Modern Day Slavery: What’s a Christian to do?

Human Trafficking/ Modern-Day slavery has become somewhat of a “hot issue” lately. Though there are still many people who are not aware of this injustice, there are more and more ministries, movements, and media exposure popping up every day. Christians are beginning to hear about slavery, too, with popular Christian artists, speakers, ministries, and “celebrities” taking up the cry to end Human Trafficking. I’ve noticed a trend, though. Most Christians seem to hear about the problem, yet be too paralyzed to do anything about it, even if they want to. Modern day slavery and Trafficking just seems to overwhelming and uncomfortable for the average person, or average Christian to do anything about. What is the best course of action towards being able to do something about injustice?

Become aware:
What is the first step for someone who has heard about modern-day slavery but doesn’t know what to do about it? Study. If you’re going to fight the injustice, you’ve got to know what exactly it is you’re fighting against, where it occurs, who the victims are. Become educated on the specifics-not just the general facts and statistics. Discover organizations who are fighting injustice and utilize the resources that they offer. Discover the different types of modern day slavery and human trafficking- sex trafficking, labor trafficking, child trafficking. Most importantly, look at what God’s word says about injustice and exploitation, and His expectations for us as Christians in doing something about it. Let that, above all else, guide you and fuel your passion.

Micah 6:8 “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Proverbs 31:8 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”
Isaiah 1:16-17 Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”
Isaiah 58:6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Jeremiah 22:3 “This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed.
James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
Psalm 41:1 “Blessed is he who has regard for the weak; the LORD delivers him in times of trouble.”
Isaiah 58:10 "And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."
Ezekiel 16:49 "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.”
Proverbs 29:7 “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.”
Proverbs 14:31 “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”






Pray:
What’s next after you know what you’re fighting against? Prayer. The absolute core of the Christian effort to fight injustice is intercession. Think about it- an atheistic aid worker can break into a brothel and rescue slaves! We have so much more to do as Christ followers. We can pray for justice- and this is vital. I don’t mean write down “human trafficking” and “modern day slavery” on your prayer list and spend a few minutes every night saying “dear God, please help victims of trafficking around the world.”. We can do more. Like Lamentations 2:19 says, we can literally pour out our hearts like water before the Lord for the LIVES of starving children, trafficked women, and other victims of injustice! Our prayer times should be a battle ground. We should actually be getting uncomfortable, expending energy, getting so close to the Fathers heart for His suffering children that he will prompt us to pray for a specific country, city, situation, or even victim. Our prayers can move and change things! In order for our prayers to carry this much weight, though, we must commit to investing a significant amount of our of time, energy, and emotions to prayer for justice. Through prayer, you gain access to the Father’s heart- and this is vital as well. We can’t just launch out on our own thinking that we can stop injustice. We need to join God in what He’s doing. Instead of agonizing over what you can do, ask Him to give you an assignment- it’s much easier that way! Keep in mind, any action that you take toward fighting injustice needs to be thoroughly prayed over before you attempt it.
Some good prayer pointers to get you started can be found here:
Exodus Cry Prayer Forum: http://www.exoduscry.com/forum/711
Salvation Army Prayer Guide: http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki%5Cwww_uki.nsf/txt-vw-sublinks/7F7C63D5F85D5A59802574C10045C8DA?openDocument
IJM Prayer Ministry: http://www.ijm.org/getinvolved/prayerpartners

Take Action:
As you intercede for justice, if you feel that the Lord is calling you to take action, begin to ask him how. It may seem like there’s really not a practical way to get involved fighting injustice- but the reality is that there are countless ways for the average Christian to help. From simply raising awareness among your friends and churchmates, to doing something radical like moving overseas to work with an organization like the International Justice Mission, physically rescuing slaves, there is something for everyone to do depending on where God calls you. Keep in mind that some of the less glamorous, behind the scenes ways of helping out are sometimes the most important. It would be a lot more exciting to work in a safehouse for trafficked persons, but safehouse ministries also need volunteers to raise the funds they need to run their ministry, or warriors to pray for them. Many of the wonderful ministries that have been established to fight modern day slavery and human trafficking have wonderful suggestions of ways to become involved. Some of these organizations include:

The International Justice Mission: www.ijm.org
Exodus Cry: www.exoduscry.com
Love 146: www.love146.org
Stop the Traffik: www.stopthetraffik.org
Human Trafficking .Org www.humantrafficking.org

Above all, as you fight injustice, stay close to the Father’s heart and be guided by His spirit in order to maximize your impact as a freedom fighter!

Three Minutes

I was thinking about my time in the Philippines last April, and was trying to pin down the exact moment when I knew that I couldn't stay away from the Philippines- that I'd be coming back (for good). Here's my story, the story of three minutes that changed my life.

Three Minutes

I knew when I decided to take an eleven day trip overseas last year that I would see things that would wake me up, things that would change me. That’s partly why I wanted to go so badly. I wasn’t disappointed. Shortly after flying from the US to the Philippines, I found myself at a home run by a group of nuns with some of the most beautiful hearts I’ve ever seen. It’s a place for the very sick, the very old, and the very young. It’s a place for those that have the least chance of surviving on the streets of Manila. It’s often a place for them to spend a few weeks or days of their lives being cared for and shown the love of Jesus before they die.

