Demi Leigh Nel-Peters represented South Africa at Miss Universe 2017 on 26th November 2017 at The AXIS at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. She was crowned as the winner at the end of the event finale and became the second Miss Universe winner from South Africa, following Margaret Gardiner who was crowned Miss Universe 1978.

In her recent story, Demi and Tim are seen talking about ‘human trafficking’ and Demi urges everyone to join ‘Tim Tebow Foundation’ in order to rescue the people who are trafficked against their will here in the United States and around the world. Demi’s experience with a horrifying experience has made her step up and help the ones who are like her. The initiative has been taken in place in order to celebrate Tim Tebow’s 33rd birthday on 14th August 2020; a day that will serve as the backdrop of the organization’s call upon their supporters to partner with them in raising $500,000 specifically to combat human trafficking.

She shared her story in one of her interviews, “I was very excited as I had won Miss South Africa 2017 and was heading towards Miss Universe 2017. But just few months prior to that I was at the traffic signal and saw four men on my left side. In that moment, I felt very uneasy and I realised I was boxed, there was no way I could have left. Then I saw one man pointing a gun to my head from the right side and two from the left side. I surrendered but I just remembered that I had to run away so, I punched the guy in the throat and ran away. I knocked on 30-40 widows but no boy helped except a young girl who was quite younger than me helped me.” Demi explained that she was traumatised for a very long time because she didn’t know in that moment if she’ll survive or not.  

Tim also shared that his family’s missionary work overseas has been working against the Human Trafficking over ages now and he feels connected to the cause and wants to use his platform to raise awareness against the same and help the people. He shared, “Trafficking says people are created as an object for pleasure or personal gain. We believe God has called us to confront this global atrocity and fight like never before for the millions in need of true healing and hope.”

Steve Biondo, Tim Tebow Foundation President, shared, “Being discretely active in anti-human trafficking ministry for the past seven years, we have continued to see an acceleration in this heinous attack on the sanctity of human life. We have become more deeply burdened by this ever-increasing evil and are now moving to a more overt strategy and action against human trafficking. With our targeted partners in the U.S. and abroad we are committed to global prevention, rescue and restoration.”

The Tim Tebow Foundation will deepen their impact in Human Trafficking space in three ways; actively seeking to prevent the crisis by supporting programs to preserve and strengthen the family unit, the first line of defence for the most vulnerable. Secondly, they are responding to the crisis through strategic partnerships supporting those executing physical rescue missions on the ground and providing for the immediate needs of survivors. Finally, they are deeply committed to supporting survivors’ long-term recovery through communities of care that provide them with the tools needed for physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual healing; thus empowering their liberation from the cycle of trauma abuse in their lives to find their new life of freedom in Christ.

The Tim Tebow Foundation by Tim Tebow was founded in order to help people with special needs crowning kings and queens of the prom, or by showing God’s love through their four other outreaches. The goal of the foundation is to let people know that God loves them and that they are worthy. Tim started the foundation after he met a boy named Sherwin who impacted his life more than anyone he has ever met. Sherwin was born with his feet on backwards and was viewed as “cursed” in his village. But Tim held him and made the people realise that the good news of Jesus Christ applies to everyone. Now, with his foundation he reaches out to people who need help and make them realise that they are worthy and loved.

During her stint and reign as Miss Universe 2017, Demi shared that she is passionate about a program she helped develop to train women in self-defence in various situations called the ‘Unbreakable’ campaign. She was inspired to launch it by the attempted hijacking she experienced earlier that year in Johannesburg. She plans to share these workshops and help as many women as she can. In her video, Demi shares that one of the reasons she is so passionate about giving women a voice in this world is because she has lived with that fear and doesn’t want anyone to live with it anymore.

The stakes are high 40 million lives, the time is now, and the invitation is open to join the fight.