Speaking Up

"Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31:8-9

These past few days have been especially busy with the humbling task of speaking about issues of injustice, particularly that of sex-trafficking.  It has been an equally burdensome and edifying task.  It has been a weighty, heavy-hearted and tearful labor wading through the daunting reality of modern day slavery.  Yet, it has also been a soul-satisfying time of worship of the One who sees, hears, knows and acts - our Great God who is mighty to save.  I thought I would share a few things from both the 20/20 conference breakout sessions from Saturday and the women's event at the seminary...

Live Skype with friends, Save Our Sisters: http://saveoursisterstoday.com/pages/who-we-are-11 

How did I get involved with this issue?  Two reasons: exposure and scriptural study.  My exposure came initially by two significant means.  First, a trip to SE Asia to see and hear about modern day slavery up close.  Second, through our own international adoption process.  The statistics of the unadopted were sobering.  In Ukraine, a majority of girls who transition out of orphanages end up being trafficked and a majority of boys end up in a life of crime.  Despite being a Christ-follower for several years, it really wasn't until my exposure to great injustice that I began to look deeper at the character of our God of justice and his call to do justice...

I. The Problem of Injustice (Psalm 10:2-11)

For the purpose of this blogpost, I'll focus particularly on the injustice of sex-trafficking.
What is sex-trafficking? As defined by federal law in the TVPA (Trafficking Victims Protection Act that was first enacted in 2000), sex-trafficking is "a commercial sex act... induced by force, fraud or coercion or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age."  A commercial sex act involves the giving or receiving of anything of value.

What does it look like and/or how does it happen?  Before describing a scenario, I think the psalmist in chapter 10 provides a vivid picture of the problem of injustice - which, simply defined, is an abuse of power...

In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul,
and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD.
In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him;
all his thoughts are, "There is no God."
His ways prosper at all times; your judgements are on high, out of his sight;
as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
He says in his heart, "I shall not be moved;
throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity."
His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;
under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
He sits in ambush in the villages;
in hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket;
he lurks that he may seize the poor;
he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.
He says in his heart,
"God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it."
Psalm 10:2-11 (*emphasis mine)

How does this scenario often play out in the world of sex-trafficking?  Girls between the ages of 12-14 (the average age of entry into prostitution) are targeted by traffickers.  These predators don't go after their prey openly but use various deceptive means to "draw them into their net." Often, an attractive girl connected to the predator serves as a go between to befriend the prospective victim.  Christian author, Francine Rivers, uses these words to further describe this scenario:

"The girl (predator's ally) will go into a mall and strike up a conversation with a girl, then begin an on-line friendship.  Facebook is a primary tool.  Girls love to chat and give out personal information.  A predator is after a child's secrets and many are shared on-line.  So the predator has easy access to the pre-and-early teen girl's inner thoughts, interests, schedule, friends, family problems, etc.  Parents check now and then, but a predator is actively watching and doing "finesse grooming."  They seek out girls who are from broken homes or in a crisis situation (a recent move, death in the family, argument with parents or siblings, rebelling against house rules, etc.) waiting for an opportunity to take the child captive.

"When the predator sees an opportunity, the "friend" invites the girl somewhere.  "I'm sorry your folks are on your case.  Why don't you come chill at my house for awhile"  If the girl shows up, it may be the last time the family ever sees her.  She will be broken immediately (raped and traumatized), moved out of the area within 24 hours, and put to work as a prostitute.  Some of these children are forced to have sex with more than 20 men a day....

"This is not just happening to girls.  Twenty-thirty percent of the sex-trafficked children are boys..."

A Few Additional Statistics:
- The U.S. Department of Justice reports that nearly 800,000 children go missing each year in the U.S. (NCMEC)
- 2 Million is the number of children exploited in the global sex trade each year (UNICEF, 2010)
- 100,000-300,000 is the number of prostituted children in the U.S. (www.csecworldcongress.org)
- 244,000 is the number of American children and youth estimated to be at risk of child sexual exploitation including commercial sexual exploitation (Estes&Weiner, 2001)
- 40-70% of street youth who engage, at least occasionally, in prostitution do so to meet their basic needs (Estes&Weiner, 2001)

John Stott writes,
"It is exceeding strange that any follower of Jesus Christ should ever have needed to ask whether social involvement was their concern."

Why don't people get involved?  Here are what I believe are the primary reasons why people don't get involved...  Ignorance.  Apathy.  Fear.  But the biggest reason I think people don't get involved in doing justice is despair.

