if only they knew their own worth.
xx
10.4.10
when will we hunger and thirst
This is something my heart aches for, and I want to share it with you. I read the book 'Not For Sale' by David Batstone a while back, even before I went to Cambodia. Then, actually going to SE Asia and seeing, firsthand, some of these things as a reality, it changed me completely. I hope this sparks something in you.
This book covers the despair of human trafficking. In it are the experiences of those who have suffered the trauma of human trafficking whether it be slavery, sexual exploitation or children forced into war. This book is both informative and tragically heartbreaking in it’s depiction of the exploitation of individuals, tormented and degraded day after day. This book doesn’t only tell the seemingly hopeless stories of the oppressed, as many books do, especially within the context of social justice. Often the purpose is to inform a general audience, but so often the last page is turned, the book is finished, and though the information was passed on, there is still no solution to the tragedies that burn upon the pages. ‘Not for Sale’ gives the reader both information, brutal honesty, therefore triggering emotion and passion within the reader to see change, and also provides ways for the reader to engage, to take action. It also testifies of the hope that many people have brought to those who are suffering. I found this book difficult to read, because of the brutal reality of the content, and yet inspiring to know that not all of these people are left alone in their suffering. There are activists out there bringing about change on their behalf, stepping out and standing up. It’s not easy or comfortable to be informed of the real world, outside of what I’m so used to. To learn about what goes on behind the scenes of massage parlours, strip joints, factories, villages, homes and restaurants is frightening to anyone, especially a sheltered girl such as myself. This book took me on a journey that has honestly changed my perspective on the extent and extremity of global trade. One of the main subjects that Batstone covers in ‘Not for Sale’ is sex trafficking. The vice president of the International Justice Mission described the serendipity involved in the investigation of sex trafficking: “Imagine yourself in a dark room. You stick out your hand to grab what you believe to be a snake, but you realize that you are actually holding the tail of an elephant.” (pg. 39) When I read this, it took me a few seconds to understand how that had any relevance to sex trafficking. But then I got it. I have to say this put a lot of things into perspective for me. I became overwhelmed with the enormity of this issue. For example, specialized travel agencies around the globe promote “exotic sexual adventures” with Asian women “who know how to please a man.” After sex tourists experience firsthand how easy it is to buy young girls, they frequently make their own arrangements for return visits. Thailand, in particular, has been branded internationally as a Disneyland for sexual escapades. A Bangkok-based children’s rights group has tracked the country’s boom in sexual tourism over the past two decades. Its research shows that 2 million foreigners visited the country in 1984, 4 million in 1988, and more than 11 million in 2003. Out of the total number of foreign visitors, roughly two thirds entering Thailand were unaccompanied men. In other words, about 7.3 million unaccompanied men visited the country in 2003. Certainly, not all of these men came as sexual tourists, but it’s a good bet that a significant percentage did. In fact, according to a survey of travel agents conducted by international aid agency World Vision, 65 percent of all tourists to Cambodia are men and one-fifth of them travel with the express purpose to have sex. (pg. 60) The demand is what disgusts me. Why is it that these men are so dissatisfied that they allow themselves to become animals in completely taking advantage of, and objectifying helpless human beings? Male clients from Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan drive the demand for young girls who are virgins. In these Asian cultures, sex with a virgin is perceived to bring good luck to a new business venture. Moreover, virgin girls pose less threat of exposure to sexually transmitted disease. The lucrative demand in virgins has created a niche market outside the usual channels for commercial sex--the bars, karaoke clubs, and brothels. A growing number of parents market their daughter’s virginity like an independent talent agent, selling her to the highest bidder for a one-time sexual experience once she reaches the age of twelve or thirteen. Clearly, Sexual tourism feeds the beast of sexual slavery. However, the majority of johns contributing to sexual slavery come from within the local population. “Foreigners are not the only ones who exploit our children…The real disease comes from within.” (Cambodia’s former Minister for Women’s Affairs. pg. 61) Particularly in Thailand and Cambodia, visiting a brothel is just a part of evening entertainment. A study showed that approximately 40 to 50 percent of local men pay for commercial sex on a night out. The wives/partners of these men reason that men have sexual needs and at least they will not be in pursuit of other eligible women who could potentially displace them. The way I see it, the sex trade isn’t just the sex trade. It’s a whole measure of deceit. It comes from multiple reference points, multiple needs, lies, misconceptions and worldviews that meet in the middle with the sex trade. These reference points, the roots of this mass issue must be addressed. The demand must come to an end. The process of enslavement involves five predictable elements: Recruitment--Traffickers target children most commonly from communities that lack social power, at times with the consent of the victims parents. Extraction--Traffickers remove recruits from their home community and shift them to a destination where they are unlikely to get support from law enforcement bodies or the general citizenry. Control--Slaveholders seek control over every aspect of the child’s life so that escape becomes unthinkable. Violence--Slaveholders exercise violence as a means to reinforce their control and ensure compliance. Exploitation--Slaveholders show slight regard for the physical or emotional health of the child in their pursuit of financial gain. (pg. 205-206)
