Team Up, Gear Up: B.A.H.T.

Crazy that the bike ride ended two weeks ago. I wish slavery had ended then also.  But I do trust the Lord and and I know beyond a doubt that he used the ride, nightly speakers, blogs, media articles, etc. to further his kingdom and raise awareness on the modern-day slave trade.  People's eyes were opened to the reality that slaves exist in Mauritania, Sudan, Romania, Thailand, Peru, and gasp...the USA (to name a few).   

Below is a photo of the four bikers upon arriving at the Grand Canyon: Clay Massey (top), Eric Hanson (left), Eric Retterbush (middle) and me.

Reflecting back on the experience...what lesson did I glean from the ride?

Well, many. One being my outlook on 'obstacles' (see my blog 450 miles later...). Another being community. It was amazing to be back in a group of individuals who were united around a common purpose.  The double whammy here is that the goal pushed us all mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually.  It was a goal beyond each individual's own ability. We needed each other.  What made it even better was that the goal was beyond the team.  We needed God.  It was (and still is) a God-sized goal.  The abolition of the slave trade. Are you crazy? How can four random vagabonds end slavery? They can't. But God can.  And he can accomplish that goal however he wants.  

What? A carpenter from Nazareth who set the whole world free from spiritual bondage? Well, I guess if he want's to use four random vegabonds to set the world free from physical bondange, who am i to stop him. 

Thank you team - you were all great companions. Below: three of us posing for a pic during our first break of the ride.  Oh, Yarnell hill - 5 miles of grueling uphill...at the same time, 5 miles of 30mph down hill on the way back.  Crazy how one of the most challenging streches can also be one of the most rewarding! Life lesson #3? 

So, what now?

Continue to Learn.

Share what you Learn.

Be Creative and Pray.

Go and Be the Church.

Give.

Around 5:30 Monday (31^st) night, the ‘bikers against human trafficking' pulled into the Safeway parking lot in Sun City, AZ. 450 miles and 8 days earlier, four eager bikers (including myself) had embarked on a journey that would hopefully open American eyes to the harsh reality of modern-day slavery. Not only did the Lord challenge mindsets across the nation, but He used this journey to physically, mentally and spiritually tether me to Himself and the millions of individuals living in bondage. I loved this experience, but it wasn't all free of pain and frustration…

"Why, Lord," I yell into the 40 mile per hour winds. I was pedaling my little heart out to no avail. I think I was gaining negative ground. I look up from the road and see a dust tornado move across the plain. The dirt pelts my sun-scorched, wind-burnt face. My eyes brim with tears. "Lord, please take the wind away," I shout again as I begin to feel sorry for myself. Victimization sets in - a quick death of mental perseverance follows. My pedaling slows and I often contemplate quitting.

Yet, something inside of me fights against reality. It is not going down with out a battle. It pushes through the winds, up the hills and into the heart of the dust storm. "Why the wind, Lord? I am out here for you. I'm out here in the elements to raise awareness on human trafficking…to further your kingdom. Why are you against me? Take away the wind, Lord."

Instead of relief, a mighty gust pushes me into the road. I quickly recover and pull pack onto the shoulder, leaning into the wind. Then I hear a faint whisper as it blows past me on the breeze, "Stephanie, you can't fully embrace the adventure without fully embracing the obstacles that come along with it. True adventure is full of risk, character-building opportunities, strength-training, mental perseverance…it is not void of adversaries. It would not be an adventure if you did not face obstacles. If you follow Me, you will find yourself in situations that require you to lean on Me and depend on Me alone. Your strength lies in your weakness."

Honestly, I heard it, but I didn't like it. It didn't change my situation at all. I still felt like I had 20 strikes against me. I couldn't dig myself out. Heck, was I even covering 1 mile per hour?

Then girls' faces began to pop into my mind. I know that the bike ride and human trafficking are weak comparisons, but I do believe the Lord used that day to tether me tighter to these girls who are held against their will as sex slaves. Each girl has 20 strikes again her. She has no one cheering for her, only individuals digging her grave deeper and deeper into a hopeless hell-hole. Strike one - prostitutes are taboo. Strike two - people don't want to acknowledge that women are trafficked and held against their will. Strike three - the police are no help at all, in fact they help dig the grave deeper. Strike four - the girls are physically and mentally abused…fear is instilled to keep them in bondage. And the list could go on.

