Tim Tebow, the former NFL quarterback and founder of the Tim Tebow Foundation, delivered moving testimony during a House of Representatives hearing on ‘Combating Child Sexual Abuse Material.’
His remarks on Wednesday underlined the urgency and gravity of the situation surrounding child abuse, positioning it as a critical societal issue that demands immediate action. The former Florida Gator introduced the concept of the “MVP” – not the Most Valuable Player, but the Most Vulnerable People.
“But honestly, why we’re here today is to talk about the MVP,” Tebow said. “Not the MVP I chased most of my life. Couldn’t get it, by the way, but chased. Not the MVP most of you are probably thinking, no, not the most valuable player. A more important MVP, the most vulnerable people. That’s why we’re here today.”
He shared a harrowing statistic initially brought to his attention by Camille Cooper, a member of his team, which pointed to the 20,000 unidentified boys and girls who had been victims of abuse, their suffering immortalized in images and videos yet to be recognized and addressed.
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Driven by a profound sense of responsibility, Tebow detailed the collaborative efforts undertaken to confront this crisis, including a pivotal meeting in Lyon, France, with key global entities like Homeland Security, Interpol, and Google.
Please join us in prayer as we prepare for tomorrow’s House Judiciary Committee Hearing on child sexual exploitation and on behalf of victims of child sexual abuse.
We are humbled and honored for this opportunity and ask that you pray with us so that these children who are… pic.twitter.com/x4KeOHdkfb
— Tim Tebow (@TimTebow) March 5, 2024
This gathering led to the launch of Operation Renewed Hope, a concerted initiative that successfully identified 316 of these children in a mere 15 days. Despite celebrating this achievement, Tebow candidly acknowledged the vast scope of the problem, advocating for legislative support to amplify rescue efforts.
“I believe if we build that rescue team, we will have a chance of getting to every one of those boys and girls,” he said. “I got a message last night from a girl who has been rescued and she said, thank you so much for speaking up for us. And it was humbling to get that. But if all we do today is speak, all I do is speak, I also miss the mark. We have to do more than just talk about it. We have to act on it and be about it.”
Central to Tebow’s testimony was a deeply moving account of a young girl’s experience, encapsulating the essence of the trauma faced by victims. This served not only to humanize the statistics but also to galvanize those in attendance to commit to actionable change. Tebow’s appeal to the committee was clear: to prioritize the allocation of resources and support for frontline workers dedicated to rescuing vulnerable children from the clutches of abuse.
“This girl and thousands of boys and girls just like her, they’re calling out to you and to me and how many times in my life have I missed the call, have I missed the mark? Unfortunately too many.”
Tebow finished, “But would today be a day that we wouldn’t miss the mark, that we would hear her cries, that we would hear her call and we would answer the call? Because every single one of those boys and girls is worth us answering the call and doing everything we can so that they can experience the faith, hope, and love that they deserve.”