Human trafficking is a global
atrocity, which the Church in America largely avoids. The Church consequently
fails to administer biblical justice and mercy in an area of desperate need. Micah
6:8 says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require
of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your
God.” [1]
The book of Micah was written as a warning to Israel during a time of
unprecedented wealth, juxtaposed to unparalleled oppression of the poor and
failure of leadership to right injustice. The Church in America reflects this same
condition. I would like to be a “Micah” in the twenty-first century. I would
like to help call the church back to its biblical purpose as declared by Jesus.
In Matthew 23:23, Jesus declares “Woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have
neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.
These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” I want my life to
count for something…I want to do something about human trafficking. I want to
be a modern-day abolitionist.
Because of the disconnect between the
more affluent sector of society and the reality of human slavery, trafficking
remains a growing injustice in the world. According to a study conducted
by the Well-House, there are four times as many slaves in the world today as
there were in the year before the Civil War.[2] Slavery is an appalling reality, which we must
not turn a blind eye to. Human trafficking is a growing annual $32 billion
industry, second only to the drug market.[3] According
to recent statistics this market is soon to become the single largest criminal
industry in the world. According to the International Justice Mission over four
billion people live outside the protection of the law.[4]
For these disenfranchised children and adults the public justice system is
broken. The police and courts, which are supposed to protect them, are so
corrupt that there is nothing to shield them from oppression.
Bringing
justice to the world is an explicit command in God’s word. While, it is comfortable
to do things that are culturally inoffensive, that’s not what God’s word is
directing the church to do. God’s word
instructs us to seek justice and to do it. And one of the ways that we can pursue
justice is to fight for those who do not have a voice.
By
the time Zach Hunter was sixteen years old he had written two books that had a
profound impact on my life: “We Are Generation Change,” and “Be the Change,
Your Guide to Freeing Slaves and Changing the World.” Zach was young, but that
did not stop him from doing some very significant things for the Lord against
human trafficking. When Zach was twelve
he started an organization Loose Change to Loosen Chains (LC2LC). Zach wanted
to motivate teens to become involved in freeing slaves. I attempted to start an
LC2LC campaign at my homeschool co-op. An administrator said that some parents
might be offended by the discussion of human trafficking. Another parent said
their son would be uncomfortable on the campaign leadership team because of the
sexual content. Unfortunately, both labor and sex slavery is highly
objectionable but the Church must begin an open discussion.
Human trafficking is not just a condition that exists
elsewhere. Bill Lewis of the FBI said, “Sex trafficking is not something that
only happens outside of the United States, but victimizes Americans in our own
backyard.”[5] Sadly human trafficking really does exist in
our own backyard. According to national studies the largest human trafficking
thoroughfare is Interstate 20, which runs from Texas to South Carolina, and
straight through Birmingham.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to those
who are bound.”[6] Isaiah 61:1 clearly affirms that the Lord has sent us
into the world to help free those who are in both spiritual and physical slavery.
As an advocate for those without a voice, perhaps I will be blessed by seeing the
Church grow in its understanding of human trafficking and become a means of
rectifying the injustice of slavery. While this atrocity is overwhelming we are
still called into this task to help those who are entangled. While we are not
called to solve the problem, we are called to be obedient and to pursue
biblical justice and mercy. And He who calls is faithful.
--AnnaKatherine
[1]
Micah 6:8 English Standard Version
[2]
The Well-House is a private Christian Shelter in Birmingham, AL, which reaches
out to women and girls who have been hurt by human sex trafficking. It was
founded by a rescued victim. http://the-wellhouse.org/
[3]
United Nations Factsheet on Human Trafficking http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/UNVTF_fs_HT_EN.pdf
[4]
International Justice Mission is a “global organization that protects the poor
from violence in the developing world.”
[5]
Bill Lewis – Assistant Director FBI Los Angeles Field Office http://www.businessinsider.com/a-portrait-of-human-sex-trafficking-in-america-2014-8
[6]
Isaiah 61:1 English Standard Version
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