Christine Caine
17 min read ⭑
“I’ve got to keep tasting heaven here on earth so that I can keep bringing heaven to people here on earth. I’m often in the darkest of places and the most traumatic, evil things that can happen. Trafficking human beings is evil and demonic. But it hasn’t overwhelmed me because, with great intentionality, I’m tasting and seeing that the Lord is good all around me in creation.”
Whether she’s fighting human trafficking, writing another bestselling book or speaking from the stage, Christine Caine is working to activate women across the globe to live on mission for Christ. That’s why she founded the A21 Campaign, an anti-human trafficking organization, as well as ministries like Equip & Empower and Propel Women, which have produced several Zoe Churches in Europe. Her books — including “Unshakeable,” “Unashamed,” “Don’t Look Back” and more — empower people to live in true freedom through the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Recently, Rapt sat down with Christine to chat about home and refreshment, spiritual practices and practical resources. In this interview, she talks about why today’s generation desperately needs spiritual mothers and fathers, the joys and struggles of constantly traveling around the globe, and how her Greek background shapes her ministry, relationships and meals. She took our questions seriously and answered honestly. And it’s all here.
The following is a transcript of a live interview. Responses have been edited and condensed for brevity and clarity.
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
Food is always about more than food; it’s also about home and people and love. So how does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind your web bio?
Here’s my bottom line: I am Greek. So food is the answer to life, the universe and everything. Since I was a kid, my whole life’s been centered around food. Because we travel for our ministries, Nick and I are on the road about 300 nights a year. There’s normal travel, and then there’s the Caines. We deliver our anti-human trafficking programs in 22 countries around the world, so we’re constantly doing laps. In a good year, I spend maybe 80 nights in my home in Southern California. I never feel like I’m not at home, because we’re constantly having beautiful meals with our family and colleagues all over the world. I could keep you here all day telling you what has kept me in this fight at 60 years old and for so long: it’s not just the work that we do but sitting around tables and eating with our team in Bulgaria or Cambodia.
My only disdain is that there are no great Greek restaurants where I live in Southern California. Perhaps there are, but when you’ve grown up with your mom’s Greek cooking, none of them cut it. I have traded Greek, as much as it pains me to say this, for a fantastic Italian restaurant. The people who work there just know Nick and me so well. It’s really like your grandmother’s kind of restaurant. There are no whistles and bells. I’m sure they brought their grandmother from Italy into the kitchen, and it is extremely relaxed.
I’m a pasta eater. I wanted to stop eating carbs and thought I should start getting healthy. I came home to my Greek mother and said, “Mom, I’m not eating carbs anymore because I’m going to slim down and get fit.” I was training for a half marathon. I came home the next night to a huge bowl of pasta. I said, “Mum, I told you I’m not eating carbs.” She said, “Carbs? Christine, this is not carbs. This is pasta.” Like it’s its own food group. My mother passed away in Australia while I was here living in America. There’s never a time when I eat pasta and don’t think of my mum. Christine, this is not carbs; this is pasta. It’s a comfort food. At least once a month, we make a joke about it as we’re eating.
As the daughter of immigrants — my parents immigrated from Alexandria, Egypt, after they had to flee from Izmi, Turkey — the table and our staple foods are part of who I am. I’m not the type to ever rush through a meal. We’ve got a 21-year-old and a 24-year-old, and to this day, our intentional time around a table is still so important. Nick is number 14 of 15 children. There was no TV in that part of Australia, so like a good Catholic family, they sat around the table for their meals. I came from a Greek family like that. He came from a Catholic family like that. So in 30 years of marriage, despite having a very big, global life, we take our time with meals, and it keeps us very centered. It’s never not going to be like that, because it’s woven into the fabric of who we are.
