In 2004 I met a stranger in the small town of Hamden, CT. I considered it a case of sheer bad luck to have been forced to move to this place from San Francisco, to a town where the likelihood of living amongst my peers in the music business seemed less than remote. What could this place have to offer me? However, I became intertwined with a stranger under circumstances which were more than unlikely. Sheer, wildest coincidence. An act of God perhaps.

My wife Abigail met this stranger in a park while our eldest daughter was playing with his. My wife, who never takes our daughter to this park, did so while I was away on a trip to Las Vegas. Unusual. Also, being very pregnant on a hot summer day made this encounter even more unlikely. And this man's wife was apparently equally pregnant, he shared. Coincidences stacking up. They chatted and also discovered that they are both professional recording artists. Both the same age. Both with wedding anniversaries a day apart. Both Colonials. Both far from home.

So, whilst away on my trip, Abigail called me and said she had met this amazing man in the park and that he had invited her to his young son's party the following day at their home. And, surprisingly, she wanted to go! Very out of character, I thought. On my return home, she told me that I must meet this man. We invited his family, his son, daughter and very pregnant wife to our home. And, during our first cookout, his wife goes into labor in our back yard and makes it to the hospital with only 15 minutes to spare. Were we destined to bond heavily with these people?

This man's second daughter's birth was closely followed by the birth of our own second daughter. These beautiful young children were destined to be close friends. So we kept in touch. It turned out that, although something of a veteran in international rock tours and having spent my career involved in the performing of music for either financial or hedonistic reasons, I was about to be "schooled".

This man was planning to take his successful Christian rock band out on a US national tour. He had pulled together the dates himself, in colleges, schools, bars, clubs and churches. There was no booking agent involved, no cohesion in the dates and most of the local organizers of each show were inexperienced at best. So these 30 dates were an accident waiting to happen.

He needed an experienced road manager to consolidate the tour, take it on the road and make it succeed. And he didn't know anyone who could do this. It was important. The outing was an awareness tour for the charity he had co-founded and he was performing and speaking on the issue of Child Sex Trafficking and Exploitation, a subject I knew absolutely nothing about.  So, was this why we were thrown together in an extraordinary set of circumstances? Was I meant to help this man? Or was this man meant to help me? I had many years experience of running tougher tours than this one. It was a gift for us both; me for him and him for me. I took it on. It was flawless. And my life changed forever.

Music is very often performed, as I said above, for hedonistic reasons. And my experience in rock touring was just that. I had not yet worked with a band that had a higher calling. This was my eye-opener. The man I have been speaking about in this story is Lamont Hiebert. The band was Ten Shekel Shirt, and the organization that he co-founded is now Love146. It really is something to see a man of his compassion, commitment and faith speak on such a dark issue, perform songs written to communicate the intense emotions around the lives of the children exploited in this trade. One show alone, his passionate delivery, the videos and stills of the very young girls in the brothels and the heartfelt plea of Lamont to engage is enough to change lives. But I had to watch this show over 30 times. I was broken at the first one, but the relentless onslaught continued night after night, week after week. By the 5th show I had added an additional dressing room to the band's performance contracts because I knew that I would need a place half way through the show to retreat to, so i could fall apart in private. And believe me, I used that room many times on that tour.

There is no way that, once touched by an issue that resonates with you at this level, you can turn away and go back to life as usual. When the tour was complete, I needed to find a way to work for this organization and the children they serve.

On the day following my return home from the tour, my eldest daughter, then 5 years old, was performing in a dance recital. I was one of the many proud parents in the audience watching our children in their matching costumes dance for us. And, there in the middle of the crowd was Rob Morris, President of Love146, watching his own daughter on the stage. He had been told by Lamont how well the tour had gone and so, when we met there we had a connection built in. Coincidence - I think not. We talked briefly and I committed to him that I must work with this cause and offer my skills and my heart to his organization. Thankfully, he accepted.

It has been 5 years now. I have had the privilege of having my life changed from the shallow use of my talents to something much more meaningful. Every day I work at Love146 is frankly a gift. I thought that if I could go to the grave knowing I had a hand in helping just one child be saved from this abuse, that would be an achievement to be proud of. I'm thankful I have had the chance to do that and much more. And I'm not really surprised that it took a very much needed "Baptism of Fire" to bring me about, and steer me right. This stories of these children saved me. I intend to return the favour.

Andrew Zsigmond - Fundraising Team Member, Love146