So I have been back in Canada now for almost 4 months, I can't beleive how fast time has gone by. I just thought I would give a bit of an update on my life now and what God has been teaching me since I have been home. There have been a lot of big adjustments coming back and stepping out of the environment of YWAM and although it has been hard at times, I think I have adjusted well. Although I still don't know exactly what the next step is for my life, God has really been speaking into my heart on many issues. One issue in particular is that of human trafficking.
I think that this is something that God has been preparing my heart for, for many years now. For me, when I saw a young girl walking the streets of my hometown, I was heartbroken that they had to live that life. I remember when Iwas young and driving with my mom and we saw girls downtown at night and my mom told me that she was a prostitute. I didn't want to beleive her at the time because I thought that she looked like a normal girl and why would a normal girl be a prostitute! Now I have come to realize that most girls that work the streets are "normal" girls and many are there against their will. Before I went to YWAM in Australia I didn't realize how true that really was and how immense this issue of injustice really was...
My school leaders were incredibly passionate about the issue of human trafficking and gave us a lot of information and brought in a lot of guest speakers to share how different organizations are approaching this problem. Iam extremly grateful that my leaders decided to share these things with me and my classmates at DTS because I feel like God used that to speak a lot fo passion into my life. Coming back to Canada I felt like I couldn't just ignore everything that I had learned! Women and children are suffering all over the world and are being abused by traffickers.
For those who don't know what human trafficking is, it is modern day slavery and it is more profitable than ever! There are actually more slaves in the world right now than there has ever been before in human history! This was very hard for me to comprehend as I have never seen a slave before... at least not that I knew of. Modern day slavery is hidden, it has a new face. The sale of people is actually the third largest money making business in the criminal world only behind the drugs and arms trades. But human trafficking is growing rapildy and it won't be long before it takes the number one spot. 88% of victims of human trafficking are women. Some common forms of human trafficking include sweatshops, forced labour, debt bondage and sex trafficking. The last of these is the one that I have become really passionate about, especially when it concerns children. There are over 2 million children forced into the sex trade each year. These children are forced to have sex with mutliple adults everyday. These children are often sold into the brothels by their families. Traffickers offer to take the daughters to the city and get them a job in a restaurant or as a nanny or maid so the families willingly sell their daughters. Sometimes families will sell their daughters knowing full well that they are going to a brothel. It is unacceptable that this is happening all over the world!
So this is what I was faced with coming back to Canada. What can I do to make a difference in this massive worldwide promlem? Well God has showed me that you can start with little steps. I decided to get involved with an organization called Destiny Rescue that I worked with overseas when I did my outreach in Mozambique. Their goal it to rescue girls out of prostitution by going undercover into brothels. They also do prevention programs and run for homes for rescued girls as well as for at risk children. Check out their webiste: http://www.destinyrescue.aus/ Since being back in Canada I have become a bit a spokesperson for this cause and have presented to various groups and individuals. I have also met a lot of other people who are passionate about this cause as well and we have just started meeting together to make plans for holding awareness events.
For me, this is what I think it means to be a Christian. To ask God to break your heart for what breaks his and then be his hands. Faith is all about action, you can't have one without the other. I will leave you with 2 verses and a short video clip of Destiny Rescue and their 26 second challenge that I have been speaking on.
James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
James 2:14-17 "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