Another dust storm yanks my mind back to the road. My eyes water in an attempt to clear away the dirt and sand. I see the pace car in the distance. A retrieve from the wind. A symbol of hope. I see the end and I am going to make it.

Though I feel victimized by the wind, I am subjecting myself to this harsh reality. Perspective begins to settle in. In contrast, sex slaves are true victims. They are trafficked and sold into the grueling reality of being prostituted day and night. How often do they see the end? Does hope ever come into their view?

I pedal on. I scream at the Lord. I cry and I pray.

Happy Easter everyone!

This morning in church we sang the well-known hymn "Amazing Grace".  It struck a cord with my Spirit and I didn't want the song to end.  Though this song is an old favorite, many do not know it's background. 

Believe it or not, the writer, John Newton, was a former slave holder during the British Trans-Atlantic slave trade.  After years of transporting slaves from Africa to the New World, his conscience got the best of him and he quit the trade all together.  His later years were spent in a monestary.  Though he lived a solitary life-style, every second he was haunted by the ghosts of those who died while under his control.  Their faces would not leave his memory.

Eventually he started to go blind, until one day his sight left him altogether.  It was at this time that "Amazing Grace" was born.  I love the irony of the phrase "I was blind, but now I see"...though his earthly eyes were failing him, his spiritual sight was growing brighter with each day.  As John would dictact the stories of hundreds of slaves, a scribe would record each precious account... 

John Newton knew he was a sinner.  But he also knew the grace of God had set him free.  The blood of the lamb had washed him clean... 

So, he penned the following song that still reverberates around the world today...

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

It is my ferverent prayer that all experience God's grace in their life today.  Unexplainable freedom breaks the chains that once bound - both spiritually and physically. 

Please join this week (March 23-31st) as we honor the men and women who lost thier life while toiling under the chains of bondage...and for the millions of individuals who are - TODAY - still enslaved around the globe.  For the young women in Thailand who are sold as sex slaves, for the families in Pakistan who work day and night as bonded laborers in a brick kiln, and for the the children who are being sold right now in Haiti. 

Tonight, at 8pm CST, we kick off the nation-wide prayer call.  Everyone is welcome!  To call in, dial 1-218-486-1600 followed by the access code 472085#.  

Check out the bottom of the homepage for the speaker schedule.   

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Other than Mexico, Haiti was my first taste of the developing world.  My first experience in this country - the poorest the western hemisphere - was in 2003.  I returned in 2005 and would happily hop aboard a plane today that is headed for Port-au-Prince.  

Both times I worked with Mission of Hope which is located about hour northeast of the capital.  The Mission of Hope touches thousands of lives daily in Haiti through the Church of Hope, School of Hope, the Hope House Orphanage, Feed A Child program and through medical teams in the Hospital of Hope. 

The people of Haiti will always hold a special place in my heart.  I pray that HOPE will begin to penetrate into the lives of the rural poor, the city slum dwellers, the aristicratic rich and the people of power.  Haiti became a free country in 1791 when the sugar slaves revolted against the French.  Unfortunately, slavery is still very present today.  Restaveks - child slaves - are bought and sold on a daily basis.  Their childhood will consist of domestic labor and forced sex (if you are a girl).  Some restaveks remain in Haiti, while many accompany thier master to his/her home - which may be America...

Below is the beginning of a A Crime So Monstrous - a book about modern-day slavery that was just published March 11, 2008.  The first chapter is about the author's travels to Haiti and his experience with 'buying a slave'.  

The author, E. Benjamin Skinner will be sharing on Sun., March 30 at 8pm CST on our nightly conference call during the bike ride.  Please click here to read more about the ride. Hope you can tune in to hear him share in person! 

A Crime So Monstrous:
Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery
By E. Benjamin Skinner

Chapter 1: The Riches of the Poor

For our purposes, let's say that the center of the moral universe is in Room S-3800 of the UN Secretariat, Manhattan. From here, you are some five hours from being able to negotiate the sale, in broad daylight, of a healthy boy or girl. Your slave will come in any color you like, as Henry Ford said, as long as it's black. Maximum age: fifteen. He or she can be used for anything. Sex or domestic labor are the most frequent uses, but it's up to you.

Before you go, let's be clear on what you are buying. A slave is a human being who is forced to work through fraud or threat of violence for no pay beyond subsistence. Agreed? Good. You may have thought you missed your chance to own a slave. Maybe you imagined that slavery died along with the 360,000 Union soldiers whose blood fertilized the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment. Perhaps you assumed that there was meaning behind the dozen international conventions banning the slave trade, or that the deaths of 30 million people in world wars had spread freedom across the globe.

