I woke up today knowing what I was going to post for this Justice Friday entry, it was on Human Trafficking. There are millions and millions of people trafficked into the sex trade and the work force in the world today. It is hard to imagine as it seems so far away and removed from all of us. For me today, I wanted to bring it a little closer to me so I began watching, for the second time, Human Trafficking a 2005 TV drama starring Donald Sutherland and Robert Carlyle. I say that I began watching it for the second time because the first time I couldn’t finish it, it was to hard to watch.
People who are trafficked are people like you and me who are expecting a better lives for themselves and in turn get their lives taken from them. The majority of humans who are trafficked are women and young girls who are trafficked for sexual exploitation. This I don’t understand, how can any man or women, made in the image of God himself sell an innocent person to a life of hell for profit? At what point can someone make that decision and how can they live with themselves? The thing is, human trafficking has been happening since time began. Joseph, in the bible, was sold into slavery by his brothers. The Egyptians were forced into slavery by Pharaoh, and it has been happening ever since.
Today my day started out great. I woke up early, lit some candles to stay warm, it was -30F out, and read my bible while drinking an amazing cup of coffee. Everything was right with the world. Then I switched pace and started thinking about this post and began watching the Human Trafficking movie. Suddenly all was not right with the world, suddenly I saw how F-ed up the world is. How warped and sick some people can be and how devastated and destroyed others lives become as a result. Today I challenge you not to forget those sold into slavery for the financial gain of another. Today I ask you to stop, take a moment and remember. Don’t just remember, pray. Don’t just pray, tell others. Today our prayers and actions can make a difference.
The best web site I have seen on this issue is a YWAM site, not being biased at all here. The site is called the Freedom Project and can be found here. Please take a moment and go over to their site and do some research and make yourself more aware. And if you want to sit down some time and watch a movie that will move you and bring you to places you don’t want to go then rent Human Trafficking. I am not sure if I can sit through the rest of it, but I have to. I am only watching it happen, others are living it daily.
To join in the discussion you can also go to the Do Justice Facebook page here. I would like this to be a place of sharing thoughts and ideas and prayers, please join and help us do more. Thank you.
I bought that movie Human Trafficking about 2 years ago and I couldn’t watch it the first time either. I’ve attempted to watch it a couple times but it breaks my heart every time I begin to watch. I have yet to watch it through. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one. Matt and I have talked about sitting and watching it through together…it’s very tough to watch, let alone have the knowledge that it’s not just a movie – it is what happens in the life of millions of females world wide. The new movie “Taken” brings awareness to the sex trade too. It’s worth a watch.
So many things contribute to the fact that Human Trafficking exists. Most of them are within our control:
– people would not sell themselves if they were not poor and yet there are enough resources to so that no one should be
– people would not demand prostitutes if they had fulfilling lives, let’s offer them some fulfillment
– we do not need to buy chocolate bars for $0.75, we could probably afford $1.25, or not to eat chocolate at all (I don’t think it is necessary for survival?!)
– education can help people to break through many barriers (educated people experience less poverty, have more understanding of the issues and dangers of the world)
However, the reality is that many people are still suffering from a problem, the problem of selfish desires. The kind of desires that forget that what they want may hurt or harm other people. This could be the people who are actually selling the slaves, to the people who are buying them, to the people who are sleeping with them, to the people who are buying chocolate. Selfishness creates so many problems!
Hey Phil…what does F-ed mean?
Hey, just want to give you a heads up that the Freedom Project website is changing its address soon. http://www.freedomprojectinternational.org is the new addy.
Glad you’re getting the info out! Thanks for referring people to our site.
Oh it is french, it means something is not doing very well. Thanks for asking and pardon my french.