Ruth Ziesmer Brucato
Coordinator, Victim Protection & Intervention
Ruth is from California, but lived in Burkina Faso (West Africa) for seven years when she was a child as her parents were missionaries. She graduated from Moody Bible Institute in 2004 with a degree in Elementary Education. After teaching 3rd and 4th grade for a few years, she earned a TESOL certificate from Wheaton College. She married Mark Brucato, and together they became missionaries with TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) and moved to Bologna, Italy. Mark serves as a pastor at Nuova Vita Church.
Ruth and others from Nuova Vita Church founded the ministry of Vite Trasformate in December, 2011. Vite Trasformate seeks to reach out to victims of commercial sexual exploitation with the love of Jesus. The various facets of the ministry include prayer, evangelism, holistic care, formation, training, and raising the awareness of sex trafficking in Italy.
Ruth’s favorite part of the ministry is having coffee with the women she befriends on the streets in Bologna. She absolutely loves to look the women in the eyes and tell them how loved they are by God. Ruth is excited about her role with ATR in the area of victim protection and intervention and prays that the Lord will use her to network and find resources to care for those in need.
Ruth and her husband have two children (Elianna, 7 & Gabriel, 6) and are in the final stages of adopting two little boys from Ethiopia. Ruth loves the ocean, cooking, traveling, hiking, and doing anything outdoors.
Estelle Blake
Coordinator, Training & Resource Growth
Estelle Blake was ordained as an officer of the Salvation Army more than 20 years ago. She has served in England and Italy. The last 13 years of her ministry were dedicated specifically to working with those in prostitution and victims of trafficking in human beings. She is a rapporteur and delegate at numerous international conferences and is recognized as a pioneer in the United Kingdom for the work she started in lap-dancing clubs in London in Kings Cross and Camden.
In Italy she has hosted a series of seminars and meetings in various churches and communities regarding this phenomenon, especially to raise awareness of the problem and to create a network of contacts and partnerships. She is passionate about social justice and believes that being Christians, we have the mandate to be involved, whatever our age, in the struggle for freedom and equality.
Her favourite things to do when not at work are reading, cooking and watching films, especially ones with happy endings or action films where the "baddies" get beaten up. She is also a staunch supporter of Norwich City Football (soccer) club.
Sarah Bennetch
Coordinator, Ministry Partner Development
Sarah has lived and served in Europe for 25 years: first in Brussels where she and her husband raised their three children, and in Rome since 2008. Her calling to serve prompted a degree in Social Work, and later a Master’s in Practical Theology. Justice issues, ethics, and sharing Good News with those who are marginalized or oppressed in society have always been a focus in her life direction.
Working on Ministry Partner Development is particularly important to Sarah as it involves connecting God’s people to do God’s work, and demonstrates the beautiful unity of the Body of Christ. She is excited about the potential for greater fruitfulness and the synergy of collaborating as we share our burdens and apply our strengths.
Besides serving in ATR, Sarah leads the Rome anti-trafficking project Schiavitù Mai Più. Her primary role is Rome City Team Leader with ReachGlobal along with her husband Brian and assisting in pastoral care to a local church (Chiesa Evangelica di San Lorenzo). Sarah also teaches English and loves to play tour guide to Rome’s ancient churches.
Sarah and Brian’s adult children live, work, and follow Jesus in ways that far outshine their mother, and she is so proud of how they love people on the margins as they seek the Kingdom of God and His justice.
Erika Tello
Founder & Director
Erika earned her Bachelor’s degree in Counseling and a Master’s in Social Work with an emphasis in ‘Children and Families’ and social justice issues. Her clinical experience includes provision of support and advocacy for refugee families as well as individual and group therapy for children with complex trauma. She holds a current USA Social Work license.
Erika has lived in Italy for the past three years where she and her family have been involved in full time ministry. They are part of TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) and involved with the Bologna Ministry Initiative.
Erika's role as Director includes leading the steering committee, overseeing all work groups, and managing the overall functioning of ATR. She also participates in and administrates various projects within the ministry. Erika feels privileged to have be given the opportunity to use her knowledge, skills and passion to lead the efforts of ATR to serve those who are sexually exploited in Italy and to combat the injustices they face in the name of Christ.
She is married to her talented and ever-supportive husband, Jon. They have a beautiful daughter and another child on the way. Erika’s enjoys writing, photography, and digital scrapbooking.
The Steering Committee
Erica Schultz-Illiano
Coordinator, Safe House Development
Erica was born and raised in the state of Maryland on the East Coast of the USA surrounded by strong believers and followers of Jesus Christ in the home and at the church of her youth. At the age of 13 she witnessed a series of life changing events, through work with that very Church, which generated a dream to one day love, assist, defend, nurture and train those who are left with nothing other than a small flicker of hope and sheer will to survive.
