The Sojourners Among Us
An opportunity to learn and respond
A friend recently informed me about the Human Trafficking Civil Forum that will soon be held at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest. The event will be held on Monday, January 11, 2010 at 7pm in Saddleback’s main auditorium. To attend the forum, you simply need to show up that evening (I would suggest arriving early). The guest speaker will be New York Times Op-Ed columnist, Nicholas Kristof. Kristof has written extensively on the issue of human trafficking, in addition to many other issues. He is most widely recognized for his investigative journalism on the current genocide in the Darfur region of the Sudan. Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, recently came out with a book entitled, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, which I would highly recommend reading. I think that this forum will be very informative and challenging. Whether it is during the forum, or during the conversations that follow, I hope that we can see more clear direction for our church’s engagement with this abolitionist work. I hope to see many of you there! Click here to access the Human Trafficking Civil Forum website.
The problem of myths
Myths have the potential to affect and even ruin the lives of people. One such myth has quickly found its way into Africa and other parts of the world. The myth has endangered, hurt, and even killed many young girls particularly in African countries, such as Zimbabwe and South Africa. Here is the myth: AIDS is curable if the infected person has sexual intercourse with a virgin. My question to you is, how do we make this myth stop spreading? Through some research, I discovered an organization called Girl Child Network (GCN). GCN works to protect the rights of young female children. One way that they have worked to protect the rights of young girls is to try and diminish the affects of the virgin cure myth. Teams of workers travelled around Zimbabwe acting out staged sex-myth plays/scenarios in front of large groups. Below, you can see one such worker with her “virgin-cure” myth t-shirt on. While GCN does not have any records or statistics stating the positive (or negative) affects of this campaign against such myths, it is still encouraging to see the organization trying to combat an obvious problem. Any ideas of other strategies to fight this deplorable and extremely false myth?
I am currently reading a book entitled, Just Generosity, by Ronald J. Sider. The focus of this book is on poverty in America and how he suggests that we should seek to overcome it. Even though it is a book primarily about poverty, Sider mentions many principles that can apply to other areas of injustice as well. In his chapter entitled, “A Biblical Foundation,” Sider looks at several different passages such as Psalm 10:15-18, Judges 5:11, and Micah 6:4 where he sees the idea of justice referring to deliverance and salvation. From these passages, he concludes that “Biblical justice does not mean we should merely help victims cope with oppression; it teaches us to remove it.” I would argue that International Justice Mission (IJM) is doing just this.
The staff of IJM is working on transforming the structure of the public justice systems in specific countries. While rescue operations and victim aftercare are current and pressing needs that they are working on, IJM is also seeking to prevent these horrible forms of oppression from ever happening in the first place. With functioning public justice systems and rule of law, IJM hopes to see the eradication of slavery in these countries. To learn more, watch the video above and let me know your thoughts.
On Sunday, November 15, from 7-9 pm, First Baptist Church of Norco will be screening International Justice Mission’s new documentary entitled, At the End of Slavery. This short trailer gives you an idea of what this documentary is about. As Christians, we are truly blessed to have legitimate Christian human rights organizations like IJM that we can look to in order to figure out how we can effectively combat injustices like human trafficking. Many of the victims that IJM is seeking justice for are sojourners within our midst. We must come alongside these people and love them as we were called to do. As Craig Blomberg explained in the quote below, in the midst of rescuing these girls and meeting people’s physical needs, we must help these people to understand that God is the only one who can ultimately save them from their oppression. Christian’s must learn to take this idea seriously and act upon it. Hope to see you all at the documentary screening!
Identifying victims of trafficking in your own back yard
In his informative and eye-opening book, Not for Sale, David Batstone explains that there are well over 100,000 people currently living enslaved in the United States of America. Many of these slaves live in our own backyards. Riverside County and Los Angeles County are two hot-spots for victims of human trafficking to be found. There are a couple of ways that you can help in rescuing these enslaved peoples and bringing justice to the perpetrators. First, keep your eyes open to the lives of your neighbors. If you ever see a teenager or a child that seems to be cooped up in the house and not allowed to go out much or go to school, there is a chance that this person is being held as a domestic slave. Second, keep an eye on your local massage parlors. Many times, young women and small girls are kept in these parlors to work as prostitutes. Look for parlors with entrances in the back or in poorly lit areas. Also, look for a consistent visit of men, especially men that seem to be middle to upper class. If you ever suspect that a person is being enslaved, don’t hesitate to call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and report it. The NHTRC is a national, toll-free hotline for the human trafficking field in the U.S. and is reached by calling 1-888-3737-888. For many more helpful tips on how to identify an enslaved person, click here. Make it a habit of being observant and aware of the happenings of your local community and/or city.
Videos | Remember Nhu
This is a great video introducing the people, and the work of the non-profit organization, Remember Nhu. The FBCN Thailand team this summer will be working with Remember Nhu. I would encourage you to watch this video by clicking on the link above. Also, please be praying for the staff of Remember Nhu, who are our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as for the children and young women that they have been able to take in and care for thus far.
Education…or the lack thereof
Getting an education is severely taken for granted by most children in the U.S.A. In fact, most kids would probably tell you that they wish they didn’t have to go to school. They would rather stay at home listening to the song, “I Don’t Want To Go To School” by The Naked Brothers Band. The irony here is mind-numbing. In this song, the young kids sing, “You can’t deny me of my freedom.” They don’t want to go to school because they just want to have fun. Little do these kids know, for most children around the world, education is a privilege. In many countries, families can only afford to send one child to school, if that. A male child will always be chosen over a female child. Without any sort of formal education, these young girls often end up in deplorable situations such as the sex slave trade. According to the Sold Project, one large factor in the trafficking of children is a lack of education. Prevent Human Trafficking is one organization that is looking at the root of the trafficking problem. Much of their focus lies on the idea of education. Please take the time to click on the links above to learn more about human trafficking and its connection to the lack of education in children.
Poverty: A fuel to slavery
According to the World Bank, almost 3 billion people, nearly half the population, live on less than $2.50 a day. This poverty drives people to do things that would otherwise have been unthinkable. A horrendous, yet common practice among impoverished families today is for parents to literally sell their children into the sex slave trade or into forced labor. The highest buyer receives “ownership” of children like the young girl pictured below. The absolute desperation these parents must feel is beyond me. Unfortunately, this is but one way that poverty leads to and fuels the slavery that we now see on the rise. To learn more about poverty and goals to overcome it, click here.
Slavery…in the 21st century
An estimated 27 million people enslaved today… This is the reality of 21st century life on this earth. From sex slavery to forced labor, people from all over the world are in physical bondage. Many of these people also happen to be sojourners who are in complete and utter bondage to their sin. How do we as Christians respond to such a horrific reality of our world? To begin with, it’s important for us to better understand the issue at hand. Click here to read articles about sex trafficking and forced labor, made available by the International Justice Mission.
Questions
“What’s the point?”
The focus of this blog is clearly displayed in the title, “The Sojourners Among Us.” In the Old Testament, the sojourners were those that were outside of the covenant, but were within Israel’s purview. In Deuteronomy 10:17-21, it becomes quite apparent that the people of God should value what God values; therefore, they are to love the sojourner. In today’s global society, the sojourners among us are many and I have decided to concentrate specifically on them. I will focus in on slavery and its causes and implications.
“Who’s it for?”
This blog is intended to be for other serious-minded Christians who want to think more critically about social issues. It should then press Christians to engage in thoughtful discussion of these issues and then to act upon these ideas. An overarching question for this entire blog will be, “As those who have been rescued out of darkness and given life in Jesus Christ, how do we think about and engage these social issues?”