This explains the prevalence and openness of sexual slavery in underdeveloped countries. Only on rare occasion will a trafficker abduct a child from a neighbourhood with any kind of social power. It’s too risky. A family from an empowered community is more apt to mobilize legal and political authorities to conduct an extensive search for an abducted child, and if caught, the prosecutors and their entire operation is placed at risk. Why would they risk everything if children are so easily available in powerless neighbourhoods? There is a huge desperation among people. That goes for everyone--from the oppressed to the oppressors themselves. The issue of slavery, in every dimension, is the outcome of an inner cry and pleading for something. This book really challenged me to see the big picture. The people in these stories have hurts, pains, fears, desires, passions, hungers and dreams. These horrific acts come from a place of pain. Poverty is often the root of oppression. For instance, parents struggling to feed their family of five might sell their daughter just so they can put food on the table. The value of that daughter is non existent to them. She is just another mouth that they can’t afford to feed--something taking up space in their already too small living quarters. Abolitionists fighting sex trafficking in both Southeast Asia and Latin America report that parents very commonly sell their children so they can make a home improvement or purchase some kind of consumer item, such as a car. New York Times reported that parents in Albania sold their children to traffickers so that they could buy a colour television. There is only deceit. There is only lust which promises all things but that which it can’t deliver. There is no value, there is no hope here, unless families are brought together by “the perfect bond of love“. One story that really touched me from this book is that of a lady in Peru who began taking children in off the streets. Out on the streets of Peru, these children are extremely vulnerable to every form of trafficking. ‘We often look at heroes and think, “I so admire who they are, but I could never do what they do.” The truth is that a heroic path usually begins with a humble act that opens a gate into a new universe.’ (pg. 199) Lucy Borja is the lady that started a program called Generacion in Peru. It all began with the humble act of making a space available for children to come in and hang out, rest, play, sleep, get off the streets. At the time, the president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, declared that the government would “cleanse” the city of street kids. The dead bodies of several children showed up in city parks shortly after, and many more went missing. The street kids reported to Lucy that police used brute intimidation against them, putting a gun to their heads and pulling the trigger on an empty chamber. Lucy met two young boys who were two frightened to spend another night on the streets, so she invited them to sleep in the Generacion office. She told them to extend the offer to any other child who shared their fears. When she arrived back at the office that evening, she counted over 600 children packed into the office space, sleeping. “I even found young kids snuggled tightly inside the cupboards where we stored our office supplies.”… “Stacked one against the other, asleep on the floor of my office, those children seemed so vulnerable. They had no one to be their advocate, to defend their rights, and I knew then what path I had to take.” And so her selfless endeavour began. She began a full-on organization designed to shelter street kids, give them vocational skills, education, morale, and food for their hungry stomachs. This story inspired me greatly. I want to be a change in the world. I love what the International Justice Mission does to make a difference. I love what World Vision does, and I love what individuals are currently working towards from the place of compassion deep within their hearts. I love that I can do something. I’m excited to take advantage of my access to power for the sake of the powerless. I live in a culture in which I have a voice. I can speak on behalf of those who can’t. The book of Ecclesiastes is one of the extraordinary pieces of ancient wisdom in literature. The oppression of the powerless is beautifully expressed, “I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. Look, the tears of the oppressed--with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power” (Eccles. 4:1) In the world today, 27 million individuals live as slaves. Frankly, power is on the side of the oppressors at the moment, but there is most definitely a wave of abolitionists on the rise. Something is happening. We will be the ones to wipe the tears of the oppressed. God is changing me, changing my heart, opening my eyes. He is working in this generation. He hears the cries of the people. God is a God of justice and He will rescue the oppressed. We need to be His hands and feet, a people who hunger and thirst for righteousness in all the earth.