But you're in luck. By our mere definition, you are living at a time when there are more slaves than at any point in history. If you're going to buy one in five hours, however, you've really got to stop navel-gazing over things like law and the moral advance of humanity. Get a move on.

First, hail a taxi to JFK International Airport. If you choose the Queensboro Bridge to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the drive should take under an hour. With no baggage, you'll speed through security in time to make a direct flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Flying time: three hours....

To find out how Benjamin faired in Haiti, I highly recommend you continue reading Chapter 1 of A Crime so Montrous, click here. 

In the business world, it is known that supply and demand go hand in hand. Unfortunately, this is also true in the 'business' of human trafficking. The demand - whether for labor or sex - is on the rise; thus, the supply must also increase to satisfy this ugly appetite. In today's broken world, especially in third world countries, the demand has plenty of disposable, vulnerable, and poor men, women and children at its disposal.

Would the end of demand be the end of human trafficking?

 I don't think it's quite that simple because a lot of other factors are at play here - corruption, poverty, ignorance - but, I do think that ending the demand would significantly cripple this business that profits off human exploitation.

Please watch this video - End Demand - that was produced by Sharedhope International. They are passionate about the women and children that are feeding the supply pool - whether they were trafficked or victims of circumstance. This short, 2 min. video, not only describes this business, but will take you there visually. It will show you faces.

The last few days, media has been bringing this demand issue into the forefront. As I am sure many of you have heard, Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York was caught in a federal investigation involving a prostitution ring. Click here to read more about the general issue. I am not going to focus on this specific example, but I wanted to mention it. Below I have also posted an article that was just published in the New York Times. It was written by two experts in the field of human trafficking, so they are able to shed some light on what often lies behind the 'Pretty Women' syndrome that is veiling America's eyes.

We live in a broken world that requires 'brokeness' to heal it. What does this mean? I grew up ignorant to many realities found in this world, including the notion that people still live enslaved today. So, obviously, I did nothing to try to stop it. In fact, I didn't even know that anything needed to be stopped. But now I know...my heart is breaking and my spirit compels me to act!

God's heart breaks for his children that are living in bondage, and who are not given the opportunity to become who He has created them to be. As I was exposed to this truth/reality throughout SE Asia, God broke my heart for these girls...and even gave me a taste of sympathy for the johns (men who use the girls)...

Obviously, I am not a guy, nor am I stating that I know what goes on in the mind of a guy. But, erring on the side of mercy and grace, the Lord showed me that these men are searching (in the wrong places) to fill one of their deepest longings and desires - to be loved and to love. Unfortunately, in our fast paced society, we want 'it' now and tend to delay patience or endurance for instant gratification.

While combating human trafficking deals more with the surface manifestation of human desires gone awol. We also need to go deeper - into the souls of both men and women. And sometimes this take even more courage...

The Myth of the Victimless Crime
By MELISSA FARLEY and VICTOR MALAREK
March 12, 2008
Op-Ed Contributors
The New York Times

WHAT do we know about the woman Gov. Eliot Spitzer allegedly hired as a
prostitute? She was the one person he ignored in his apology. What is she
going through now? Is she in danger from organized crime because of what
she knows? Is anyone offering her legal counsel or alternatives to
prostitution?

"I'm here for a purpose," she said in a conversation with her booking agent
after meeting with Governor Spitzer, according to the affidavit of the
F.B.I agent who investigated the prostitution ring. "I know what my purpose
is. I'm not a ... moron, you know what I mean."

Her purpose, as a man who knew patiently explained, is "renting" out an
organ for 10 minutes. Men rent women through the Internet or by cellphone
as if they were renting a car. And now, in response to the news about
Governor Spitzer, pundits are wading into the age-old debates over whether
prostitution is a victimless crime or whether women are badly hurt in
prostitution no matter what they're paid.

Whose theory is it that prostitution is victimless? It's the men who buy
prostitutes who spew the myths that women choose prostitution, that they
get rich, that it's glamorous and that it turns women on.

But most women in prostitution, including those working for escort
services, have been sexually abused as children, studies show. Incest sets
young women up for prostitution ­ by letting them know what they're worth
and what's expected of them. Other forces that channel women into escort
prostitution are economic hardship and racism.

