A medical mission to Nicaragua 13 years ago turned out to be a life-changing experience for Naperville pediatrician Dr. Joyce Lo.
Upon her return, she has changed her career focus and started a ministry at a local church. Her personal goal now is to raise awareness about human trafficking and to help victims. It’s something she says that happens all around the world, even here in Naperville.
In 2011, Lo visited the House of Hope, a Nicaraguan campus offering support to abused girls.
“Every Friday they bussed in women from brothels for fellowship and to hear about the gospel,” she said. “They also made crafts, jewelry, cards and blankets, which were sold all over the world. The idea was to build them a nest egg. It would set them up with a business and enable them to support themselves instead of working in the brothel.”
Lo met a mother of five who could not pay the hospital bills after her husband had died. The owner of the brothel paid the debt on her behalf but she could never pay them back.
“Her 17-year-old daughter had to work in the brothel too and it looked like her 15-year-old daughter would also,” she said. “The House of Hope bought the whole family for $60, which was as much as a tank of gas cost me at the time. It opened my eyes to human trafficking. I saw how difficult it was for some people to get out of their situation.”
When she returned to the U.S., she became more aware of media stories about human trafficking.
“I felt that God was telling me what I should do,” said Lo, a member of Grace Pointe Church in Naperville. “As a pediatrician I wanted to work in the human trafficking field but there were walls. No one was getting back to me. I met wall after wall until a mentor suggested trying a church ministry. I thought I wasn’t spiritual enough and definitely not a leader, but I proposed the idea to the church leadership and they said yes.”
Lo thought no one would come but was wrong. The first meeting attracted six people and now that number is about 20-plus with support from other local churches like Compass and Community Christian.
“I never thought of myself leading a ministry because I thought that was for extra spiritual people, but (the first ones who attended) stuck around,” she said. “A lot of people think human trafficking happens in other countries or only poor places in the U.S. but that’s a myth. Most sex trafficking victims are legal residents or citizens. Every single county and town has some examples, even in Naperville.”
Lo said in 2021 a local man was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after forcing women to prostitute themselves. Prosecutors said Benjamin Biancofiori oversaw a sex trafficking business in Naperville from 2007 to 2016.
Lo’s ministry, called Amazing Grace, has two goals: Educate church members and the surrounding community and support anti-trafficking organizations that work with victims.
Since starting the ministry in 2019, Lo has also changed jobs. Instead of being a general pediatrician, she is now the child and family program manager for Reclaim 13 in Lombard, a nonprofit that works with survivors of sexual violence.
“We have residential programs and operate the only safe house in Illinois for 10- to 17-year-olds,” she said. “More than 9% of sex trafficking victims have been abused and we are trying to prevent that happening with our child and family program.”
Lo is still a pediatrician, but she works part time at Naperville’s Edward Hospital to give forensic exams to children who have been sexually abused. She’s also working on a master’s degree in public health.
“I think God has called me to do this work. I don’t think it was a coincidence that I went to Nicaragua,” she said. “I honestly feel I have been led down this road. When I went to medical school, I did it became my parents wanted me to. Those years have led me to what I do now.”
Hilary Decent is a freelance journalist who moved to Naperville from England in 2007. She can be reached at Hilarydecent@gmail.com.