This book covers the despair of human trafficking. In it are the experiences of those who have suffered the trauma of human trafficking whether it be slavery, sexual exploitation or children forced into war. This book is both informative and tragically heartbreaking in it’s depiction of the exploitation of individuals, tormented and degraded day after day. This book doesn’t only tell the seemingly hopeless stories of the oppressed, as many books do, especially within the context of social justice. Often the purpose is to inform a general audience, but so often the last page is turned, the book is finished, and though the information was passed on, there is still no solution to the tragedies that burn upon the pages. ‘Not for Sale’ gives the reader both information, brutal honesty, therefore triggering emotion and passion within the reader to see change, and also provides ways for the reader to engage, to take action. It also testifies of the hope that many people have brought to those who are suffering. I found this book difficult to read, because of the brutal reality of the content, and yet inspiring to know that not all of these people are left alone in their suffering. There are activists out there bringing about change on their behalf, stepping out and standing up. It’s not easy or comfortable to be informed of the real world, outside of what I’m so used to. To learn about what goes on behind the scenes of massage parlours, strip joints, factories, villages, homes and restaurants is frightening to anyone, especially a sheltered girl such as myself. This book took me on a journey that has honestly changed my perspective on the extent and extremity of global trade. One of the main subjects that Batstone covers in ‘Not for Sale’ is sex trafficking. The vice president of the International Justice Mission described the serendipity involved in the investigation of sex trafficking: “Imagine yourself in a dark room. You stick out your hand to grab what you believe to be a snake, but you realize that you are actually holding the tail of an elephant.” (pg. 39) When I read this, it took me a few seconds to understand how that had any relevance to sex trafficking. But then I got it. I have to say this put a lot of things into perspective for me. I became overwhelmed with the enormity of this issue. For example, specialized travel agencies around the globe promote “exotic sexual adventures” with Asian women “who know how to please a man.” After sex tourists experience firsthand how easy it is to buy young girls, they frequently make their own arrangements for return visits. Thailand, in particular, has been branded internationally as a Disneyland for sexual escapades. A Bangkok-based children’s rights group has tracked the country’s boom in sexual tourism over the past two decades. Its research shows that 2 million foreigners visited the country in 1984, 4 million in 1988, and more than 11 million in 2003. Out of the total number of foreign visitors, roughly two thirds entering Thailand were unaccompanied men. In other words, about 7.3 million unaccompanied men visited the country in 2003. Certainly, not all of these men came as sexual tourists, but it’s a good bet that a significant percentage did. In fact, according to a survey of travel agents conducted by international aid agency World Vision, 65 percent of all tourists to Cambodia are men and one-fifth of them travel with the express purpose to have sex. (pg. 60) The demand is what disgusts me. Why is it that these men are so dissatisfied that they allow themselves to become animals in completely taking advantage of, and objectifying helpless human beings? Male clients from Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan drive the demand for young girls who are virgins. In these Asian cultures, sex with a virgin is perceived to bring good luck to a new business venture. Moreover, virgin girls pose less threat of exposure to sexually transmitted disease. The lucrative demand in virgins has created a niche market outside the usual channels for commercial sex--the bars, karaoke clubs, and brothels. A growing number of parents market their daughter’s virginity like an independent talent agent, selling her to the highest bidder for a one-time sexual experience once she reaches the age of twelve or thirteen. Clearly, Sexual tourism feeds the beast of sexual slavery. However, the majority of johns contributing to sexual slavery come from within the local population. “Foreigners are not the only ones who exploit our children…The real disease comes from within.” (Cambodia’s former Minister for Women’s Affairs. pg. 61) Particularly in Thailand and Cambodia, visiting a brothel is just a part of evening entertainment. A study showed that approximately 40 to 50 percent of local men pay for commercial sex on a night out. The wives/partners of these men reason that men have sexual needs and at least they will not be in pursuit of other eligible women who could potentially displace them. The way I see it, the sex trade isn’t just the sex trade. It’s a whole measure of deceit. It comes from multiple reference points, multiple needs, lies, misconceptions and worldviews that meet in the middle with the sex trade. These reference points, the roots of this mass issue must be addressed. The demand must come to an end. The process of enslavement involves five predictable elements: Recruitment--Traffickers target children most commonly from communities that lack social power, at times with the consent of the victims parents. Extraction--Traffickers remove recruits from their home community and shift them to a destination where they are unlikely to get support from law enforcement bodies or the general citizenry. Control--Slaveholders seek control over every aspect of the child’s life so that escape becomes unthinkable. Violence--Slaveholders exercise violence as a means to reinforce their control and ensure compliance. Exploitation--Slaveholders show slight regard for the physical or emotional health of the child in their pursuit of financial gain. (pg. 205-206)
