Photo: The A21 Campaign
There are few things that sicken and sadden me more than human trafficking. I think part of the reason I resonate so strongly with the wrongness of it is the calling God has laid on my heart. It's the same thing that motivates me to write this blog, love on my girl friends, and strive to truly love myself: we are beautiful, because He has called us beautiful, worthy, precious, and purchased. Human trafficking, especially the sex industry, violates and opposes all the worth Christ bestows upon us. These people are treated like items. Physical items to be used up and discarded. No recognition for their humanity. Their personhood. Their souls. From the instant they are taken, they are told that everything about them has no value. They are not precious, and they are worth nothing.
It's the stripping down of these beautiful, beloved people that sickens and angers me. It's what drove me to find an organization that not only provides rescue, safety, and words of worth to the survivors, but one that attacked the problem and brought justice against those who violate other people in such callous, sinful ways. This is why I love, support, and talk so much about the A21 campaign.
The A21 Campaign combats human trafficking in four different ways:
1) Prevention - They have an amazing curriculum that you can use to help educate friends, family, and potential victims in schools, orphanages, and universities. They also raise awareness through several different programs, including the A21 prevention and awareness program and the ShineHope human trafficking prevention program.
2) Protection - A21 works both through rescue with local law officials, FBI agents, and other government entities to save victims, and through restoration by providing safe houses where survivors can heal, physically and emotionally, as well as gain education and vocational training.
3) Prosecution - A21 provides legal counsel to survivors, and is actively involved in legislation that will provides further protection to survivors and consequences to perpetrators.
4) Partnerships - A21 works with enforcers who are rescuing and protecting survivors, and abolitionists (like you and me!) who want to make a difference.
If you're looking to get involved, they have an amazing 21 Ways to Help page that will get you started. Support, donate, and give what you have when you can. I have given my finances, my voice, and my time on different occasions throughout the years based on what God had given me to give. My encouragement to you is to give what you can, and get involved. We can make a difference. We're called to make a difference. Christ gives us freedom, then calls us to take that freedom into the world and set other captives free. I want that to be my legacy: that I used everything Christ gave me to extend His freedom to others.
What will your legacy be?
