If last week’s Faith & Family page was any indication, the phenomenon of people helping people is alive and well.

From Grammy-winning Christian artists to regular Suffolk residents, plenty of people are doing what they can to make sure the kingdom of God is served both here in Hampton Roads and on the other side of the world.

If you read the Faith & Family page in the July 17 edition, you likely already know what I’m referring to. The two articles detailed the story of a Suffolk woman who is helping to end sexual trafficking in Thailand, and the story of how Christian artist Rebecca St. James is giving a concert in Norfolk this week to benefit the Crisis Pregnancy Center of Tidewater, which has several ministries to help young women learn the importance of abstinence, to choose life for their babies and to recover emotionally from abortions they already have had.

Janell Rardon was helping a friend who runs Families At Risk outreach in Thailand, a Christian-based organization working to transform impoverished communities. She became touched by the plight of women who have been sold into the sex trade. She learned that one in four people in Thailand are involved in the sex trade industry. Adolescent girls are sold to much older men to provide for the family.

Rardon said, “I knew I had to do something.”

That something is a July 31 meeting at the Hilton Garden Inn in Harbour View designed to build awareness of the sexual slavery epidemic in Thailand. In addition, attendees will be able to purchase crafts made by women who are finally earning a living for themselves after being saved from sex trade rings.

For more information on that meeting, visit www.janellrardon.com.

A separate article detailed a concert that will be given at First Baptist Church in Norfolk on Friday by Rebecca St. James. Throughout her career, St. James has embraced a message of sexual purity and pro-life through her music, movies and ministry. Recently, she has done a good deal of work supporting crisis pregnancy centers throughout the nation.

St. James said she first got involved in supporting crisis pregnancy centers when friends in California were volunteering for a similar organization.

“I really saw they were doing wonderful work,” she said. “They were really loving some very broken girls who didn’t know who to turn to and needed support to choose life for their babies.”

St. James’ concert is sure to be a blessing to all who attend. Visit www.cpcfriends.org for more information or to get tickets.