The Emperor's Club presented itself as an elite escort service. But aside
from charging more, it worked like any other prostitution business. The
pimps took their 50 percent cut. The Emperor's Club often required that the
women provide sex twice an hour. One woman who was wiretapped indicated

United States and Europe. The transport of women for prostitution was
masked by its description as "travel dates."

Telephone operators at the Emperor's Club criticized one of the women for
cutting sessions with buyers short so that she could pick up her children
at school. "As a general rule," one said, "girls with children tend to have
a little more baggage going on."

Whether the woman is in a hotel room or on a side street in someone's car,
whether she's trafficked from New York to Washington or from Mexico to
Florida or from the city to the suburbs, the experience of being
prostituted causes her immense psychological and physical harm. And it all
starts with the buyer.

Melissa Farley is the author of "Prostitution and Trafficking in Nevada:
Making the Connections." Victor Malarek is the author of "The Natashas:
Inside the New Global Sex Trade."

Since planning this bike ride, my mind has been lost in a maze of memories that takes me back to South East Thailand. Emotions creep back into my spirit as I look back over old journal entries…

(8/17/07) I just couldn't take it any longer. The Lord has been ripping my heart out of my chest ever since arriving in Thailand. I think that I cried more in the past week than the past few years combined. (I'm not a crier.) After spending a week in Bangkok, I headed up to Northern Thailand to work with the Karen Hilltribe. It is here, up in the mountains, that the spirit of intercession dropped on me like never before. The Lord's heart landed hard and heavy in my spirit and revelation broke open a floodgate of tears.

I ask the Lord, why does human trafficking (especially for the purpose of sex) bother me so much? Of course I know that it is morally wrong, but why does this specific issue ring louder than others?

The answer: Because it not only steals what we have, but WHO we were created to be. It tears us down at the root of our existence. The virtue that brought man and women into being - Love - is twisted and manipulated. Instead of edifying, it tears down and destroys. Men and women were created to live in perfect union with one another, not to use one another for personal gain.

Men have a heart to protect and rescue their lover. In general, women desire to be ‘rescued' in the sense that they long to be loved and wanted. As Genesis illustrates, women are the pinnacle of God's creation, His beautiful crown. I think deep down we are born knowing this; why else during childhood do girls often pretend to be princesses while boys are always trying to ‘save the day'.

The enemy is smart and uses these natural desires to divide and conquer. He will often whisper lies "Go on, you deserve her. Use your power," or "You're not worth it. Do you think you deserve real love?" Thus, our very identities are cheapened and love is used to satisfy selfish needs rather than to give oneself sacrificially.

One of the reasons prostitution and trafficking thrives in South East Asia is due to the value placed on women. Often times, due to Buddhism, women are view as things, mere property to be used as men desire. Let's look at Thailand for example. The saying goes, "To be Thai is to be Buddhist". How does this factor into the thriving sex industry in that country?

1) For the type of Buddhism practiced in Thailand, women are inferior to men and cannot attain enlightenment (the ultimate goal). Buddha even warned his disciples that women are impure, carnal, and corrupting.

2) Thai Buddhism also carries a central message of acceptance and resignation in the face of life's pain and suffering. Whatever happens is a person's fixed destiny, his or her karma. Thus, the pain of forced prostitution for many girls is accepted as part of life.

3) Since women can never achieve the highest level of karma, they are always in dept to their families. They are supposed to consider it a gift from their parents that they were fed and housed growing up. Now they owe their parents a lifetime of repayment. In order to support their parents, brothers and sister and children they often ‘choose' the life of a prostitute in a big city because it promises quick income; or they are sold for a couple thousand dollars by their parents. Unfortunately, these children often find themselves trafficked to a brothel and forced to service men day and night.

First and foremost, God created each human being to be loved…to be valued for WHO he/she is as an individual. I am an ‘ends' of love, and so are you. I am not created to solely to be the ‘means' of someone else's happiness. To be a recipient of love is not selfish. I first need to know that I am loved for who I am, before I can truly love those around me.

The Well, is one light in the darkness, that is reaching out to these girls in Bangkok. This organization provides not only a safe-house and an alternative way of earning money, but shares the truth with these girls that they were created to be loved. They are not things, but daughters of a Father in heaven who loves them. Please read One Flicker, a blog I wrote after a night out at the bars (while working with The Well).

For more information on the situation in Thailand and several other countries around the world, I recommend you read Disposable People by Kevin Bales. He is the world's leading expert on contemporary slavery and director of Free the Slaves.

