1/11/12

It's Human Trafficking Awareness Day

WILL THE SILENCE WAKE YOU? (Repost from 5/2011)

Just last night, the lights went out. The house grew dark and my crusade on a computer screen came to an abrupt end. The silence after the power outage was almost deafening. In our house, we all sleep with "sound machines" on (you know, the ones that sound like a fan running) and because we live next to a highway that's full of trucks by early morning, we keep them pretty loud. Since I was the only one still awake at a late hour, that's the murmur I was typing to...sound machines:) As I sat in a pitch-black-hush, I listened to see what would happen next. Not thirty seconds later, I began hearing a moan from the back room followed by panic. One kid awake. Minutes later, crying from another room. Two kids awake. Footsteps down the hall. Husband awake. Nearly all of us, now in search of light. We all ended up piling in one bed, where we were soon joined by kid number three. We talked and laughed. But when we stopped, we noticed how intensely quiet it was. That's when I said, "The silence woke everyone up!" and as soon as I said it, I knew it was golden.

You see, just the other day, I saw something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. It was a documentary film played at the International Film Festival that focused on the sex trafficking industry. It contained raw, heart-wrenching interviews and some hidden-camera footage taken by a very brave woman journalist. The name of the movie is "The Price of Sex" and I encourage you to see it if possible. I will warn you...it is not a Christian film. There are a few images and a few words that really could have been left out, but overall it was tastefully done considering the subject matter. And if you do go see it, you may want to take some tissues!

Even days after viewing the film, I still find myself trying to wrap my brain around the images I saw, the pain that I heard. It seems surreal and unimaginable that at this moment, there are literally MILLIONS of women, children, and even some men who are living evil's perverse nightmare. Truly, it makes me sick to my stomach...and outraged...that any human being can enslave another and think that it is permissible. Our daughters...sisters...mothers...brothers...uncles...aunts...nieces...nephews...friends...all over this world are trapped in rooms that have become literal prison cells of hopelessness, torment, and utter despair. And listen to this, out of the MILLIONS who are living this nightmare, only 1% percent ever manage to escape. ONE PERCENT.

What does this mean? It means simply this, those who are enslaved today have no voice. They are literally used and abused in SILENCE...in closed-off rooms...in dark basements...in filthy brothels all over this world...suffering, thinking no one cares and that they would be better off dead. Thus, it is my prayer that as you read this...

THEIR SILENCE BECOMES LOUD ENOUGH TO
JOLT YOU OUT OF YOUR SLUMBER (much like the story above)
  SO THAT YOU BECOME FULLY AWAKE AND AWARE
THAT THIS IS HAPPENING ALL AROUND US.

We cannot let this happen on our watch!!! Is this the legacy of our generation? Is this to be a part of what we will leave behind? God forbid.

Please watch the following videos and then scroll down to read about ways that you can begin to pray for SLAVES around the world.





You have a voice. 

Please use it to pray.

  • Pray for a worldwide awakening to this problem. An eyes-wide-open-we-will-not-allow-this-to-happen-on-our-watch kind of awakening!
  • Pray that the victims of human trafficking realize they are not alone and that they find hope in Jesus Christ.
  • Pray for those who work in the trafficking industry...that they experience a shocking slap of reality that somehow clearly shows them the evil they are committing. Pray that they can no longer stand to see women, men, and children abused.
  • Pray for the Lord to protect any who are being recruited (lied to/drugged) at this very moment.
  • Pray for governments to enact tougher laws against traffickers and all who help them.
  • Pray for an end to the high level corruption in governments around the world. Pray that they can no longer profit from allowing this crime to be committed.
  • Pray against the lust and greed that fuels the sex-trade industry in the first place.
  • Pray for organizations/non-profit agencies who are working feverishly on all aspects of this problem.
  • Pray for the abolition of slavery in our generation.
  • Pray that the Lord will continue to remind YOU to pray for His will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

May the silence forever remind you of those who have
no voice.


P.s. You can help fight trafficking by purchasing your own "BECAUSE" bracelet (pictured above) at The A21 Campaign. Click here -->Bracelet ($10)


For His glory,