Youth and leaders at Cornerstone Church in Austin can only imagine what some children halfway across the world are going through, but those church members are still going to do something about it.

Last Thursday, one youth, Sam Borgerson, held a car wash, despite the rain and cold, and raised funds to stop human sex trafficking in India. Sam, who raised more than $700 by himself, and about 50 others at Cornerstone have mowed lawns, knocked on doors, baby-sat and done whatever they could to raise funds to stop the sexual slavery that affects so many children.

“We just think that it matters,” youth pastor Dave Skahen said about the reason for undertaking the project. “It has an eternal effect.”

Through Project Rescue, a hub with an online presence that brings Assembly of God organizations together, locals can help end sexual slavery by donating what they can. So Cornerstone jumped onboard and raised $2,900 to help the cause, and a few donations are still trickling in.

And they went even further. From Wednesday night to Thursday night, many of them participated in a 25-hour fast, to show that they too could give up something and show a little compassion.

“We have it pretty good here,” Skahen said. “We have a pretty prosperous place that we live in, but not everybody can say the same thing.”

Others gave up cell phones or Internet, whatever they could do to think of those suffering across the world because of sex trafficking.

“Not only are we going to give to this, but we are going to sacrifice a little bit on our end,” Skahen added.

The congregation gathered again on Thursday, which it normally doesn’t do, to pool all the funds, attend a service and share a meal.