my passions for nearly 10 years has been the issue of human trafficking. As many of you know, I invested much time at Regent and on the Law Review to writing a student note being published in our current issue titled "On the Road to Victory in America's War on Human Trafficking: Landmarks, Landmines, and the Need for Centralized Strategy." The original version of the article was nearly preempted by the passing of the William Wilberforce reauthorization act in late December 2008. Though it was tempting to abandon the project, I sensed God push me forward to publication, which took several difficult weeks of very late nights.

All this to say I am excited to announce that the paper has been accepted for presentation at the First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on October 29-31, 2009. There are two purposes for this e-mail. One is to say a heartfelt thank you to all who encouraged and supported this project -- especially those on the Law Review and Regent's faculty who helped with major edits, but also those who inspired me without even knowing it. This will be my first "professional" appearance as a writer and an attorney, finally equipped to do the type of "active" work on issues like human trafficking that before resided only in my dreams. You, as the body of Christ, helped make this happen.

Second, I want this e-mail to be an encouragement and a blessing to you in your faith. I love to see when the Lord plants dreams in our hearts and we later get to harvest the fruit. Please join me in giving thanks to our great God, who gives us passions and is faithful to see them through. We truly serve a marvelous and masterful Potter.

With gratitude,

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Valerie S. Payne, J.D.
Regent University School of Law