In light of the upcoming bike-a-thon, here's a blog that I posted about 6 months ago while reaching out to the 'prostitutes' in the red-light district in Bangkok, Thailand.  I can still remember this night - the ugly truth of human trafficking became real.  I can no longer deny it's existance. 

(pre-face: We read about this hotel in a paper, thus went to check it out.  The organization, Nightlight, also does outreach here.  It is known to be a destination for women who are trafficked from Uzbekistan - a developing country just north of Afghanistan.  Most of the hotel bookings are by Arab men here on business.) 

There are two women sitting at the table in front of me. They are not even six feet away. Yet I feel like they are millions of miles away. I think that they are Uzbek women. I am pretty positive, but can not say without a doubt. I can not prove anything. I would say that I am about 95% sure that they are trafficked women from Uzbekistan.

I feel like an undercover agent. I feel the frustration. This operation is very tricky to prove ‘without a doubt'. It is visible, yet seems so far beyond my grasp. My passion is to see these women free. Not only free from physical harm, but free in Christ. Not only free from physical slavery, but spiritual bondage. This is the first time that I have seriously considered law school. Compassion for the women; Passion for their freedom. Not for my sake, but for those without a voice.

I am sipping on an iced latte, sitting at a coffee shop inside a hotel in the red light district. I can feel eyes on me. Eyes that I do not necessarily want. I want to understand the girls' pleas for help - however silent they may be. I want to understand the circumstance they find themselves in and the emotions that arise within their soul and spirit. I want to see the big picture so I can zero in. Ironically, the big picture is coming alive by studying the one.

She is puffing away on her cigarette. It's her second one in less than 15 minutes. She pours an alcohol shot into her cappuccino and takes a gulp. Her face is painted on…Is she still alive under that mask? She is conversing with another women. Sounds kind of like Russian, but I am not for sure. Her phone rings…

Who is calling her tonight? It is known that Uzbek women are trafficked to this hotel. According to a recent newspaper article, surrounding areas have recently been busted, so the operation digs even deeper underground. Some men prefer women other than Thai women. Supply and demand. I have been told that women sit around in the lobby…or coffee shop waiting for a call. Upon receiving a call, they head up to the room that requested her "presence".

And her phone just rang…

Some women are trafficked. Others, out of desperation, move into the city to sell themselves. They (their bodies)are all they have. So instead of ‘selling out' for the kingdom, they sell themselves to man. One falls prey to ignorance, the other to poverty. In both cases, the trap has been set and ‘the predator' is waiting to devour them whole.

Unless Jesus - through the Body - gets to them first…

"Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn't as bright as it could be." Rob Bell in Velvet Elvis

Tonight I am heading up to a remote village a few hours outside of Chaing Mai - a city in Northern Thailand. We are working alongside locals - sharing our hands and hearts with the village folk. I hope to meet the very girls (in their ‘natural' setting) whom I have met this past week in the bars. Please pray for us.Tra

Yesterday, someone forwarded me the link to this article on contemporary slavery in Mauritania, a country in Northwestern Africa.  It was written just last week.  I feel that this story is a perfect representative of how slavery is still able to thrive dispite laws that strickly prohibit it.  

When slavery existed one to two hundred years ago, there was no law protecting the freedom of each individual.  Today, about every country has national laws strickly prohibiting this practice, yet modern-day slavery still exists.  Why?

The written word needs to be practiced and enforced; unfortunately, corruption plagues the government and police force in many developing (and 'westernized') countries.  Abolition also comes up against years of tradition, culture and religion, as this article illustrates. 

I do not believe this should be a point of discouragement, but an opportunity to look at the reality many modern-day abolitionist are facing.  Lord, you are a just and righteous God.  Please open our heart, mind and spirit to your truth and love. 

Women laborers scrape for salt on the floor of an ancient lake in the remote Sahara Desert in Tichit, Mauritania, east of Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott, Nov. 20, 2000. (Clement Ntaye/Associated Press)

 Freedom's just another Word. (Contemporary slavery in Mauritania)                            February 29, 2008  By David Gutnick, The Sunday Edition

The night of Aug. 8, 2007, seemed like a night for celebration in Mauritania, a vast desert country on Africa's northwest coast. Radio, television and newspapers all proclaimed the end of slavery. Slave-owning was criminalized, and overnight, half a million people — a fifth of the country's population — were officially freed from bondage.