C.S. Lewis writes,
"Despair is a greater sin than any of the sins that provoke it."
Despair has no place in the life of a Christ-follower.  Heartbreak, grief and empathy, sure.  Despair, no.  Despair by very definition is "the complete loss or absence of hope."

Why should people, believers in particular, get involved?  Two reasons: God's character and God's command.
God's Character...
Justice reflects to character of God.  Psalm 68:5 says,
Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation..."
Isaiah 61:8 says,
"For I the LORD love justice..."
Psalm 11:7 says,
"For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face."
Psalm 37:38 says,
"For the LORD loves justice..."
God's Command...
Isaiah 1:17 says,
"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."
Isaiah 58:6-7, 10
"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?... if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday."
Micah 6:8
"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?"
James 1:27
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
How do we seek justice?

Sharing briefly on injustice at SEBTS Women's Connecting Point: Project CAPTIVE

 II. A Prayer for Justice (Psalm 10:12-15)

After the psalmist laments the oppression of the afflicted and the perceived prosperity of the wicked, he asks the Lord to act...

Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.  

Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, 

"You will not call to account?"  But you do see, 

for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; 

to you the helpless commit himself;

 you have been the helper of the fatherless.  

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; 

call his wickedness to account till you find none.

Psalm 10:12-15 (*emphasis mine)

In her book, Deepening the Soul for Justice (which I highly recommend!), Bethany Hoang challenges,

"Seeking justice - bringing right order and exerting life-giving power to protect the vulnerable - does not begin at the threshold of abuse.  Seeking justice begins with seeking God."

How do we get involved?

First, seeking justice begins with seeking God through scripture and prayer.  Oh, how we underrate and undervalue prayer!  

Oswald Chambers says,

"We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense.  We pray when there's nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all.  Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don't want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because His idea of 'good time' is seldom in sync with ours."

Be reminded that God is always at work and He cares more than we ever could.  When the people of Israel were in bondage to Egypt and groaned because of their slavery in Exodus 2:23-25,

"Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.  And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.  God saw the people of Israel - and God knew."  This word "knew" communicates more than awareness of their situation, but an experiential knowledge.  

Just like God was with Moses and used him to bring his people out of bondage, God is with us and calls us to be a part of the work of justice. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."  God has given his bride - the church -  various gifts to be used for his glory.

How are we sustained in this pursuit?  By drawing near to, being grounded in and relying on our triune God who is "able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us..." (Ephesians 3:20)

Musical Worship led with sweet friends, Alex Britt and Meghan Hollis

III. A Proclamation (Psalm 10:16-18)

Seeking justice is a part of our worship.  Years ago I heard a definition of worship that stuck with me, largely because of its simplicity.  Worship is what holds your mind's attention and heart's affection.  How easy it is for us to worship idols - anything that exalts itself above the knowledge of our God - like self, others, possessions, and the list goes on...  May we pray as Paul prayed in Romans 12:1-2, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."  How are we transformed?  By truth and the power of the Holy Spirit.  May we "not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."  Let us proclaim truth like the psalmist did against evil in our broken world as we await our Savior's return...

The LORD is king forever and ever; 

the nations perish from his land.

O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted;

you will strengthen their heart; 

you will incline your ear

to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

Psalm 10:16-18 (*emphasis mine)

14 Things You Can Do Today to Fight Human Trafficking and Help Victims...

(borrowed and edited from www.theresurgence.com)

1. Be Informed - educate yourself

2. Be Prepared - recognize the signs and lovingly help

3. Share the Gospel - hope and healing are found solely in the person and work of Jesus Christ

4. Report It - Program this number in your phone: 1-888-3737-888

5. Spread the Word - bring awareness to your various spheres of influence

6. Join or Start a School Club 

7. Lean on Others - there are tons of resources available

8. Be a Careful Consumer - visit www.slaveryfootprint.org

9. Support Organizations  - I strongly recommend connecting with the International Justice Mission and visiting their website for multiple resources at www.ijm.org

10. Get Involved - through your local church or local anti-trafficking group

11. Fundraise - raise support for organizations... our www.idcraleigh.com youth are currently leading a Loose Change to Loosen Chains campaign

12.  Contact Your Local and State Representatives - be a voice for the voiceless and check out http://freedomcommons.ijm.org or www.polarisproject.org to connect with what's going on in your state

13. Write and Op-Ed for Your School or Local Paper 

14. Encourage Your Church - A brand new resource available to provide ideas on how to do this is Jim Martin's book, The Just Church: Becoming a Risk-Taking, Justice-Seeking, Disciple-Making Congregation.  Learn more at: http://www.thejustchurch.com