It’s a practice we carry into our work around the globe — because it’s a cultural thing in many places. To have relationships with law enforcement, government or even the education sector for my anti-human trafficking work, I’ve got to sit down for extended meals with generals in Thailand, in Cambodia, in Bulgaria, in Europe, it’s offensive not to. I am very blessed because food is such a central thing in what I do. You don’t simply show up for a meeting — it just doesn’t work like that. The reason we still have credibility decades later is that we’ve maintained real relationships. When I first started teaching the Bible, there were very few women, so Nick and I would sit down often with pastors and their wives to build a lot of trust in that sector, even in speaking. My life’s not like that now, but it was in the early days. We found that the relational meal component truly — and I’m not saying this lightly — was as important as anything I did on a platform.
QUESTION #2: REVEAL
What “nonspiritual” activity have you found to be quite spiritual, after all? What quirky proclivity, out-of-the-way interest or unexpected pursuit refreshes your soul?
So much of my ministry is trying to break down the secular vs. sacred divide and activate people to realize that the presence of God is with us everywhere. That’s 40 years of my ministry message — you can both live on mission and enjoy the presence of God anywhere. My world is from the townships of South Africa to the slums in Brazil to some of the greatest platforms in the world. I’m always having to navigate that. I’m on platforms, but I’m also rescuing the victims of human trafficking, so I deal with law enforcement, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Red Cross.. It’s not a double life. I know there’s a Christian cultural bubble here in America, but in so many places where I’ve lived and worked, including Australia, there aren’t enough Christians to have a Christian cultural bubble. If you were a Christian, you learned how to be in the world but not of it while also loving the world. I think my experience of being an Australian Christian is different. I didn’t come to America until I was 45, so a lot of my spiritual formation was well underway. The weirdest thing to me was stepping into this bubble of an overly sacred-secular divide, which I think confuses people.
For me, I always could sense the presence of God in creation. I’m an avid hiker. We just came back from the Dolomites for my 60th, and it was so awesome. We had done a whole mountain range — the Swiss Alps, the Dolomites, Slovenia. Over the last three years, I’ve been doing different hikes in the summer in each of those mountain ranges. Because we get to be on every continent every year, we have the opportunity to go and find some beautiful nature and creation. I couldn’t imagine not doing it. Of course, even in my own home, when I’m going for my night walk, I’m walking along the coastline. I love seeing the ocean or mountains, rivers and creeks. I don’t know if you call that a non-spiritual activity or just part of being alive and loving God’s creation. Of course, I’m a great believer that he’s coming back to renew all things. The minute you’re born again, there’s a taste of heaven here on earth. I’ve got to keep tasting heaven here on earth so that I can keep bringing heaven to people here on earth. I’m often in the darkest of places and the most traumatic, evil things that can happen. Trafficking human beings is evil and demonic. But it hasn’t overwhelmed me because, with great intentionality, I’m tasting and seeing that the Lord is good all around me in creation.
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness; every human, too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re all broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you confront its power?
My kryptonite depends on the day and what happens. The Achilles’ heel I have to be acutely aware of stems from my background of trauma — being abandoned in a hospital when I was born, not finding out I was adopted until I was 33 and being the childhood victim of sexual abuse for many, many years. That messes with you in so many ways. Certainly, I’ve worked hard by the grace of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit to really find my identity and who I am in Christ and to make what Jesus did for me bigger than whatever happened to me. That’s a daily fight and a daily commitment to renewing your mind.
It’s harder if I’m not careful, I’m tired, I haven’t slept enough or I haven’t exercised. Of course, I’m a target for the Enemy. We’re rescuing the victims of human trafficking. I’m involved in proclamational evangelism and empowering women. Three things that the enemy hates are women, the lost and people who are trapped in slavery. So there is obviously a spiritual dimension to the battle. I’m cognizant that I need spiritual covering for that with intercessors, prayer, fasting and all the things that go with that.
But there’s the natural side, too. I’m 60 this year, and thank God I’m fit and healthy, but if I don’t sleep enough or exercise enough, I’m much more vulnerable and susceptible to my emotions. Just being a little bit weaker, I can really be knocked out and knocked to the ground.
