While surfing the net today to catch up on some world news...I came across a disturbing story. It has been reported that the father of a 9-year-old "Slumdog Millionaire" star tried to sell his daughter to an undercover reporter (pretending to be a sheik) for $300,000. This allegation is under investigation and at this time the father is denying such claims.
When I read this story, thoughts flooded my mind...
...of places I visited in India and Thailand where children were being sold into slavery.
How much is a human life worth?
Sex traffiking has been around for centuries and continues to grow as a global problem. It is estimated that around 1.2 million children are traffiked each year. Fifty percent of these victims are children and around 70 percent are female. It can be found in Japan, India, Thailand, Eastern Europe, Brazil, and yes, even the US.
Children are sold into prostitution for an array of reasons. Some children are born into prostitution to support the family or it may be a form of bonded labor. They might be roped in by being tricked, drugged, or abducted. Because traffiking is so lucrative and growing in tourism, there is a demand. Often, these young children are promised to be fed, clothed, and educated. This never happens! When the pimps are finished with these children, either because of disease, sickness, or age, they are thrown out on the streets. Sometimes, these children are bought into slavery for as little as 10 dollars.
Hmmm....what you or I might pay for our dinner or a movie ticket...is the cost of a human life. That is disturbing to me.
I know, reading this information stirs a lot of thoughts and emotions in us. It grieves me. I feel angry. I feel overhwhelmed and hopeless at trying to fight such a global problem. Emotions are God given. Like I teach kids, they are detection signals in our body to alarm us that something is good or bad. How we respond is what makes it right or wrong. God allows us to feel. It is a way for us to connect with Him and others. What do we do with these feelings? How are we responding to these feelings?
Several years ago I attended a conferenece in Southeast Asia. I'll never forget listening to the speaker share about his stories and how he dealt with all the tragedy he witnessed in the world. He had traveled to some rough places and has ministered to some very broken people.
His response: "respond to injustice with justice"
How do we as Christians extend justice to an unjust world? An uunjust cause?
It's easy to turn a blind eye or frown upon these realities and say "that's ashame". Or, to think about and then block out the thoughts because they are difficult to face. And it is. But, I beleive as Christians we are called to respond to injustice. We serve a God that calls us to rise up and extend mercy, compassion, and justice.
How do we do this?
Extending justice can take on many forms. It is becoming aware of what is going on in this world. Take time to learn about human traffiking. There's lots of literature out there. Take time to see what orgs and ministries are intervening. I know it can seem burdensome, but there are many cool stories and miracles of children being rescued. There is hope!
It's about becoming an advocate for the voiceless. Share what you learn with others. Make them aware. Look for ways you can partner with orgs and ministries to help end slavery. There are many ways to get involved through being an advocate, financial support, prayer, or giving your time through volunteering.
It's spending time in prayer and getting God's heart for these children and crying out for their lives. Take time in your pesonal prayer life and band together with other Christians in prayer. Pray for these children and the amazing people that are out there fighting for these kids freedom.
Child traffiking is an area that I carry heavy on my heart. Stay tuned for future posts that will highlight some of these countries and what's currently taking place as well as stories and ways to get connected.
What are you passionate about?
What change do you want to see in this world?
What are you doing to bring about this change?
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single minute before starting to improve the world. Anne Frank
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