GRANITE BAY, Calif. – Hard-hitting documentary Nefarious, Merchant of Souls premieres Aug. 26 as part of Awareness to Action: The Fight Against Sex Trafficking event in Granite Bay.

The documentary exposes the disturbing trends of modern sex slavery, which affects hundreds of thousands of girls daily from Asia to North America. The film production crew traveled to 19 countries for the project.

Awareness to Action offers an opportunity for people interested in fighting sex trafficking to learn more about the issue and how they can help.

The event begins at 5 p.m. at Bayside Church, 8191 Sierra College Boulevard and, in addition to the documentary, includes dinner, recording artist Lincoln Brewster and a panel of experts on the topic, including Don Brewster, who works in Cambodia with victims of sex trafficking and has a prominent role in Nefarious, Merchants of Souls.

Tickets are $10 per person or $15 per couple. Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.baysideonline.com/event/2011/awareness-to-action/

Exodus Cry’s Nefarious, Merchants of Souls documentary aims to educate about the global problem of sex trafficking, which affects at least 1.4 million people, including some in the United States.

“Before we began this project, I believe my attitude toward the abolition of trafficking was far too idealistic,” said Exodus Cry founder and President Benjamin Nolot, who was director, writer and producer of the documentary. “But, as we began to travel, I was faced with the reality of entire cultures – religious, social and governmental – feeding the sex slavery industry. Seeing the trafficking problem from this vantage point was extremely difficult.”

The documentary goes hand in hand with the goals of Roseville-based Agape International Missions to end sex trafficking and increase awareness of the problem in Cambodia. The nonprofit opened a restoration center in 2006 and followed with a community center a year later in the Southeast Asia country.

“The documentary details that sex-trafficking of children affects everyone,” said Don Brewster, executive director of Agape International Missions. “We can’t ignore the issue; it’s becoming an increasing problem in more countries.”

The United Nations estimates human trafficking occurs in 161 countries, involving about 2 million children in the commercial sex trade. U.S. officials say human trafficking is the fastest-growing illegal industry and second largest, behind only drugs – and generates $32 billion annually, more than Major League Baseball, National Football League and National Basketball Association, combined.

Nefarious, Merchant of Souls details the sex-trafficking industry, from the illegal recruitment efforts to the victims who escape the grip of modern-day slavery.

“Each and every girl’s story is valuable, as real lives were ruined – and often taken – by the lust and greed of wicked men,” said Nolot, who became interested in the often-overlooked topic when he and his wife learned about the illegal industry from a friend in February 2007. Several months later, an Exodus Cry team took a trip to Southeast Asia to learn more about the world of sex slavery.

“We visited dingy karaoke bars, remote villages, massage parlors and high-end beach destinations finding one steady consistency – the exploitation of young women,” Nolot said.

It’s a world that Agape International Missions’ Brewster and his wife, Bridget, know well. The couple sold their home in Placer County in 2005 and moved to Cambodia, where they began working with Agape International Missions and spearheaded efforts to build restoration centers in Svay Park, Cambodia, considered a major hub for child sex trafficking.

The couple has helped open and operate Agape Restoration Center, Rahab’s House, the Lord’s Gym and a community church. An accredited elementary school that teaches a Cambodian-approved curriculum opened in January. These facilities offer children and their families free meals, medical care, spiritual guidance, housing, cognitive therapy and career training options.

The event will also feature an art exhibit in the courtyard. In addition to Agape International Missions, Courage to Be You, Origin Coffee, Safe Homes, and Trade as One will have representatives at Awareness to Action to discuss their efforts to combat sex trafficking.

For information about the event, please call (916) 784-2800.

About Agape International Missions

In response to the problem of human trafficking, Agape International Missions in 2005 began to focus its efforts on ending this travesty in Cambodia by providing transformational aftercare for victims rescued from sex trafficking and increasing prevention efforts through a network of village churches. Agape opened Agape Restoration Center in August 2006, providing holistic, long-term aftercare for rescued girls, and in September 2007, opened a community center, Rahab’s House, in a former brothel in the heart of a village where sex slavery is the norm for every girl by the age of 10. For more information, please visit www.AgapeWebsite.org.