People think, She’s got such a thick skin or She’s strong, but I’ve still got a very tender heart. Rejection, betrayal — they hurt easily. It might take you a minute to get close to me, but once you’re in, you’re in. I’m Greek, and we Greeks are like the mafia, so once you’re in, you’re in for life, and there’s no way out. It’s Hotel California — you can check out, but you can never leave.
I’m loyal to a fault, which makes me vulnerable in relationships. I think the most pain I’ve probably endured in the last 15 years would be attacks from the outside, but there have been things that I would have perceived as either disloyalty or personal betrayal from people who are close. To paraphrase David’s words, it would have been easier if it was my enemy that came against me, but it was my friend, who I went to the house of God with (see Ps. 55:12-14). In that sense, loyalty can be my kryptonite. I’m very tender in that way and very loyal to a fault.
That’s the emotional-relational side, and then if I’ve got a lot on and am not prioritizing certain rhythms, Ben and Jerry become my two best friends. I may have a pint of each. I’m extreme in everything, so you may find me at 3 a.m. fellowshipping with Ben and Jerry.
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?
What I’m working on right now is a book and study on wisdom. Since I’m 60, this year was the year that I decided to do 60 things I’ve never done before. I went up to Alaska, I saw the Northern Lights, wake surfed, and did some other crazy stuff. I want to be like Caleb, who at 85 essentially said, I’m as strong now as I was then. Now give me this mountain — that’s my inheritance (see Josh. 14:6-15). I want to show a whole generation that you can run fast and hard. That means despite all your physical limitations, you can walk in your purpose to the very end. Do I see in the Scripture that Christine should stop at 60 or 65? The world says we can retire, but that doesn’t mean we can now indulge in the sin of selfishness or comfort or ease. Nowhere do I see that in Scripture. If you’re all in for Jesus, you can’t keep some of yourself out.
So I made the decision that, as I hit 65, I’m not going to surround myself with old people, because they think old. I don’t want to be young, but I want to bring wisdom. I want to bring the wisdom that comes with being 60, because there’s so much information and so much knowledge, and yet we’ve never been more stupid as a human race in terms of what is happening around us in every way. I think that the missing ingredient is wisdom. Perhaps wisdom that comes with age just hasn’t been highly valued. Paul makes the point that we may have many teachers but not many fathers (see 1 Cor. 4:15). I would add that we don’t have a lot of mothers, either. I feel like there’s a generation that lost their minds for the last 10 to 15 years, but they’re coming back around, and people are looking for sages and wisdom. I’m digging deep into wisdom literature, both in ancient Near Eastern culture and in the Scriptures, and asking, What does that look like in 2026? In the age of AI and the world we live in, what might it look like? I’m digging deep, and I think that’s carrying me far.
On one hand, I’ve seen jarring reports about either online sexual exploitation or children and women being literally taken and sold into forced labor trafficking, sex trafficking or begging. Then I read about the devastation of what that does and the systems that enable those things to happen. But the truth is, if you care about everything, you end up caring about nothing. And if you care about nothing, you don’t do anything about something. So in this crazy world that we’re living in, we’re doing one of two things — we’re either virtue signaling or we’re abdicating our responsibility, tapping out and entertaining ourselves. In other words, distracting ourselves to death.
How can we be robust wisdom, salt and light in this hour? What does it mean to still be whole and to still be full of joy and peace and kindness and goodness, and what is the wisdom of when to say something and when not to say something, when to get involved and when not to get involved?
