Thinking of you

So hard to believe the summer is winding down! Soon yellow buses will fill the streets, the air will become a little brisker, and football game marathons will be watched in our home! I hope you enjoyed your summer.

I try to exercise a few days a week, and usually I take my ipod with me. We have had a lot of computer issues recently so that battery is dead. I decided to take my mp3 player this week along with me, and I was in the middle of a run when the batteries ran out. Can't stand when that happens. I seem to think a lot more on how much further I have to go, and even the pain I may be experiencing at that given moment!

When the music went dead the Lord brought you to mind.

Y-O-U. If you are a listener of Abundance In Him radio program, a day does not go by that I am not praying for you, dear friend. I pray the living Word you hear will transmit from the airwaves and pierce your heart while the Holy Spirit ministers to you. Regardless of how you heard about this website / blog... perhaps you ended up here by "accident"; (I don't believe in those, by the way!) I am so thankful for you and I want you to know that I am praying for you.

I don't have a lot of time today, but I felt compelled to jump on here and let you know that you matter to me... I think of you often, I am so thankful for you, and it truly is an honor to serve you.

The horrors of human trafficking

This week began a two week series on Abundance In Him radio program devoted to human trafficking. The denomination that I am a member of has engaged in the moral crisis to end this modern day slavery, and I was asked to write a Bible Study to provide a Biblical and theological foundation for our involvement. Writing this study opened my eyes to a horrific reality that I was totally unprepared for. Brutal violence is at the core of this forced servitude and the personal testimonies from the survivors I read left me heavyhearted and speechless.

Consider these heartbreaking facts:

- Human trafficking is the second largest and fastest growing criminal industry in the world.

- Though the exact number of victims are unknown, experts estimate that there are 27 million victims captive to trafficking.

- Trafficking is not a problem only in remote corners of the world - the United Nations ranked the United States is one of the highest destinations victims are brought to.

- The FBI considers Northwest Ohio one of the top recruiting areas for underage prostitution.

- According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, 79% of the victims of trafficking are women and young girls forced into prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation. The remaining 18% are men and young boys in forced labor positions. A staggering 1.2 million children are affected by trafficking.

The Church cannot remain silent as millions are crying out.

Below is one testimony of how God changed my heart as I studied trafficking and how Scripture addresses this criminal activity taken from the study I wrote, Embracing An Aching Heart: Addressing the Horrors of Human Trafficking.

"When I began to read the personal testimonies of human trafficking survivors, I was beside myself. I could not get the individual testimonies of the victims out of my mind, and I thought about them all the time. My heart actually ached for these dear women and girls as I thought about and prayed for them. I soon came to the conclusion that I just could not read any more of their personal testimonies. They affected me too much (I reasoned) and I just couldn't take the emotional heaviness this brought. I further convinced myself that I could work more effectively on this study if I put all of this emotional heaviness aside, because their graphic and disturbing testimonies were a distraction. So I stopped reading the personal testimonies, and I disengaged myself as I continued to work.

This continued for one week, then the Holy Spirit's conviction came. The Holy Spirit began to show me that this had been a pattern in my life in the way I responded to the oppressed. Whether I was reading about the persecuted Church, starving children, or extreme poverty, I often stopped looking at their pictures or reading their stories when confronted with the intense pain and suffering of others. God showed me that this was a form of looking away. He began to impress upon me the reality that Jesus never looked away as a response to the oppressed, and neither should I. He also showed me that at times it is the most appropriate response to allow myself to experience the pain in my heart for the oppressed. This is what I have come to refer to as a "healthy heart ache." Choosing not to read their stories or look at their pictures would never change the reality of what those people were experiencing, and it would not change my heart toward them either.

I was so convicted at what God showed me. I began to read their stories again, and my healthy heart ache returned. Only this time, I embraced the aching heart rather than resisting it. This is how the title of this study came to be. I am convinced that Jesus Christ would have us embrace this ache towards the oppressed and not reject it.

I have often prayed and asked God to give me eyes to see other people as He does, and I've also asked Him to give me a heart that aches for the things that grieve His heart. I believe the ache I experience for trafficking victims is really an answer to prayer, a gift, when looked at from this perspective. May God keep my heart tender towards the oppressed, along with a sincere love for them. I pray He does the same for you, my friend.

"Keep on loving each other as brothers. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering" (Heb. 13:1,3).

Let us consider the above verse a personal challenge - and exhortation for you and me today." (Embracing An Aching Heart: Addressing the Horrors of Human Trafficking, Jennifer Brooks)