In an interview about her book, "A Woman of Many Names: My Journey From Sexual Exploitation to Freedom," Ilona Miller explains that returning to Jesus motivates her to share her past so God can make a triumph from it and give hope to exploited women. She recounts being trafficked by a “lover boy” who isolated and manipulated her into prostitution, her suicidal despair and a providential encounter that kept her alive, being forced to work through pregnancy and giving up her baby for adoption. Decades later, after praying and “putting it in God’s hands,” she found her daughter in 2019 via an online search linked to a restaurant, reuniting with her family and learning she has four great-grandchildren. Miller also describes childhood trauma with a rage-filled grandfather, being stabbed by a client in Marseille, her escape from her pimp, and later ministry with drug-addicted and prostituted women in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Vienna.

00:00 Why Share the Story
01:38 The Blessing and Family Hope
02:23 Searching for Her Daughter
03:18 A Prayer Answered in Vienna
05:11 Found Through the Restaurant
06:41 Returning to Spain in Victory
08:03 The Loverboy Trap Explained
08:59 Isolation and Manipulation
12:23 Suicidal Despair and a Stranger’s Hope
13:29 Pregnancy Alone and God’s Provision
15:31 Reunited With Children and Faith
16:49 Childhood Wounds and Grandfather’s Rage
20:10 Grandfather Dies Freedom
21:10 Money Friends And Hippies
22:06 Stabbed By Client
24:15 Hospital Shame And Mercy
26:36 Escape Plan And Germany
28:52 No One Chooses Prostitution
31:16 Return To Jesus
34:15 Serving Women Worldwide
35:37 Lives Changed By Ministry
37:46 Real Name Real Freedom

Carla is a British–Caribbean follower of Jesus who has spent the last six years in Beirut helping churches in the Middle East and North Africa walk with young people under pressure. She shares about growing up as a mixed‑race pastor’s kid in a mostly white English town, the intense expectation to be “perfect,” and how a mission trip to Kenya and reading the entire Bible at 16 transformed her from a double‑life teenager into someone deeply shaped by Scripture and the stories of the persecuted church.

That sense of call eventually took her to Bible college, then into serving persecuted Christians, and finally to Lebanon—alongside her husband Steve, who chose to share her calling even when it meant leaving an Oxford academic path. Carla explains what persecution looks like specifically for teenagers whose faith and ethnicity make them minorities, drawing on the book of Daniel and her work helping churches become the safest place for young people to return without shame.

She also describes life in Lebanon through revolution, economic collapse, the Beirut port blast, and the aftershocks of October 7 and the Gaza war, including the psychological warfare of sonic booms and the horrific “pager” explosions of 2024. Through it all, Carla’s love for Lebanon and its ancient Christian communities has deepened, as she continues to help young believers build resilient faith in one of the world’s most fragile contexts.

00:00 – Meeting Carla in Lebanon
01:00 – Growing up mixed‑race and a pastor’s kid
03:00 – Wrestling with church and finding faith
08:00 – Teenagers, smartphones, and anxiety
11:00 – Called to stand in vulnerable places
15:00 – Theology, Bible college, and unexpected detours
17:00 – Praying for the Middle East and a new job
18:00 – Meeting Steve and the call to Lebanon
20:00 – Engagement, marriage, and the big move
22:00 – Shared callings and marriage in the Middle East
23:00 – Building resilient young believers under pressure
25:00 – Daniel, empire, and identity
28:00 – Minority life in MENA education and culture
29:00 – Making church the safest place for youth
30:00 – Crises in Lebanon: revolution, collapse, and COVID
34:00 – Psychological warfare and sonic booms
31:00 – Surviving the Beirut explosion
32:00 – Economic collapse and the cost of staying
33:00 – October 7, Gaza, and Lebanon on edge
38:00 – Pager attacks and a week of horror
41:00 – Evacuation, waiting, and returning again
42:00 – Why we still love Lebanon
44:00 – Final reflections and hope for Lebanon

In this episode of Faith without Frontiers, we meet Palmira de Sá from Angola, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, and racism who now walks alongside other survivors with the hope of Christ. She shares how God protected her as a child, met her in a Muslim-majority country with no church, and led her through a costly journey of forgiveness that even astonished a psychiatrist. Palmira also exposes systemic failures in Angola’s police, courts, and churches—where half of reported child sexual abuse cases happen in church contexts—and explains why silence, bad theology, and cultural patriarchy keep victims unprotected. Today she leads “Prince and Princess,” an association serving survivors and training church leaders, and is partnering with Angola’s First Lady to confront abuse as a national and ecclesial crisis.

Guest: Palmira de Sá, co-founder of Prince and Princess Association, Angola

This episode contains detailed descriptions of child sexual abuse, domestic violence, racism, and suicide ideation. Listener discretion is advised.

00:00 Meet Palmera
00:12 A Name Like a Train
01:28 Childhood and Family Split
01:54 Poisoned Food and No Justice
04:45 Abuse While Mom Worked Away
05:58 Trying to Tell and Punished
08:41 Teen Crisis and Coping
09:55 Healing in Algeria
10:34 Learning to Forgive
13:38 Psychiatrist and Faith
15:12 Racism and Assault Abroad
21:33 Back to Angola and Speaking Out
23:02 Police and Church Failures
27:36 Working for Change
30:34 Report Abuse Legally
31:01 First Lady Workshop Plans
31:36 Shocking Church Statistics
33:44 Televised Case Sparks Action
34:48 Dream And Unexpected Ally
36:01 Avoiding Compassion Fatigue
38:40 Why Churches Stay Silent
41:41 Tragedy After Reconciliation
43:59 Abuse Across Africa
46:15 Jesus And Culture Change
50:01 Ezekiel 16 Healing Identity
54:42 Hopeful Closing Encouragement