It's Time

Two nights ago I listened to six wonderful women talk about their recent missions trip to Belgium. They were there working with an organization known as Breaking Chains. 

You know, Belgium… It’s snuggled in there between France and Germany, for those of you who are geographically challenged. The home of those tasty waffles and sex slaves?

Mmmm, waffles and sex sl… say what?

You read what I said. Sex Slaves. Women tricked, sold, or kidnapped and then shipped around the world where they are beaten, tortured, and forced to sell their bodies to anyone who wants to use them. And I don’t mean a few. Many of them have no papers or identification, so even if they could escape the nightmare they’re being forced to live twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, they have nowhere to go. They would likely be detained and deported, right back to where it all started.

But hey… that’s ‘over there’. We don’t need to talk about that.

So one of the ladies, a good friend and a beautiful, helpful soul I’ve had the pleasure to meet and get to know, showed me this article in the July issue of the “Oklahoma” magazine.

You know, Oklahoma. It’s snuggled right here in between Texas and Missouri. Part of the famous Route 66? You might have heard about our little basketball team that thundered through this past season…?

Anyway, according to the magazine, “An FBI report states that it is well known among truck drivers that if you want good barbecue, go to Kansas City, and if you want young girls, go to Oklahoma City.”

Those ‘young girls’ they’re speaking of, are some of the one hundred thousand who “will enter the sex trade yearly. The average age of a prostitute is 14-years-old. The average entry age is 12.”

So, after they’re done sharing with us about how, when these women… these victims… were done with the few precious moments they had to spend bonding, singing, and praying, they had to go back to ‘work’. There was no escape, no freedom. Can you imagine how hard that must have been for all of them? 

Afterwards, another friend and one of the women who had been on the trip told me how she cried for two days after she got back.

And then I wanted to cry.

Barely able to breath, I drove home. I usually take I-44 – it runs right past my apartment. It lays about 300 feet away from my door. I can hear cars and trucks racing by now as I type this.

“Oklahoma with its three main major interstate highways – I-35, I-40 and I-44 – provides a pipeline out of Texas running to all ports north, east and west, a crossroads for human trafficking.”

“In early 2012, Oklahoma police and federal agents busted a major sex trafficking ring operating out of homes and apartment buildings in Oklahoma City and Tulsa”

I don’t know about you, but every time I think about it, every time I hear the sound of a car go by now, I wonder… and then I get a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. It hasn’t been easy sleeping either. 

And it shouldn’t be.

But hey, that’s Oklahoma, right?

“The U.S. State Department lists America as the number one destination for human trafficking, especially of children. California, New York, Texas and Oklahoma top the list of states most active.”

There’s that sick feeling again.  I’ve lived in three of the four of those states, and was within an hour’s drive of the fourth. I didn’t know… I didn’t want to know.

“Worldwide estimates are that 27 million men, women and children are in slavery at any given time. Human trafficking, defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services through use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery, is a $32 billion industry, second only to drugs as the largest criminal activity in the world.”

But you don’t want to hear about that do you? I mean, it’s been going on for years and years, and what have we… what have I done about it? Besides, you can read the article for yourself here:

http://www.okmag.com/July-2012/Skin-Trade/

But that is literally just the tip of the iceberg.

Listen… or in this case, read. I could go on quoting about a dozen sites I’ve come across in the past two days as I tried to find a way to write this, but would it matter? The fact that you’re reading this means you have access to the internet in some form or another, so if you have one iota of curiosity, if you have any semblance of compassion for your fellow human beings, take just five minutes and do a search for human trafficking. I warn you though; be prepared.

If you need a start, go here: http://www.oathcoalition.com/

They’re based out of Oklahoma, but they have links to a lot of other sites like http://www.slaverymap.org/

They have a map that shows locations and details on various types of human trafficking that have been discovered, and their outcome. You might be surprised how close to your home… your backyard where your children, nieces, nephes, and grandchildren play… this is.

But, should you not have the will to go look for yourself, then I implore you to read on.

It is easy to say this isn’t my – or your – problem. It’s easy to say… but I would be lying. This isn’t an issue of race or immigration law, politics or religion. This is an issue of Humanity. This is a disease, and one that is out of control. Sure, it might run its course and die out. But that’s naive. Odds are, much like all the other things that we as a species have done, we’ve ignored the bully, the pimp, the ‘bad guy’ who, through our chosen ignorance and unwillingness to be the stewards of the planet we should be, have used every convenience we perceive as a benefit to perform these heinous atrocities right in front of us. Not behind our backs, not in the alley or the open field. Look outside your window… these slaves are out there right now, being beaten, tortured, raped. Some are killed for foolishly believing they could escaped, and their death isn’t swift, because they can be used as an example to others.

