WINGS OF REFUGE HISTORY
Milestones
MARCH 2013
Prayer team forms after viewing Nefarious: Merchant of Souls in Iowa Falls
MARCH 2019
Wings of Refuge moves to Ames
AUGUST 2013
God calls the team to the lane of restoration and Wings of Refuge is formed
AUGUST 2019
First survivor leader is hired
MARCH 2014
First participant arrives
AUGUST 2019
Second home is gifted and plans for Transitional Living Center renovation begin
DECEMBER 2014
God provides 1 year of funding with $250,000 gift
NOVEMBER 2019
ONE MORE Social Enterprise launches
JANUARY 2015
First participant graduates from the program
APRIL 2021
Transitional Living Center opens
NOVEMBER 2018
Permanent restoration home in Ames is purchased and renovated
AUGUST 2023
Wings of Refuge celebrates 10 years
In 2013, Joy Fopma learned about the reality of sex trafficking in the U.S. after watching Nefarious: Merchant of Souls. When she tried to go to bed that night, sleep wouldn’t come. The images of exploitation kept circling in her head and she wrestled with the injustice she could never forget. Soon after, she reached out to others and found that some of them were wrestling with the same things. One of those people was Dave Hampe.
“WHAT'S A SMALL TOWN GIRL SUPPOSED TO DO ABOUT 27 MILLION SLAVES?”
Joy and her husband Aaron teamed up with Dave and his wife Sara and they worked together to host three showings of the documentary with a call to action to sign up for a prayer group. From there, 12 individuals formed a core group that prayed diligently and sought the Lord’s direction. And He showed up! The group felt led to attend conferences, visit nearby strip clubs to share the love of Christ, and open people’s eyes to the reality of sex trafficking.
The Beginning
He establishes their steps
-Proverbs 16:9
"We just followed the God trail. If an opportunity came for us to speak, we'd go speak. People started giving money and we weren’t even asking for funding. Eventually we learned that there were only 629 beds for survivors in need of safety and healing at the time and that wasn’t enough. So we knew our lane had to be restoration.” – Joy Fopma
Eventually, they received 3 calls for women in need and it broke their hearts to say no because they weren't an established organization yet. The core group gathered and determined their "why".
"We came to this conclusion: maybe we couldn’t wipe out the injustice of modern day slavery for 27 million people, but we could for the one in front of us. Our “why” was clear: so exploitation ends for one more girl."
They became an official nonprofit and vowed that the next time they received a call, they would say yes. The call came in March of 2014 before the safe home renovation was complete, so Harold and Donna Crosser welcomed her into their home and the group worked together to offer safety and a new life. "We depended on God for guidance and wisdom, preparing to help one girl at a time with a place of refuge. We found a house that we felt would be appropriate. Our 1st girl came before the house was complete. As previous foster parents, we took her into our home.” - Donna Crosser
The passion to help more women grew in our hearts
Wings of Refuge finished renovating the three bedroom safe home that they rented in Iowa Falls and pursued mentorship and training with Wellspring Living in Atlanta, Georgia while hiring and training staff.
Wings of Refuge served survivors in Iowa Falls for four years before the ministry moved to Ames and expanded to include a social enterprise and Transitional Living Center. The “why” still fuels the vision today:
so exploitation ends for one more girl
CO-FOUNDERS
Aaron and Joy Fopma, Dave and Sara Hampe
FOUNDING PRAYER TEAM
Kim Beer, Harold and Donna Crosser, Dave Ellingson, Jean Foley, Aaron and Joy Fopma
Dave and Sara Hampe, Paula Nugent, Brandi Schleisman, Kristie Stout
FOUNDING BOARD
Donna Crosser, Jean Foley, Aaron Fopma, Dave Hampe, Paula Nugent, Mike Stensland