Walking inside the front door of the first house in the compound, there were kids everywhere, more than one piled on some of the small beds. Dying kids. Kids with diseases like encephalitis or tuberculosis. I looked at the few nuns scurrying from one child to the next and realized that there was no way that they could possibly care for so many children properly. I guess that they just couldn’t turn anyone away despite the overcrowding. The smell in the air proved that many of the children needing washing or changing. Overwhelmed, I looked up and caught the eyes of one of the sisters. “How can I help you?” A few minutes later, I found myself sitting cross-legged on the floor holding a bowl of runny rice gruel. Gathered around me in a semi-circle were half a dozen tiny malnourished toddlers. They reminded me of scrawny baby birds, opening their mouths and staring at me with eyes that seemed to huge for their tiny bodies. The bowl was empty all too soon. One of the sisters took it from me and motioned to me that she would take care of the babies.

I stood up and wandered into another room, this one holding children of various ages with handicaps or deformities. I found myself drawn to a yellow crib near the center of the room. In it lay a child whose limbs were baldly twisted and bent, looking like nothing more than a tangled mass of skin and bone, really. The child’s hair was closely shaved, and I couldn’t determine the sex. It was impossible to tell the age of the child as well- could have been 7, could have been 13. The child couldn’t speak and didn’t have much mobility, but was responsive to my voice. I watched as the child’s eyes fluttered open and fixed on me. I reached down and grasped the child’s hand, and my grip was returned firmly. I began to sing softly, an old hymn my mother sang to me as a little girl, as tears began to well up in my eyes:

“I am Jesus’ little lamb
Ever glad at heart I am
For my Shepherd gently guides me
Knows my needs and well provides me
Loves me every day the same
Even calls me by my name”

It struck me how fitting those words were. I didn’t know this child’s name, or anything else besides what I could observe, standing beside that crib. But I didn’t need to. This child was known and loved intimately by the Good shepherd who gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart (Isaiah 40:11). I knew that the indescribable love that I felt flooding through me for this unknown child was not mine, and I felt privileged to be an extension of Jesus, holding that hand and singing the words that He wanted to be sung to that child. I think that my words were understood despite the barriers of language and physical disability.

“Who so happy as I am
Even now the Shepherds lamb
And when my short life is ended
By His angel hosts attended
He shall fold me to his breast
Ever in His arms to rest!”

As the last few words of the song escaped my lips, my friends began to call me, telling me that it was time to leave. I didn’t want to go, but I began to peel those little fingers off of mine. The child wouldn’t let go! I couldn’t believe that a child who looked so weak could have such a vice like grip. And those eyes, they were starting to bore into me. I gently tugged my hand away. Not ready to give up, the child’s hand closed around a fistful of my hair as I bent over the crib. One of the sisters had to come over to help me disentangle myself.

My encounter with this child had lasted for only about 3 minutes, but those 3 minutes were enough to make me a misfit. I turned and walked out of the door of that room entirely wrecked. That’s when everything changed for me. I knew that I would never be able to go back to my life as it was before. That little one’s grip had reached around not only my hand but my heart, and I still haven’t been able to pull away. Nearly a year later, I’ve found myself back in the Philippines, and back for good this time. I spend each day surrounded by abandoned and orphaned Filipino kids. I see things that horrify me often, but I also see beautiful examples of the tenderness and compassion of Jesus’ heart. I will forever be thankful for my 3 minutes with Jesus in the form of a child.

Caring for Your Own Heart

I've been reading this book called "Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge. I can't begin to tell you the healing that it is beginning to bring to some very shriveled and dead parts of my soul. I'm learning a lot about misconceptions we Christians have about our hearts or lies that the enemy feeds us in order to deaden our hearts. Read this:

"Above all else, guard your heart" (Prov 4:23). We usually hear this with a sense of "keep an aye on that heart of yours", in the way that you'd warn a deputy watching over some dangerous outlaw, or a bad dog the neighbors let run. "Don't let him out of your sight." Having so long believed our hearts are evil, we assume the warning is to keep us out of trouble. So we lock up our hearts and throw away the key, and then try to get on with living. But that isn't the Spirit of the command at all. It doesn't say guard your heart because it's criminal; it says guard your heart because it is the wellspring of your life, because it is a treasure, because everything else depends on it. How kind of God to give us this warning, like someone's entrusting to a friend something precious to him, with the words: "Be careful with this- it means a lot to me".

When was the last time that you took time to care for your heart? So many people I know seem to have neglected, broken hearts. Maybe you've simply ignored the needs of your heart. Maybe you've pushed out of your mind those seemingly unimportant things that your heart craved. Maybe you've thought "I'm OK, I'll make it. I just need to quit focusing on myself and work harder serving others, that will make my heart feel whole again". Or maybe you've turned to something else, something negative, to make your heart feel whole. Whatever your situation, I have a feeling that we are all brokenhearted, that we are all looking for something that will make us feel whole and alive again. Something outside of our own hearts. Here's another thought to chew on from John Eldredge's book:

“Caring for our own hearts isn't selfishness; it's how we begin to love. Yes, we care for our hearts for the sake of others. Does that sound like a contradiction? Not at all. What will you bring to others if your heart is empty, dried up, pinned down? Love is the point. And you can't love without your heart, and you can’t love well unless your heart is well. When it comes to the whole subject of loving others, you must know this: how you handle your heart is how you will handle theirs. This is the wisdom behind Jesus’ urging us to love others as we love ourselves. This would be a horrible command, if we hate ourselves or don’t care for ourselves”.

I could hardly believe the preceding paragraph when I read it. It makes sense, doesn't it? I'm sure we've all heard the saying "J.O.Y. = Jesus first, others second, and yourself last!". Hmmm, what's wrong with that idea? How are we going to love and serve others if our hearts are not full, if our hearts are not alive. I'm going to suggest a change. Go to Jesus first. Let Him heal and restore and fill your heart to overflowing. As much time and effort and pain and work as it takes- take care of your heart. THEN, and only then, will you be able to live and love others abundantly.