This explains the prevalence and openness of sexual slavery in underdeveloped countries. Only on rare occasion will a trafficker abduct a child from a neighbourhood with any kind of social power. It’s too risky. A family from an empowered community is more apt to mobilize legal and political authorities to conduct an extensive search for an abducted child, and if caught, the prosecutors and their entire operation is placed at risk. Why would they risk everything if children are so easily available in powerless neighbourhoods? There is a huge desperation among people. That goes for everyone--from the oppressed to the oppressors themselves. The issue of slavery, in every dimension, is the outcome of an inner cry and pleading for something. This book really challenged me to see the big picture. The people in these stories have hurts, pains, fears, desires, passions, hungers and dreams. These horrific acts come from a place of pain. Poverty is often the root of oppression. For instance, parents struggling to feed their family of five might sell their daughter just so they can put food on the table. The value of that daughter is non existent to them. She is just another mouth that they can’t afford to feed--something taking up space in their already too small living quarters. Abolitionists fighting sex trafficking in both Southeast Asia and Latin America report that parents very commonly sell their children so they can make a home improvement or purchase some kind of consumer item, such as a car. New York Times reported that parents in Albania sold their children to traffickers so that they could buy a colour television. There is only deceit. There is only lust which promises all things but that which it can’t deliver. There is no value, there is no hope here, unless families are brought together by “the perfect bond of love“. One story that really touched me from this book is that of a lady in Peru who began taking children in off the streets. Out on the streets of Peru, these children are extremely vulnerable to every form of trafficking. ‘We often look at heroes and think, “I so admire who they are, but I could never do what they do.” The truth is that a heroic path usually begins with a humble act that opens a gate into a new universe.’ (pg. 199) Lucy Borja is the lady that started a program called Generacion in Peru. It all began with the humble act of making a space available for children to come in and hang out, rest, play, sleep, get off the streets. At the time, the president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, declared that the government would “cleanse” the city of street kids. The dead bodies of several children showed up in city parks shortly after, and many more went missing. The street kids reported to Lucy that police used brute intimidation against them, putting a gun to their heads and pulling the trigger on an empty chamber. Lucy met two young boys who were two frightened to spend another night on the streets, so she invited them to sleep in the Generacion office. She told them to extend the offer to any other child who shared their fears. When she arrived back at the office that evening, she counted over 600 children packed into the office space, sleeping. “I even found young kids snuggled tightly inside the cupboards where we stored our office supplies.”… “Stacked one against the other, asleep on the floor of my office, those children seemed so vulnerable. They had no one to be their advocate, to defend their rights, and I knew then what path I had to take.” And so her selfless endeavour began. She began a full-on organization designed to shelter street kids, give them vocational skills, education, morale, and food for their hungry stomachs. This story inspired me greatly. I want to be a change in the world. I love what the International Justice Mission does to make a difference. I love what World Vision does, and I love what individuals are currently working towards from the place of compassion deep within their hearts. I love that I can do something. I’m excited to take advantage of my access to power for the sake of the powerless. I live in a culture in which I have a voice. I can speak on behalf of those who can’t. The book of Ecclesiastes is one of the extraordinary pieces of ancient wisdom in literature. The oppression of the powerless is beautifully expressed, “I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. Look, the tears of the oppressed--with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power” (Eccles. 4:1) In the world today, 27 million individuals live as slaves. Frankly, power is on the side of the oppressors at the moment, but there is most definitely a wave of abolitionists on the rise. Something is happening. We will be the ones to wipe the tears of the oppressed. God is changing me, changing my heart, opening my eyes. He is working in this generation. He hears the cries of the people. God is a God of justice and He will rescue the oppressed. We need to be His hands and feet, a people who hunger and thirst for righteousness in all the earth.