For example, my ministry has offices in every continent, and we have to wade through the complexity of what that should look like. When war breaks out in the world, it affects what I say online because I’ve got an office in Cambodia and Thailand, and I’ve got staff in both countries and in Kyiv and Moscow. So what do we do? A lot of what people do online is virtue signaling, and they expect us to do the same. But I work with sisters in the Middle East, so should I really get involved in certain dialogues that are only relevant to a very slim section of the evangelical Christian church in North America? The majority of the church is in the Global South, and sharing certain opinions online could be really destructive to the credibility I have in that part of the world. There’s still a very American-centric focus over here that doesn’t take the whole global church into account. So now, at 60, when I have some credibility, I’m thinking through how I can bring all these pieces together — justice and evangelism with an unapologetically global understanding. I’m thinking through how people might view American politics and what that means on a global scale. God has a 35,000-foot view of the globe, time and history, and still, so much of our conversations in North America are very myopic.
So how does this impact how we walk in wisdom in this generation? That’s the question I’m pondering as I minister — and as I write and research.
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Whether we’re cashiers or CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need God’s love flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?
He infuses everything. I don’t understand how anyone who is born again could try to do anything without the power of the Holy Spirit. Imagine Jesus himself, God incarnate, essentially saying that it was better for him to go so that the Holy Spirit would come and empower us to be his witnesses (see John 16:7; Acts 1:8). I think that’s what we have to reclaim in the church because that power is our secret sauce. The fact is, we have something no one else does — the Holy Spirit’s power to do what we could not otherwise do, to be a witness, to be salt and light in the midst of this world. He infuses every part of it.
I often say that those of us who wait upon the Lord will renew our strength (see Isa. 40:31). We will mount up on wings like eagles. We will run and not grow weary. We will walk and not faint. And that’s only through the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why every Christian has got way more agency than they think. We often think, Well, if I had a better start or if I was better educated or if I went to a different church or if this didn’t happen to me, then … . And to that, I say, “Y’all, we have more. The same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives on the inside of us.” If we even half-believe that, then number one, we wouldn’t have half the fights we’re having, and number two, we would be out there doing exactly what God called us to do. Because the power to be a witness is not determined by my background, my access to resources or the system I’m in. The power to be a witness is based on the fact that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me.
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you in this season?
Definitely silence and solitude in this season. Unplugging from the world to plug into God. Of course, Scripture reading and prayer are all important. But in a really crazy life, silence and solitude are also critical to me. That might mean sitting on a plane with great intentionality of getting a single seat so that I can just put my earphones in, not to be listening to anything, but just to give the universal sign that I’m not here to talk. To still my mind and tune out the frequency of the world to tune into the frequency of God. That takes great intentionality.
Everyone would love the luxury of extended time, but you’ve got to make it work within your life. A single mum with three kids would give anything to have an hour of silence and solitude. I don’t believe God’s called us to be like monks and go and hide somewhere, but maybe we choose not to watch a Netflix series so we can create that time. You have to take from something in order to create space for silence and solitude. I’ve only got 24 hours like every other person and a whole lot of commitments. So there are some things I forsake that I’d like to do because I know I need that time for silence. I’m conscious of the time. If you told me that I needed to have kidney dialysis every day or I would die, then what would I do? I would immediately rearrange my whole life and find the time for dialysis. It’s the same for time alone — it’s urgent, and you have to create the time for it.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed reality and changed your heart?
Jesus saved my soul, but the Word of God saved my mind. I was impacted by shame, bitterness, abuse, abandonment, adoption — everything I had been through. Nowadays, it’s common to talk about neuroscience, neuroplasticity and rewiring your brain. But I got saved in 1989, so I didn’t know those words, and yet that’s exactly what I was doing when I was learning to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom. 12:2, ESV).
I was memorizing entire passages of the Bible. Now, I realize that I was rewiring my brain and replacing the lies that I believed, particularly from my abusers, with the truth of who God said I was. That was, hands down, the biggest game-changer in my life, which is why I’ve given my life to proclaiming the Word. To me, it’s not just a good book, an interesting book or a history book. It literally is the difference between life and death. It was for me.
Second to that is Oswald Chambers’ “My Utmost for His Highest.” This book was part of my initial spiritual formation. That and Keith Green’s album “No Compromise.”