But there was a problem. Those half-million newly free people didn't own radios. They didn't own televisions. They can't read either. And the news — if they heard it — meant little anyway.

In Mauritania, despite good intentions and high-minded words, slavery is still thriving, as it has for 800 years. It is just taking new forms.

Dark-skinned men, women and children known as Haratine carry out orders under the threat of being beaten. They work as labourers and shepherds, as servants and cooks, as nursemaids and security guards. They are penniless and uneducated. Their masters are pale-skinned, Arab-speaking Moors.

The relationship is ancient, confusing and deeply entrenched, and it defines much of what goes on in this iron-rich, sandy country. Even the most modern and sophisticated of Mauritanians is caught in the tangled web.

My guide and interpreter, Mohamed-Sidi-Ali-François, is a computer teacher at an elite, American, private school in the capital city of Nouakchott. He is a tall, thin Moor in his mid-40s who studied at universities in Scotland and the United States. He's full of energy on the morning in late November 2007 when we meet...

The rest of this article can be found at http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/slavery/mauritania.html.  From this same link, you are also able to listen to the reporter and Mohamed as they are traveling throughout the country.  I highly recommend it.

"Defeating human trafficking is a great moral calling of our time," states Condoleezza Rice, U.S Secretary of State (TIP Report, 2007)."Together with our allies and friends, we will continue our efforts to bring this cruel practice to an end. Thank you for joining the new abolitionist movement. Together we can make a difference, and together we can build a safer, freer, and more prosperous world for all."

Two-hundred years ago, William Wilberforce was a light in the darkness. A voice that cried out "Abolition" on behalf of thousands of Africans who were being trafficked in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. His heart broke for those who were deemed no better than work animals…

"Africa, your sufferings have been the theme that has arrested and engaged my heart . . .Your sufferings no tongue can express, no language impart."  - William Wilberforce, Speech on a Motion for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, April 2, 1792

His Christian faith, mercy and justice, drove his endless campaign that led to the outlaw of British slavery in 1807.

So, if slavery no longer exists, what is Condoleezza Rice talking about when she stated in 2007 that "defeating human trafficking is a great moral calling of our time"?

Unfortunately, trafficking in persons is a booming trend - a new form of the global slave trade. According to what study you look at (FBI or ILO), it is estimated that the slave trade generates between $9.5-$32 billion in revenues each year. The extent of this criminal activity rivals drug trafficking and illegal arms trade. It is also estimated that 27 million individuals are living enslaved throughout the world today. Not only are men, women and children toiling in brick kilns and brothels in third world countries, but they are serving as domestic servants and sex slaves in our own backyard.

"Slavery…I didn't know about all these forms that existed. I think it's largely because we aren't expecting it. It is hidden. Generally people would not believe that it is possible under modern conditions. They would say, ‘No, I think you are making it all up,' because it is just too incredible…" Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Hull, UK, 1999

What exactly is human trafficking? According to the Trafficking in Persons Report (June 2007), it can be defined two ways: a). Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or  b). The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

In other words, if a person is considered to be a slave today, he or she is not free to pursue his or her own destiny, and he or she is subject to physical, mental and sexual coercion, violence and abuse by their ‘owner'.

                  What are some modern-day examples?

Child soldiers in Uganda

Families working in brick kilns in Pakistan, India and Nepal

Uzbekistan women trafficked to Bangkok as sex slaves

Poor, rural families sell their children, unknowingly, to sex traffickers for money

Ukraine women answer ads for nanny or modeling work and find themselves locked up in brothels throughout Western Europe

Thai women trafficked to LA and forced to work 16 hours for 70 cents a day in a lock-down ‘garment factory'

I know this is overwhelming, but so was the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Just like William Wilberforce, today thousands of men and women are crying out for justice and mercy. Over the next month, I want to highlight not only what modern-day abolitionists are doing to fight human trafficking, but I want to put names and faces to these statistics.

Each man, women and child who has been a victim of this crime has a face, a name and a story. These voices need to be heard. Yes, we do live in a fallen world that is plagued with hurt and destruction, but we serve a just and merciful God that heals and restores. He listens to the cry of his children. So let our voices ring out for all to hear…

Please visit http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/ and http://www.theamazingchange.com to find out how you can join the fight against slavery.

I recommend watching Amazing Grace, a movie about Wilberforce and the abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and reading the book Not For Sale:The Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight It by David Batstone.