4.4.10
forever has been altered
Happy Easter!
I don't like to say that because it just seems like a stupid thing to say. That's not supposed to be offensive. But really, when Easter as a Christian holiday is looked at from the angle of it's origin, saying 'Happy Easter' means nothing. Jesus paid a huge price. He paid our ransom. He saved us from eternal and everlasting pain and suffering. He came to bring us hope, to change the course of history, to bring salt and light, and to bring the answer to every question. And here we are, saying 'Happy Easter' to each other in a grocery checkout line, as we buy chocolate bunnies and jellybeans for our friends. What the heck!!?
I'm just complaining about something pretty surface level. HOWEVER when it comes to the church, as the body of Christ, there is a sickening pretense that goes on during this time of the year. Sure, it's a good thing to take a day to stop and celebrate something so significant. But, as Christians, why would we need to do that if, everyday we wake up and give thanks from the very depths of our hearts for the price that Jesus Christ paid for our sins, for our lives, to give us the freedom that He has given?
I do think it's a good thing to take time out of our church schedules and specifically remind and recall the death and ressurrection of Jesus. Sometimes it gets lost in the stacks of other sermons being preached from the pulpit. And I do think that this is a minor issue--a needle in the haystack. Maybe I'm over analyzing the Easter holiday. Probably.
I just think that the reality of Jesus' pain and suffering, His sacrifice, God's love for His children, and His glorious ressurrection and the hope that He has graciously given us all, should be so much stronger than it is. It's almost like we're so thick headed and forgetful and can't remember to thank him so we need a calendar to help us along...
WHAT HE DID IS A BIG DEAL.
Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
John 10:10 Jesus said,
...I have come that you may have life and have it to the full!
1 Corinthians 15:55
O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?
Romans 5:12
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
I am forever thankful.
Eternity is upon Him.
He calls me to glory.
I don't like to say that because it just seems like a stupid thing to say. That's not supposed to be offensive. But really, when Easter as a Christian holiday is looked at from the angle of it's origin, saying 'Happy Easter' means nothing. Jesus paid a huge price. He paid our ransom. He saved us from eternal and everlasting pain and suffering. He came to bring us hope, to change the course of history, to bring salt and light, and to bring the answer to every question. And here we are, saying 'Happy Easter' to each other in a grocery checkout line, as we buy chocolate bunnies and jellybeans for our friends. What the heck!!?
I'm just complaining about something pretty surface level. HOWEVER when it comes to the church, as the body of Christ, there is a sickening pretense that goes on during this time of the year. Sure, it's a good thing to take a day to stop and celebrate something so significant. But, as Christians, why would we need to do that if, everyday we wake up and give thanks from the very depths of our hearts for the price that Jesus Christ paid for our sins, for our lives, to give us the freedom that He has given?
I do think it's a good thing to take time out of our church schedules and specifically remind and recall the death and ressurrection of Jesus. Sometimes it gets lost in the stacks of other sermons being preached from the pulpit. And I do think that this is a minor issue--a needle in the haystack. Maybe I'm over analyzing the Easter holiday. Probably.
I just think that the reality of Jesus' pain and suffering, His sacrifice, God's love for His children, and His glorious ressurrection and the hope that He has graciously given us all, should be so much stronger than it is. It's almost like we're so thick headed and forgetful and can't remember to thank him so we need a calendar to help us along...
WHAT HE DID IS A BIG DEAL.
Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
John 10:10 Jesus said,
...I have come that you may have life and have it to the full!
1 Corinthians 15:55
O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?
Romans 5:12
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
I am forever thankful.
Eternity is upon Him.
He calls me to glory.
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