Butterfly: The Story of Esther Vargas
Editor's Note: Warning - this article contains content about human trafficking and abuse.
Esther Vargas loves and lives Revelation 12:11 "They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."
She realizes that some stories must be told, not to glorify or perpetuate sin and suffering, but to glorify Jesus and His saving, redeeming authority.
For this reason, Vargas, now 52, testifies. She was sexually victimized on her thirteenth birthday by an older man in the church she attended with her grandmother. A very young girl from an unstable home, Vargas was scared and ill-equipped to properly respond or defend herself. The man continued his abuse.
By 15 years old, Vargas gave birth to a baby boy. Even with the victimization coming to light, charges were not pursued. Vargas continued trying her best to raise her baby, though she often found herself thrown out of her childhood home and without a place to stay.
At age 18, Vargas met an older man in a club who welcomed her to call him if she ever needed anything. One night, following a terrible fight with her mother, Vargas called the man in desperation. He arrived quickly, sweeping Vargas and her then three-year-old son away to a lavish house in a beautiful neighborhood.
TRAPPED
Pulling up to the house, Vargas was distressed. She expressed to the man her concern that she could not afford such a home. He immediately reassured her, telling her not to worry. He then said, “Unpack and get comfortable. I am going to take the baby to get some snacks.”
The man whisked her son off. One hour became two, and day became night. Vargas panicked. “I realized then that the doors of the house were locked, unable to be opened from the inside, and the phones did not call out,” she says.
Finally, hours later, the man returned alone. He explained to Vargas that her “payments” would be made through sexual exploitation.
Vargas was horrified. However, she was about to discover darker layers to the story — she was now a captive of a human trafficking ring.
She remained trapped in the house, where other girls were also kept, the youngest of whom was 12 years old. Vargas was only permitted to see her son once during the time she was held captive and was told that he was living with the man’s family. She and the other girls were also required to work in a nightclub, reminded often that they and their families would be killed if they tried to escape.
PLAN OF ESCAPE
One night while confined in her room, Vargas stumbled upon a Bible. Apart from her childhood interactions with her grandmother’s church, Vargas was unfamiliar with Jesus, and with much of the Bible.
She says, “I always hated my name growing up. I didn’t know anything about Queen Esther from the Bible, but when I opened that Book, my eyes alit on her story, and the Holy Spirit began to speak.”
Vargas felt she heard the voice of Jesus prompting her spirit that He would get her out of her situation, but she had to submit to God’s plan.
“He began to quicken my mind over the coming days,” Vargas says, “giving me plans and timing for steps to take.”
She was able to get her son to safety and secured a vehicle to make an escape. “But I was still just a teenager, and, not thinking properly, I decided to run back by the club to get my jacket before I ran,” she says. Once at the club, the man and an accomplice caught her.
All night long the man beat Vargas, until she was unrecognizable. The other girls living in the house were terrified, and thinking she had died, laid her on the bed. They alerted the perpetrator, and in her blurred state of consciousness, Vargas heard the group discussing how to dispose of her body.
“I made noise so they would know I was alive,” Vargas says. “They took me to the emergency room.” There, the doctor was immediately suspicious, asking Vargas repeatedly to tell him what happened to her, but she was too fearful to say.
“I told the doctor I was carjacked, but he knew that wasn’t true. He kept asking but I kept insisting. They posted two cops outside my door and even the FBI got involved, but the perpetrator still got in my room, bringing with him one dozen red roses and two of the other girls. He told me he would kill me and my family if I talked, and then he kissed my forehead.”
After a week, Vargas was transferred to a different hospital where she remained for another week. That’s when Vargas’ parents came to get her. Upon her release from the hospital, her parents sent her to Puerto Rico, where her family had roots.
RESTORED
In Puerto Rico, Vargas was invited to her first Pentecostal meeting where she was gripped by a prophetic word and surrendered to Christ and His divine calling for her to share her story for the glory of God.
During this time, thinking it would help give a better life to her son, Vargas married a man who did not follow Christ and moved to Tampa. Over the next several years, Vargas gave birth to a baby girl and continued to go to church. However, after being met with hostility from leadership and congregants who discouraged her from sharing her testimony, Vargas stopped going to church and joined the military. While in service, Vargas was faced with more challenges: her husband left with another woman, abandoning Vargas’ son and daughter at her mother’s house.
After a season of struggle that included divorce, and a traumatic brain injury while in the military, Vargas met and married fellow serviceman Francisco — a godly and caring husband and father, who adopted Vargas’ two children. They moved around the nation and the world while in the Army, and everywhere they went, Vargas shared her testimony of Jesus’ redemption.
BUTTERFLY
In 2004, out of the service and now in Georgia, Francisco, who continued his service in the military, Esther, and their now three kids began attending Southside Assembly of God.
At Southside the Vargases founded the Arms of Comfort Ministry, providing fellowship and help for the families of combat deployed service members.
Vargas continued to share her testimony publicly, receiving invitations from all over the U.S. and Europe. As she continued to testify, she says she sensed Jesus calling her His butterfly, a treasured creation that was actively transforming.
In 2017, the Vargas family settled in San Antonio where Francisco and Esther pursued ministry credentials with the Assemblies of God, receiving their minister licenses in 2023.
That same year, the couple went to their first General Council. During the week, Vargas attended a lunch given by Project Rescue, an AGWM-rooted ministry to those enslaved in and rescued from human trafficking. She wept when she discovered Project Rescue’s symbol is a butterfly.
There Vargas connected with Project Rescue co-founder Beth Grant, and the connection between Vargas and Project Rescue blossomed.
Vargas was invited by Jennifer Barratt, Project Rescue’s executive director, to join the Project Rescue Speakers Bureau. Today, she and Francisco travel globally, advancing the cause of Jesus-based holistic care for trafficked women and children, and testifying to what Jesus has done in their own lives.
Barratt says, “It has been an honor to witness Esther stepping into God's calling on her life” Barratt shares. “Esther's story brings glory to God and sheds light on the evils of trafficking in our world, while also giving a voice to those who have been trafficked or abused. She is an overcomer, and her life and ministry serve as an inspiring example to us all.”
In 2025, Vargas graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Church Leadership from Nelson University (with emphasis on compassion ministry) with honors, despite being told she would never accomplish this due to cognitive issues brought on by her traumatic brain injury. She says, “I told the people who said I couldn’t do it, ‘You don’t know my God!' The God of the Bible is still writing our stories. Revelation 12:11 is about bearing witness to Jesus, not about telling bad stories about ourselves. We must tell His story.”