It doesn’t start by accident, either. People with a purpose plan this out in precise detail, and they know exactly what to do and say to play on our fears, our needs, our wants, and before we know what has happened, those rights we believe we deserve, that we claim are being taken away, really are. There’s no calling in sick to work because you feel like playing hooky, no surfing the internet for more LOL Catz or Youtube videos in the wee hours of the morning. You’re forced into hellish living conditions, given barely anything to eat, forced to work endlessly, and if you speak out, don’t meet working expectations, try to leave.. Well, the day doesn’t end with complaining to your Facebook friends about what a sucky day you’ve had so you can reap their sympathy as you lament the awfulness of your daily life.

But maybe this isn’t hitting home for you. Maybe your more worried about your home life, your job, your car. Maybe your kids are driving you nuts and no matter how hard you try, you just can’t communicate to them what is you want them to do. To that I say this – Find a way. Get in their lives, find out who their friends are, find out what they’re posting online and who they are talking to. Tell them and show them you love them and how much every second of every day. If you think they’re too young to go out unsupervised, don’t let them. These people are experts at what they do, and they know how to communicate with your kids better than you. 

Before you can ask what happened, they’ll be gone. Maybe, just maybe they’ll be found or they’ll come home. 

Or maybe they won’t.

You might wonder why I am bothering. I could post a link and be done with it. Maybe I am doing this because it’s the Christian thing to do. Well duh. But it is more than that. It is so much more than that. There’s a lot of things in this world that make me ill, but I’ve managed to reason away my ability to do anything for years. Yes, I’m commanded to love others, but the commandment alone won’t make me love anyone or care what happens to them. I could point to the resolution I signed a few months ago, wherein I swore before God and my church that “I will confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy”. I whole heartedly made that resolution, and if that was the only reason I had, it would be enough.

But the real reason is simply this. I have to. If I don't say something, do something, how can I live with myself?

Maybe you want to ask, “Why would God let this happen?” and to that I have an answer, and it’s so obvious, I feel silly for having to say it. I’m paraphrasing a man by the name of Dave Roever who spoke at my church not long ago, but it goes something like this; 

God didn’t get us into this. We did.

We can ask God for His help, and he will give it, but we have to do our part. We have to act, and He will give all of us the strength we need to persevere, the mercy we need to pull us up when we’ve fallen and feel we can't go on, and the healing we – and the victims of this mess – need once the battle is over.

And for those who don’t believe in Christ, God, or anything but yourself? Then it falls squarely on your shoulders too. You don’t get a pass just because you don’t believe in something higher than yourself. In fact, if you are your own god, it is still your life and your world, and you’re part of it is waiting for you to act.

To let it happen when we have knowledge of it is horrifying. What does that say about us as human beings?

There’s no middle ground here. There’s no fence straddling. You’re either in or you’re out, and the only person you have to face in the mirror is yourself.

It’s estimated there are 27 million people that are slaves right now, all around the world, and there’s more added to the list every 30 seconds. Tomorrow, some of them will be dead. More of them will wish they were.

Where will you be?

Perhaps this one seems too big. Perhaps you feel there is nothing you can do. The only thing I’m asking for is your voice, whether it is vocal, written, sign language, or even rude gestures. Whatever it takes to get the message out there will at least be one more voice. And you never know – that one person you tell, may put them in a position to help one of these people, one of these human beings, out of a life of torment and depravity. Your voice may be the one that tips the scales in their favor. Your voice may be the one they hear when an opportunity to escape presents itself, and your voice may be the one that comforts them when they can’t. Your voice may be the only chance they have to survive.

First off pray. If you don’t feel you have the strength to do anything, or perhaps you just lack the will, then reach down deep inside you for every shred of emotion you have and pray for someone who does have the strength and the will to stand up in your place. Pray to whomever lifts your heart and hears your cries and ask them to motivate you and anyone else to do what is needed. Then, pray for those who don’t have the freedom you have, who need to find that light that is waiting to chase away the darkness from their lives and take away their pain.

Next, tell someone. Post a link, write an email, write your congressman, write the president, write your newspaper, television, radio stations and ask them to say something. Do something. If they refuse, then tell someone they refused and what it is they refused to do.

Next, love your children. Teach them. I don’t recommend scaring them to death, but they need to be aware just how important this is. Find out the signs to identify people in trouble. Most of the sites have lists of indicators and ask your kids if they know anyone who may be in trouble.

If you know someone who has a drug problem, do whatever you can to get them help. Some of these children are sold into slavery or forced into it by family members and friends who use them to get money for drugs. It’s insane, but you would be helping not just the kids, but the people they need most, too.

Last, Volunteer. Donate. Make or buy stickers and signs like the one’s on the Oath Coalition site and stick them everywhere someone will let you – on your car, bus stop, shop windows. Someone in need may see it, and while they may not be able to do anything with it, it tells them that they’re not alone and that someone out there is looking to help them.

Someone cares.

Beyond that… it’s in your hands. It’s a lot to take in, and if you’ve read this far, I applaud you. If you’re willing to take a stand, know you’re not alone. There are plenty of people who will stand beside you. 

And whether you believe in God or not, He believes in you. He is waiting for us to do what is right. You don’t have to do it for Him, but you should most definitely want to do it for them.