Will You Stand?

Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the United States.  I had an entire blog post, pre-written over the weekend and dedicated to this day, but I was really feeling like my post did not do justice to the abolitionist cause or to the millions of victims of modern day slavery.  So instead, I'll let these two facts speak for themselves and invite you to read and formulate your own opinion:

*Human trafficking is the second largest global organized crime today, generating over 31 million dollars annually.

*It is estimated that over 27 million people have been trafficked in just the 20th century. 

When we read the facts, it is easy to become overwhelmed with the large numbers of victims, and it is even easier to see them as a lump sum instead of individual victims.  But as long as there is just one victim of human trafficking, we need to keep working for justice.  There are three organizations that I would like to highlight for you to read about and get involved in, if you so desire.  They have even more facts and more information on their websites:

A21
Love146
International Justice Mission

We as Americans have been trained to feel like we are victims of injustice every day, but injustice in the Bible was a particular type of sin--an abuse of power, to take from people that which God intended for them--their life, their liberty, their dignity, and the fruit of their labors (Ecclesiastes 4:1).  God did not intend for us to hold our fellow men and women in slavery, but rather to do justly by them, to love mercy for them, and to walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8).

Will you stand with the victims of human trafficking?