On the evening agenda for Faith & Victory's youth: play basketball, eat pizza, shoot pool, work to help liberate people from slavery.

Teens in the Winterville church recently completed a fundraising campaign for the Christian human-rights group International Justice Mission. The money collected in the monthlong effort will go toward rescuing modern-day slaves.

"There are 27 million modern-day slaves in the world today," said Faith & Victory Associate Pastor Jeff Daigle, "more than in the trans-Atlantic slave trade of our nation's history."

According the State Department's 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report, the U.S. government estimated that in one year, 600,000 to 800,000 people — half of them children — were trafficked across international borders worldwide. Seventy percent of females were trafficked for sexual exploitation.

When Daigle proposed the project to members of the youth group — known as dunamis (Greek, meaning power) — he said teens were shocked to hear about the human trafficking that exists in many of the world's poorest nations.

"They were able to see things that were happening in the world that they weren't even aware of. They didn't know this happened to other people their age," he said. "Teenagers tend to be caught up in their own world. We're trying to enlarge their perspective ... that there's a world that's out there. There are people that are hurting.

"I think that message is central to the Gospel. Jesus lived his whole life to give his life to other people."

The Washington, D.C.-based IJM is a group of attorneys and human-rights professionals that advocates and intervenes on behalf of victims of sexual exploitation and other forms of oppression. Founded in 1997, the nonprofit organization operates in Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Guatemala, Bolivia, Honduras, Peru and South Asia.

At first, teens at Faith & Victory were intimidated by the idea of trying to act as a modern-day William Wilberforce, a British abolitionist whose efforts were the subject of the recent film "Amazing Grace."

"I just didn't know what we could do about it," Rachel Zabawski, 16, said.

Anna Colenda, 15, had the same initial impression.

"It seemed like too big a problem for teenagers to try to fix," she said.

Group members began with small efforts. In the first two weeks, the group raised about $75 toward its $3,000 goal.

Members of dunamis began to solicit contributions from members of the congregation and the community. Students organized a yard sale and bake sale to earn more.

Daigle asked teens to imagine themselves or their friends in forced labor or even prostitution. The images, while disturbing, made an impression.

Group member Janell Sargent, 14, a gymnast, asked friends at Rose's Gymnastics to contribute to the cause.

"It was amazing what the girls were going through and they were my age," she said. "If I was in their position, I would want somebody to come help me, too."

IJM estimates it costs $500 to rescue a child from forced labor and twice that much to free someone from forced prostitution.

"It wasn't how much money can we make, it was how many people can we set free," Daigle said.

In four weeks, the group raised more than $5,000, more than dunamis members like Brooke Belch, 14, had ever thought possible.

"It makes me realize we can do whatever we put our minds to," she said. "It doesn't matter how young you are, we can all be part of doing something great."

The group is now looking for its next project. Members are exploring how they can apply a similar effort to local causes.

"The idea is give yourself to something that is bigger than you," Daigle said. "Step out in faith and let God use you, even as a teenager, to do something to change the world."

For more information about the International Justice Mission, visit www.ijm.org.