Some of our staff recently returned from a trip to South East Asia to expand the work of justice. Below are some thoughts we wanted to share:
A neighboring nation of Thailand is so characterized by extreme poverty and government oppression that the people flee into Thailand by the thousands seeking some sort of safe haven. When they get to Thailand, as illegal refugees, they have no legal status to obtain employment, education or medical care. Often times they find themselves living in garbage dumps or squatter villages that they set up with any resources they can scrape together. These impoverished communities are a prime target for traffickers. They come in with all smiles and promise a “good job” or “education” for the children in a big city far away. Or the traffickers out right offer money for the child. The parents, wishing for the best, make a deal.
SOLD FOR $18
It is in this sort of situation that Little Girl found herself. The very afternoon she was due to be picked up by the traffickers and make the long journey to Bangkok she met some missionaries. The missionaries, upon talking with the girl’s mother, discovered that Little Girl had been sold, the mother had already received the full payment of $18 and the traffickers were due within a few hours. The missionaries begged the mother not to send the girl and offered to give her the money to repay the traffickers. The mother negotiated with the missionaries and for a mere $24 she agreed to let the missionaries take Little Girl to a safe place. As they drove away with Little Girl the traffickers pulled up to retrieve their purchase. Thus was the beginning of their safe house for children that are at risk of or have been sold into human trafficking. (While purchasing children from parents is not the most best way to fight trafficking, this story illustrates the urgency of the situation of millions of children). One evening, we were in the safe house with many children, staff and missionaries for a worship service. The children were leading us as we sang “How Great is Our God” in four different languages with these rescued children!
We were able to serve with this ministry and get to know these children. This is one of the many amazing ministries we were honored to serve while we were in Asia. And it is with these organizations that we desire to continue working as we stand up for hope, freedom and justice.
SOUTH EAST ASIA REVIEW
We were gone for a total of 15 days to Thailand, Burma and Cambodia. We visited and served with 14 ministries that are all working to combat human trafficking and / or reaching unreached peoples with the Gospel of Jesus. We taught in Bible schools & churches. We worked with orphanages & aftercare homes. We saw “the ugly” of human trafficking – where it starts, where it happens and where the victims end up. We also saw the overwhelming hope that comes when Jesus and the Word of God are brought to such darkness. That happens when we, the Church, show up. Pray for us as are we currently developing both long and short term strategies to work in South East Asia for the purpose of freedom, hope and justice! Thank you for your prayers, for your giving. More than ever, we see the importance of everyone working together and the whole Body of Christ taking action!
We are now a few weeks into 2012 and have a great start to the new year. Due to the generous support of the participants in 2011′s walk we were able to participate in Traffick Free’s S.O.A.P. (Saving Our Adolescents from Prostiution) right here in our own home town. Traffick Free arranged the outreach in which we (a group from all over the state, and Hope For Freedom Walk was honored to be a small part of that!) visited local motels, the new hub for sex trafficking, and donated boxes of soap labeled with a number to call for help for victims. It’s all about getting to where the victims are. Thank you for your partnership as we joined with others to bring hope to this area.
