I'm Angry--So I Googled.

Hey All,

I really did Google about my anger. You'll see in a minute.

Thank you for your prayers and support. God is moving in the lives of so many on campus here at Texas A&M. He is using organizations worldwide to share His love and to bring redemption and healing to places so dark and consumed by lies. I'm sure we sometimes would rather pretend these places didn't exist. Maybe we'd rather ignore them. Assume these dark acts only occur in far off places. Surely, surely they don't happen here. They couldn't happen in our own country, could they? It's not that common anyways, is it?

After the Nefarious screening, I became instantly burdened. The reality of the scope and magnitude of the problems regarding sex trafficking and its incredible correlation to prostitution can be easily disheartening

 Just to throw a few numbers and facts out to you:
--27 million people are currently enslaved
--88% of those are women and children (80% women, to be more specific)
--In Cambodia, as high as 90% of parents will sell one or more of their daughters to a pimp. 
--Prostitution is legalized in Amsterdam. LE-GAL-IZED.
--The international average age women enter into prostitution (or girls, depending on how you view them) is 13 to 14. This includes girls in the United States. 

In a slightly comforting way (though, nothing about the film made me very comfortable), many of the professionals interviewed regarding the emotions, damage, and overall effects of sex trafficking and prostitution were--you guessed it, Psychologists. These were professionals who "speak my language" and I instantly could frame the things they found to be true with the small amount of knowledge I've acquired about behavior and conditioning. Sparing the lecture and boring details; these women do not choose prostitution. They do not choose to be trafficked. Some, especially at young ages, do not know they are being trafficked. This is the only lifestyle they know. They have been psychologically broken and reshaped to believe that the relations between them and the "customer" constitutes love. Love. The beautiful language of our Creator. Tainted. Marred. Twisted. Force-fed to these women to make them willing. It's sickening. It's infuriating. It's the reason that, even after women leave prostitution, they may return to work because it is the only sense of normalcy they've ever known.

In the situation of trafficking, especially internationally, many of these women are from small towns. They are promised work, hope, and a way to earn money for their families. Some are sold by their parents. Some volunteer out of love for their families--thinking they will find a good job in the city. They are exploited, stripped of identity, and sold as many times as they can be deemed "useful". They are sold. Sold. SOLD. THESE WOMEN AND YOUNG GIRLS ARE SOLD. These women were made in HIS image. They are our sisters in Christ. They are beautiful and made to be loved; like every other woman. That beauty is poisoned. Used against them, to destroy any semblance they had of hope or of a brighter future. They are trapped in a body that is used like an object. They are left with the guilt, shame, pain, memories, nightmares, flashbacks, and emptiness. Make no mistake; these women are attacked. Physically, yes. Of course. But more than that. Spiritually. Their very souls are tormented by a life that is built on lies of the enemy. They are vulnerable and broken physically and emotionally by their traffickers or pimps or clients; what little hope they may have to hold on to is stomped out like a used match.

The only two things I can reconcile myself to understand at this point are that (1) The enemy is actively involved in the breaking and abuse of these women. In the way they learn to hate themselves and lose all sense of hope. In the way that these men feel the need to purchase women for fulfillment. In the lies the pimp or traffickers tells himself so that he can believe in his heart that it's just "good business". He is on the hunt for these women and would love nothing more than to destroy their hearts. (2) Our God is a healer. He is a redeemer. Regardless of the hopelessness and pain and bitter, hard, angry hearts that these women all share; He is greater. There is NOTHING, absolutely nothing that can separate these women from the love of Christ. There is NOTHING our God cannot do and no heart that He can't restore.

I've tried to write about this, specifically, several (maybe 5, 6, 7...) times already. The end result is usually me, frustrated, angry, and I end up in prayer and forget what "good takeaway" or "positive" there is to pull from all of this.(I do mean angry. Hands shaking, face red, had to Google "is it a sin to be angry with the Church for sitting idly by?" kind of angry...luckily righteous anger often moves us to action!) It took me a while to calm down enough to find words. It's understandable, given the nature of the acts done to these women. I pray, and ask you to pray, that God would use my passion to serve, help, and heal. Even if it's just one. That is one heart that can come to know the love and healing I know in my life. One woman or child rescued, one pimp that stops selling, one "John" that stops buying...that's where it starts. I humbly ask that you spend time in prayer for these women. There is a very real, nightmare of a spiritual battle being fought over these women. We can start with prayer, until God moves us to action. But please do consider, if you are called to action; don't run. Don't run from a calling because these numbers seem too big. Don't run  because you don't know where to start, how to help, or what to do. The Lord will direct your steps and guide your heart. There are people that think about doing; and there are people that do. Which will you be?