Slavery Today

Did you know that there are more slaves today (right now!) then all the slaves combined in the over 400 years of slave trade in ships from Africa?

There are a staggering 27 million slaves today.

80% are women
50% are children
Every minute 2 children are trafficked
The age of the average victim is getting younger and younger. Many victims found in brothels are as young as 5 years old. There has been ones found younger than that. . . .
This vile trade brings in 19 billion a year at low estimates, rivaling the illegal drug trade. It is about greed and money.

This injustice is up to us to stop. We must be God's hands and feet to rescue. Everyone is called to do something. The problem is huge, but our God is bigger and His heart breaks for every person He has created in His image that is abused and destroyed.

We all need to seek God to see what our part is to be. Some may be in intercession (including prayer walks), media, political awareness and working for justice in lawmaking. Others may be called to visit brothels to bring God's love and provision, even being part of undercover operations to rescue children. Some people's part is in law enforcement, speaking out, spreading the word, and giving money to fund efforts to free slaves and rehabilitate the abused. The perpetrators need rehabilitation too. I heard it taught by Patricia King recently that everyone who engages in sexual impurity feeds this monster of perversion and abuse around the world. 
"For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens." Ephesians 6:12

If we just allow ourselves to picture the little children, teens and women we know kidnapped and forced into this prison where many are forced to be abused by 20 men a day, then compassion will well up in us and we will be led to pray and take action.

Three non-profits that I know and trust that work tirelessly in stopping the sex trade and rescuing the abused are Kampuchea Kids, Cambodian Hope Organization  (both in Cambodia where many children are kidnapped and brought over the Thai border and viciously treated in brothels in Thailand, Malaysia, and surrounding areas),and trustworthy World Vision. This article from the World Vision website is a personal story of one's girls suffering and rescue.

The statistics I quote above are taken from For Their Tears I Died - Stories of Extreme Suffering and Extravagant Redemption in Human Trafficking and Social Injustice, by Patricia King, Michelle Perry and others.
Go let your light shine in the darkness!

New Name Love Name

A few Sundays ago our pastor spoke about how when we accept Christ, we wear His name. It's like we wear "Christ" on our chest. A few minutes later when I went into the nursery to pick up my girls, the Holy Spirit brought my eyes to the stickers stuck to their backs. Their new names were printed on them. Not their old ones that they were born with. Not the old life that they were born into with no father in poverty. No they have a daddy now that loves them so much he gave them his name to wear. The names we chose for them are blessing names, names that carry joy. Their birth names spoke of heaviness and grief.
What a picture of what Christ does for us when we accept Him. I get to wear His glorious, LOVE name.

Rwanda: God Places the Orphans in Families

I am overjoyed about hearing of the Rwanda adoption program just starting through All God's Children International. These children are victims of extreme poverty and most have been abandoned. Many are dropped in outhouses when they are born and saintly people rescue them and place them in bags in front of a St. Theresa's orphanage. The sweet nuns from India tirelessly love and care for these sweet innocent ones and nurse them sweetly back to health. There tough beginning makes the start of life very difficult but love is so powerful. All love comes from God. God bless these sweet women making this their life's work. Saving these precious children. More information can be found in this beautiful article: Rwanda's Orphans . Pray for these babies.

"Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world." James 1:27

"I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you." John 14:18

Must Read Books: Adoption and Orphans

This is not a big list (just two books), there are so many great books on this subject out there but I will share my absolute favorites. The MUST reads.

"The Strength of Mercy: Making a Difference in the World One Child at a Time" by Jan Beazely

link to book on Amazon

This is a beautiful true story of the first adoption from Romania that started the agency: (the one we went with to adopt our twins) All God's Children International. It is so beautiful and is such a perfect example of an adoption journey where God was the author and brought them through incredible odds. I have bought and recommended this book to friends and relatives and all say they could not put it down. I read it in an afternoon. It is inspiring and amazing.

"There is No Me Without You: One Women's Odyssey to Rescue her Country's Children" by Melissa Fay Greene

link to book on Amazon

This book is so wonderful that it is hard to describe. The subject is the orphans in Ethiopia caused mostly by the AIDS epidemic. The author brilliantly goes from micro to macro describing the personal lives of peoples involved and then the societal causes and political debacles that cause and effect such anguish. She focuses on what one person can do when they choose a life of love and sacrifice, even if the person is not perfect, just doing what is in their power in love. The writing is top notch which is a huge plus. I gained a vaster perspective on the world and a greater education on the issues that face our world. Most of all it enlarged my heart for the orphan and the suffering ones.