Today is National Awareness Day for Human Trafficking. Since two local news agencies ran stories on our church's efforts to fight the global slave trade, I went online to see the stories. Fox News provided links to a local task force working to stop human trafficking here in Charlotte. What?!
That's right. I was thinking (maybe you were, too!) that the problem of slavery or forced prostitution was an inter-national problem, not a national or local one. But I was wrong. Really wrong.
The fact is, the US is the second biggest destination for modern-day slaves. Most of them are women exploited for sex. Listen to this: "North Carolina has become one of the top states for human trafficking."
It turns out that the world's oldest profession doesn't pay very well, unless you're the slave-owner with the lock and key. And what can I do about it? I can start by gathering items for emergency supply bags that can be given to women who are rescued. And I can blog about it so that others will know, too. I'm not satisfied with that, but it's a start.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
a little too close to home
Dr. Carmen Imes is the Associate Professor of Old Testament at Biola University in La Mirada, CA, and serves the broader church through teaching, speaking, writing, and creating YouTube videos. She earned a PhD in Biblical Theology (Old Testament) from Wheaton College under Dr. Daniel Block, an MA in Biblical Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Charlotte), and a BA in Bible and Theology from Multnomah University. She and her husband, Daniel, served as missionaries with SIM 15 years. They have three children: Ana, Emma, and Easton.
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Sobering isn't it. I have heard that Oregon and specifically, Portland has a really high human trafficking problem too. So, how do we address those who keep these traffickers in business? Just how many people support this do you suppose? How can humanity treat one another like this? Really, really sobering.
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. I keep thinking about how both the victims and the perpetrators are broken people. I doubt that very many men wake up in the morning and hope to destroy someone that day. They, too, are searching for something to fill their inner emptiness and perhaps to heal their own sexual or relational brokenness. I am convinced that the answer lies in inner transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit. The road from here to there, though, probably depends on active law enforcement, severe penalties, safe aftercare homes for women, and intensive counseling for the sexually addicted.
ReplyDeleteEspecially saddening is the fact that so many of these women are displaced, don't speak English, and have no idea where to turn even if they could escape. Lord, teach us how to respond to this horrific problem.
Carmen thank you so much for posting this and creating awareness in the churches!
ReplyDeleteIt is so empowering for us who go down to the brothels and find these women to know that our brothers and sisters in the US are covering us in prayer!
Demand is the root of the problem and the inability to see God's image in a strange human being. I am thinking of Boaz confronted by a foreign woman and chose the road of justice rather than taking advantage of her. What a model! We need men support groups who will form a wall of resistance and help each other against this temptation.
Thank you for inspiring others!
Love,
Myrto from Athens
Thank YOU, Myrto, for giving us such a great example to follow!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Carmen