After high school and one year of university Erica moved to Italy and began the incredible journey of learning a new culture, a new language, and all the benefits and uncertainties that pertain to submersion into the unknown. In the midst of these challenging yet enriching 12 years, Erica and her husband, Stefano, began raising their family as well as learning all they possibly could about the Lord’s Word. Their home church in Naples was a fundamental resource and tool in their spiritual growth. Stefano, Erica and their daughter now live in northern Italy near the Swiss border. As active members of their church in Switzerland their growth in the Lord and service towards others continues.
As Coordinator of Safe House Development, Erica’s passion is to establish and promote a support team for the benefit of ATR members and partners working to provide spiritual, psychological, physical healing, and renewal through short and/or long term care for survivors of commercial sexual exploitation. Dedication to this objective grows stronger each time she witnesses another broken life lost on the streets of Italy trying to fill the emptiness inside with that which can never satisfy while striving to survive. Her greatest aspiration is to offer the Living Hope by word and deed to these lost and forgotten treasures.
During her spare time, Erica loves spending time with her incredible family. Spending time with the Lord, being uplifted by her family, encouraging her husband, teaching her daughter, seeking knowledge and offering her time to the needy are all moments she cherishes. She is a nature lover, enjoys gardening and adores excursions in the Lord’s creation.
Miranda Mahoney
Coordinator, Prayer Intervention and Mobilization
Miranda is from Alabama where her father pastors a small baptist church. In 2008 she graduated from Moody Bible Insititute in Chicago with a Bachelor’s degree in Print Communications. While visiting her Moody roommate in Italy in 2009, she met the love of her life, Dustin Mahoney, who was living in Genoa, Italy, serving as a church planter with Avant Ministries. By 2011, they were married and both serving as church planters in Genoa, Italy.
In 2011 the Avant team founded “Mani del Maestro” (Hands of the Master), a non-profit organization designed to meet physical and spiritual needs of under privileged families and individuals. Miranda and Dustin founded and lead one of the projects called “Progetto Uscita” (Exit Project) that reaches out to the city’s large population of individuals trapped in the sex trade. This ministry focuses on prayer, evangelism, friendship and responding to the physical needs of the victims. Together with her husband and church-planting team, Miranda has developed a small network of organic, small group churches that is vastly made up of the impoverished and marginalized. It is her heart and passion to be the hands and feet of Christ to those in Italy who are outcasts, hurting and forgotten.
As Prayer Intervention and Mobilization Coordinator of ATR, Miranda’s passion is to work to ensure that ATR staff, collaborators, allies and the treasures they serve are covered by prayer. She recognizes that there is a spiritual battle being waged for the treasures of Italy and values prayer as a crucial part to push back the darkness.
In her spare time, Miranda loves spending time with her husband and son, Luca. She also enjoys walks by the sea, traveling, photography, digital scrapbooking, and drinking coffee.
Cristhina Danies
Administrative Assistant
Cristhina was born in Colombia and moved to the USA with her family when she was 11 years old. She has a Bachelor's degree in Social Work and gained experience serving victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse during her internship with a non-profit organization.
She moved to Bologna in September of 2013 to serve with Vite Trasformate (VT), a ministry to victims of commercial sexual exploitation, and has been serving full time with VT since. Cristhina is passionate about sharing her faith and discipling women. Her favorite thing about VT is one-on-one interaction with the Treasures and spending time getting to know them. Cristhina is also a skilled administrator and helps with organizational project tasks in her church Nuova Vita.
As the administrator for ATR, Cristhina provides support to the ATR Director and Steering Committee in many significant ways behind the scenes. Her skills in organization management provide valuable assistance in promoting the mission and vision of ATR. She is grateful for the opportunity to serve within ATR and hopes to see this alliance grow so that Christ would be known all across Italy and that many treasures will be saved and freed from spiritual and physical slavery.
Cristhina is married to Manuel, an Italian believer who won her over with his love for coffee and his servant’s heart. She met him at her church in Bologna and they both serve together in other ministries. They enjoy traveling, cooking together and making up new Italo-Spanish words that only they understand.
Anna Quaranta
Coordinator, Advocacy and Legislative Reform
Anna was born in Eboli, a small town off the Amalfi Coast. She moved to Bologna in 2011 to study at the University of Bologna. She has a law degree and the subject of her thesis was national and international law on human trafficking.
Anna started serving with Vite Trasformate in 2012. She has a great gift for befriending all the Treasures she meets during the outreach and making them feel valued and loved. She is passionate about using her knowledge in law to help fight human trafficking in Italy.
Anna is married to Bruno, her high school sweetheart, and they just welcomed their beautiful baby girl, Emma Joy. Bruno is a deacon at Nuova Vita church and together he and Anna lead a small group for young adults. They love the beach, spending time with friends and cheering for the Napoli soccer team.
Anna wants to continue serving Jesus full-time in Italy. Please pray the Lord provides the resources and funds for her to be able to do so.
