Yesterday I “disappeared” from any social media to show what
it is like to have someone disappear from your life. Every day this happens….as a matter of fact one of my facebook
friends posted that her daughter had been missing since the day before. She was an honor student and had lots
of things she was involved in that were positive. She just disappeared with no trace. Sadly, this is happening more and more
in our country. And while what I
am going to state in this blog is not the situation for some of these
disappearances, for a huge number it is.
Human trafficking is becoming epidemic in our world. What is it? Human
trafficking is the
illegal trade of human
beings. It has been perpetrated mainly for the purposes of sexual slavery or forced labor; other purposes include extraction of organs
or tissues and even surrogacy and ova removal.
While we want to pretend that everything is fine in our little
world, it behooves us to realize that even in our communities this heinous
situation exists. There are
transport trucks passing us on interstates filled with victims of this
industry…and yes, it is an industry.
Big money. But there can
only be an industry where there are customers and that is a secondary purpose
of this blog. We have so taken
purity lightly that sexual appetites have gone wild. God set boundaries for His people but many have broken those
boundaries and we are reaping the devastation. Now, I am not saying that we, ourselves, have participated
in pornography or an illicit lifestyle, but not teaching or standing for purity
has caused a lethargy toward what is truly destroying many lives. Our uncomfortable feeling toward
standing against what God had deemed detrimental to our lives is showing what
can happen. The world would say it
is ok and that anyone who stands against such things is “old Fashioned” but the
ONE who made us knows what will destroy us. Not standing for values is the same as saying they
don’t matter.
So, how does this start?
It starts by letting loose of morals one step at a time…by accepting
them as normal and perhaps laughing at them. Once a sin is laughed at, it tends to no longer be looked
upon as a sin. (just watch the new
comedies on TV!) It is that first look at a magazine…or reading “that” book…or
watching “that” movie. Our
boundaries are eroded bit by bit.
For men, it might start with the computer until seeing sexual images
becomes an addiction…they then not only want to “see” but want to “experience”
and so on. I need not to go
farther with this…you get the idea.
The scripture says, “God gave them over to their evil desires” and we
are seeing the harvest. Many
innocent girls and boys are sacrificed for lusts needing to be satisfied and
the industry grows. We need to begin working on the cause and not just the effects. Begin standing for what is pure and wholesome and stand against the evil one.
So, what can we to do to fight what is already an epidemic? First of all, get your head out of the sand and see that this is truly
modern day slavery and it is happening right in your back yard. Secondly, educate yourself about who
these enslaved people are. Perhaps some are those missing girls you
hear about or perhaps the next time you get your pedicure, wonder if the woman at your feet is there by her own will or
by the force of others on her life. Let the Holy Spirit guide you. Thirdly, check out web-sites on human trafficking and spread the news. Lastly,
be aware and pray for a stop to this illegal trade. Mississippi has two bills right now concerning
this. Here is a plea from Sandra
Nash:
I received the following
from an attorney with the MS Attorney General's office in regard to the Human
Trafficking bill-- “I don’t think either the Senate or House has considered the
other chamber’s bills, yet. The house bill has been referred to Senate Jud B,
and the senate bill to House Jud. B. Continuing the phone calls expressing your
concerns regarding this issue is extremely important; we don’t want this to
fade from their radar….
During the session, when each chamber passes a bill, it must be
transmitted to the other chamber for consideration. The bills are then referred
to a committee. Our HB 673 has been referred to senate jud b, and SB 2719 has
been referred to house jud b. The deadline for these committees to act on the
bills is March 5th! The next deadline will be March 13th, which is the deadline
for floor action on these bills in each chamber. “
I found the names of the committee members and how to contact
them; I hope you will make some contacts and let them know we need to pass the
Trafficking Bill.
Members of House Judiciary B
Andy Gipson, Chairman; Kimberly Campbell Buck, Vice-Chairman
Members: Willie Bailey; Nick Bain; David Baria; Charles Busby;
Gary Chism; Dennis DeBar; Casey Eure; Jeffrey S. Guice; Joey Hood; Kevin Horan;
Timmy Ladner; Sherra Hillman Lane; Sam C. Mims, V; Alex Monsour; John L. Moore;
Brad A. Oberhousen; Ferr Smith; Greg Snowden; Tommy Taylor; Joseph L. Warren;
Jason White; Adrienne Wooten; Henry Zuber III
To find the phone number or e-mail address for the above
Representatives go to http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/members/hr_membs.xml
Members of Senate Judiciary, Division B
Hob Bryan, Chairman; Chris McDaniel, Vice-Chairman
Members: David Blount; Sally Doty; Angela Burks Hill; W. Briggs
Hopson III; Sampson Jackson II; Perry Lee; Derrick T. Simmons; Sean J. Tindell;
Gray Tollison; Giles Ward; Michael Watson; Brice Wiggins; J. P. Wilemon, Jr.
To find the phone number or e-mail address for the above
Senators go to http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/members/ss_membs.xml
Thank you for your help!
There has been some bits of good news! During the Super Bowl (one of the industries most profitable
weekends) women all over New Orleans were out on the streets fighting this
plague and just by telling others this exists great strides were made to help fight this evil.
I disappeared from Face book for one day. Some people missed me, I hope. But everyday children and women go missing and never show up
again. Often they are thrown out
after their usefulness is gone.
Pray for these. Pray for
those on the front lines fighting this.
Pray for yourself that you will not be so calloused that you do not
care. I will be back on face book…but
I will never take my freedom for granted.
God cares about this and so should we. Commit to pray for this and perhaps one day we can feel safe
again. Until then, watch, teach
your children God’s way but also teach them to stay safe and away from
strangers.
For more information, please check out the follow sites:
Also, if you are on Face Book and from the Jackson area, go “like”
·
Metro Advocates for Freedom
·
SWAT Ministries (Spiritual Warriors Against Trafficking)
1 comment:
Great blog. Here's a link to an article about what we can do about sex trafficking. http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/what-christians-do-about-modern-day-slavery
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