So, if I have to narrow it down to three resources, they would be the Bible, Oswald Chambers and Keith Green. That’s how old I am.
QUESTION #8: dream
God’s continually stirring new things in each of us. So, give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
Now that I’m 60 years old, I’m thinking: What can I offer the next generation? How can I bring together the integration of culture and evangelism, spirit and truth, spiritual formation and leadership — all these things that have historically separated the church? Can we get out of our silos and work together to bring the good news to the whole world? That’s where I am. I’m building an academy for women because Psalm 68:11 says that the Lord proclaims the word, and the women who carry it are a mighty throng. So the mighty throng has got to be the hundreds of millions of Christian women around the world, but some of them are uneducated and haven’t had access to schools. How can I help make our training and theology accessible? The benefit of AI is that it’s easier to meet them right where they are, in their language, to equip, empower and activate them to live on mission in their world.
The kinds of conversations we’re having in North America about what titles women can have aren’t going to be on the agenda for another hundred years in the countries where I work, like Afghanistan, Iran, townships in South Africa or flavelas in Brazil. But we all have the gospel, so I’m thinking more about how to activate women in that vein. And I’ve got some great stuff happening with seminaries and tech companies. I think within a couple of years, I’m going to have a great product accessible to every woman everywhere — for those who are oral learners and have never had the opportunity to go to school right up to those with a Ph.D. from anywhere in the world. We’re not confining the truth to an ivory tower. We’re taking it out of the academy and into the townships, mobilizing women to live on mission for Christ. I think that’s going to be my last big run of what I’m here to do.
In this work, I’m doing a lot of mothering. Scripture says that God nurtures us like a mother weaning a child (see Ps. 131:2) — and this generation needs mothers and fathers, obviously. I don’t want to be like Hezekiah, who in Isaiah 39 allowed the Babylonians into Judah and showed them the nation’s riches and storehouses. Isaiah warned him that the Babylonians would eventually carry away Judah’s riches and descendants and that nothing would be left (see Isa. 39:3-7). Hezekiah responded that the word of the Lord was good, taking comfort that there would be peace and security in his own lifetime (see Isa. 39:8). In other words, he tapped out. I’ve decided by the grace of God that I’m not going to abdicate my responsibility. I am a mother in the kingdom, and even though I’m 60, I’m not going to tap out and say, “Well, you guys work it out yourselves. What can I do? What could I bring to the table?” I want to be like Caleb, who in his old age asked for the hill country where the Anakim lived and then drove them out (see Josh. 14:10-14; 15:13-14). I can either tap out, or I can keep fighting giants. This isn’t about me leaving a legacy — it’s about helping set the next generation up to keep running. I don’t care if they think I’m awesome or not. I just need to put the baton of faith into their hands so they can keep running.
In her last answer, Christine Caine draws a powerful parallel between Hezekiah and Caleb. Hezekiah took comfort that Judah’s coming judgment would not arrive in his lifetime, while Caleb, even in old age, kept pressing into the work God had given him.
What does this mean for us? For our day-to-day existence as Christians — people with jobs and homes and families and a million responsibilities and social pressures clamoring for attention?
Perhaps it starts with an honest conversation with Jesus, where we sincerely ask him what is most important and wait patiently for a response. Let’s ask, “Lord, where do you want me to focus my attention? Who have you called me to pour into? What giants are you asking me to fight? What protections do I need to set in place?”
Ask. We believe he’ll answer you.
Christine Caine is a speaker, author and activist who has been serving the local church globally for over 30 years. She and her husband, Nick, founded the anti-human trafficking organization, the A21 Campaign, which works to end modern-day slavery, and Equip & Empower, which mobilizes people everywhere to live on mission for Jesus. Propel Women is an initiative of the ministry dedicated to coming alongside women all over the globe to activate their God-given purpose. The ministry has also planted three life-giving Zoe Churches in Europe. Christine is the bestselling author of more than a dozen books and host of the Equip & Empower podcast.