Captain Rex drops anchor in Granite Shoals Wednesday evening

A pirate ship will drop anchor in Granite Shoals on Wednesday, April 18, and the entire Highland Lakes community is invited aboard.

Captain Rex, his crew and a full-mast pirate ship will make land at Abundant Heart Church, 7222 Ranch to Market Road 1431 at 7 p.m. Wednesday, for an outdoor family event. He will not be demanding the family gold. Admission is free and so are the prizes.

Captain Rex, a world wide ministry to fight child slavery through economic development, “denounced his ways of piracy to give and not take as a Christian Sailor.”

Brandon Sanders of Copperas Cove and his wife Ladonna brought the characters Captain Rex and Captain Parrot to life in “Captain Rex's Treasure Adventure.” It started out as a live action Saturday morning TV show for kids and currently is being developed into an animated show. They invite children to “keep he wind in their sails and Jesus in their hearts.”

Captain Rex & Crew now travels the world performing live shows that takes the audience on a Treasure Adventure in pirate costume from the deck of their own traveling ship. Captain Rex International also goes to youth camps, vacation Bible schools and Renaissance festivals.

Treasures of the Amazon River is the non-profit charity through which Captain Rex works to stop the human trafficking of children on the Amazon River.

“In September 2015, LaDonna and I visited Brazil to put on shows in the small fishing village of Timbo on the Amazon River, said Sanders. “There was about 100 little kids in the village that came out and saw us. We put on a show about not being afraid and gave out yo-yos, soccer balls, pieces of eight coins, balloons, etc.

“That evening the whole village came out and there was a good number of teenage boys, but only two teenage girls.

“Why? Their parents had sold all the other teenage girls into prostitution and sex trafficking.”

Sanders knew parents didn't want to sell their children. It was the only way they knew to get money to survive.

In the village of Timbo, Passion & Compassion Ministries has taught ladies how to make beautiful jewelry from Amazonian jungle seeds and berries. From that example he came up with a plan to help establish an economy so no other children would be sold into human trafficking.

Treasures of the Amazon River is not jewelry, but children. Now that the economy is established in Timbo, they are traveling to the next village to establish an economy there, and then the next village and the next.

For more information, contact Abundant Heart Church, 830-598-2288 or abundantheartchurch.org. Senior pastor of the Full Gospel Church is Ray Keasler.