my journey towards human trafficking

"The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed."  Isaiah 59: 15/16

 

In 2008, I watched a movie called “Taken” in which a man rescues his kidnapped daughter. I left the theatre with a heaviness that no other film had left me with before. People were being bought and sold (and many other atrocious things in between) against their will, in an industry controlled by those with immense power and no ounce of righteousness. The emotions that this film generated in me made me feel so uncomfortable, probably because I was aware that this issues was a reality. I was angry that people could be bought and sold as if mere commodities, for the pleasure of others. I was disgusted that people in high positions, with money, had the power to control ordinary people and administer such violence and cause such degradation. I was enraged that no one seemed able to or capable of stopping this and so I asked God what He was going to do to break down the ring of traffickers in the world. 

The first part of the answer came to me a few weeks later in my church in Johannesburg. We watched a DVD clip of Gary Haugen, the president of International Justice Mission (an international agency that rescues victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery, and oppression worldwide). He showed a few clips from successful rescue missions that IJM had been part of in different countries. The clip on human trafficking really caught my attention. I loved what he had to say about injustice. He asked: 

"What is God’s plan for justice in the world?

Us.

And there is no back-up plan."

 That really hit a chord in my heart. It echoed so much of what God was saying through Isaiah (Isaiah 59: 15/16 above). God expects us to act justly. He expects that we would look out for the exploited. He expects that we would stand up for the oppressed. In fact, so much so, that when He sees we’re not doing it, it surprises Him. 

And so, as I tried to wrap my mind around the ‘big solution’ to the ‘huge problem’, I became a little overwhelmed and started to question how individual people could make a difference and that I didn’t even know where to begin, let alone how or when. So I allowed the issue to move me, and I let it resonate in my heart. And then I left for Cape Town a few months later to do the six month church planting course with All Nations. After the completion of CPx, and while I was thinking through the possibility of joining All Nations full-time, I asked myself what I would be prepared to give my life up for. I revisited the whole issue of trafficking. I revisited the emotions that were stirred through the movie “Taken” and the solutions that Gary Haugen and IJM presented. Is this something that I would be prepared to give up my life for? To pour all my energy out into seeking justice and freedom for those who are stolen, held against their will, raped, beaten and much worse, for the sake of the callous and sadistic appetites of others? 

The second part of the answer was presented in the weeks after CPx when various people were coming to talk to the students about their ministries in the area. An organisation called “Justice [ACTS]” caught my attention. They are a network of believers working in practical ways to combat human trafficking in South Africa, and they are actively involved in the more “at risk” communities in Cape Town, South Africa. They have made a fantastic start by developing a training kit for primary schools which educates the most at risk individuals and communities. Now they are working equally hard at the next phases in which they seek to investigate trafficking rings, rescue trafficked people, put them in a place of safety, rehabilitate them and restore them. It just made so much sense for me to be part of this because of everything that had touched my heart over the past months. 

Justice [ACTs] now wants to meet the challenge that is presented with the coming World Cup in South Africa, in 2010. Apparently there is an increased demand for trafficked people at these events. There is a desperate need to mobilise people who can investigate what’s going on at ground level, record and document the information, be in communication with authorities and officials (who are not corrupt), rescue the trafficked individuals, place them in safety and do the follow-up work necessary to see them healthy and whole again. I am very interested in being part of this investigative team. There are times when I think the enormity of this problem is too much to overcome. And there are also times when I become overwhelmed about how God will provide for me while I devote myself to this task full-time.

I agree 100 % with Gary Haugen as he says that “hope is recovered when we realise that when God is passionate about getting it done, He is also responsible for getting it done.” 

So when I think about my practical/physical needs as I prepare to do volunteer/ missionary work with All Nations and Justice [ACTs], I hold onto these verses: 

"Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like flint, determined to do His will. And I know that I will not be put to shame. He who gives me justice is near." Isaiah 50: 7 – 8