What Rescuing 2,000 Children Taught Me About Being a Dad featuring Clay Butler

The Dad Edge Podcast

Larry Hagner

Health & Fitness, Education, Self-improvement

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, I sit down with Clay Butler, CEO of Agape International Missions (AIM), for a powerful conversation on fighting child trafficking and how present, intentional fatherhood is one of the most effective weapons in that fight. With over 2,000 rescues and hundreds of traffickers arrested, Clay's work is nothing short of heroic—but it's his role as a father that has most shaped his mission.

We explore what it truly means to lead as a man, not just in high-stakes global work, but in the day-to-day role of being a protector at home. Clay shares how fatherhood has deepened his approach to leadership, the importance of modeling safe masculinity, and why raising strong, loved, and secure children is one of the greatest forms of resistance to evil. This episode will challenge and inspire any man who wants to leave a legacy worth living for.

Episode Highlights

[0:00] – Introduction

[1:01] – A staggering global reality: a child is trafficked every 30 seconds

[2:24] – Clay's transformation from young volunteer to CEO of AIM

[5:13] – Why Clay initially took a three-month volunteer trip… and never left

[9:06] – Finding emotional equilibrium in a traumatic field

[10:29] – How fatherhood amplified—not hindered—Clay's leadership

[12:04] – The power of modeling safe fatherhood for rescued girls

[14:21] – Humility, teamwork, and spiritual grounding in life-or-death operations

[20:03] – Tactical and emotional ways to protect your family in public

[22:15] – Why kids from foster care are the most trafficked in America

[28:12] – Real actions men can take to stop trafficking—starting at home

[29:02] – Navigating the tension of preserving childhood innocence while teaching safety

[34:45] – Avoiding burnout: ruthless prioritization and reverse engineering legacy

[38:07] – Clay's evolving legacy: from warrior to father to restorer

5 Key Takeaways

1. Fatherhood is powerful – Being a present, loving father is one of the most effective deterrents to child trafficking, both at home and globally.

2. Rescue is only the beginning – AIM's model goes beyond rescue to include healing, job training, and long-term restoration.

3. The U.S. isn't exempt – Most trafficking victims in the U.S. come from broken foster care systems. Supporting those systems can change lives.

4. You can protect your kids daily – Small actions like staying aware in public, modeling healthy masculinity, and teaching intuitive safety make a big difference.

5. Your legacy starts now – You don't need to lead a global organization to be a hero. Leading at home with purpose and love is enough.

Links & Resources

Agape International Missions (AIM): https://aimfree.org
AIM Apparel – Support rescued girls through ethical apparel: https://aimapparel.com
Bark (Parental Control App): https://thedadedge.com/bark
Episode Show notes: thedadedge.com/1393

If this episode sparked something in you, share it with a fellow dad, leave a review, and don't forget to follow the podcast. Together, we can protect our families—and generations to come.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the Dad Edge podcast. The Dad Edge movement creates leaders of men, leaders of families, and leaders of communities. We will not only impact this generation of fathers, but the next generation as well. The kids we are raising will have better chances and odds stacked in their favor because of the amazing example
0:21.2	that their fathers emulated for them. We are here to change the world. We are here to change
0:27.6	relationships. We are here to positively disrupt this generation of fathers so no man goes to their
0:33.6	grave with regret. We disrupt the drift of busyness and replace it with razor-focused intention,
0:40.3	passion, purpose, and direction.
0:43.7	We are the Dad Edge,
0:45.7	and we're here to change the game.
0:47.8	We're here to change the game.
1:06.6	I don't know. Every 30 seconds, a child is trafficked somewhere in the world.
1:09.6	And just let that sink in for a second.
1:14.7	Because as fathers, it's not enough just to protect our own kids.
1:17.8	We're called to be protectors of all children.
1:20.0	And I don't care if they're ours or not.
1:21.3	They're all ours.
1:22.6	We need to protect them.
1:29.4	And today, we're talking with a man who has rescued thousands from that nightmare.
1:36.3	And he is here today to show us how fatherhood is the most powerful weapon in this fight.
1:42.8	And men, today we're going to have a conversation that hits right at the heart of what it means to be a father.
1:46.4	My guest today is Clayton Butler. He is the CEO of Agape International Missions, a man who has dedicated his life to the global fight
1:52.9	against child trafficking. Under his leadership, AIM has rescued over 2,000 survivors,
2:03.8	arrested hundreds of traffickers along with law enforcement,
2:13.9	and has built a revolutionary model that doesn't just rescue kids, but it restores them and prevents future exploitation.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Larry Hagner, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Larry Hagner and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.