According to the United Nations, human trafficking is:

“the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”

When I was in Thailand working with an organization that rescues girls purchased from their families and sold into prostitution, I was unaware of this definition of human trafficking.

When I spoke with the girls, my heart broke at the hopelessness filling their hearts. They were owned. And their captivity was the only thing providing food for their impoverished families living hundreds of miles away.

I don’t like thinking about it because the hopelessness creeps back into my heart. It was one of the darkest places I have ever entered.

Each night, after immersing myself in the lives of these trafficked girls, talking to them, not having an idea about what to say, I went home and sobbed. I have never experienced anything so evil.

I could not, and cannot, possibly understand how one human being can exploit another like this.

How can I (and so many people I know) be so overwhelmed and so outraged about human trafficking and have it still exist in our world today?

Part of the answer is knowing God.

That sounds simple, but I think it’s why this verse in Genesis came to my mind when I heard that today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day (in the U.S.).

“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image.” — Genesis 9:6, ESV

The people in my life who know me best, know God … really well.

My husband is becoming an expert in all things Brianne. It probably helps that we live together ☺ but I think it is deeper than that. I know he talks to God about me. Which makes sense, because God made me.

I believe the same about my best friends. They talk to God about me too. And He tells them about me. He made me.

And the people who know Him and love Him look at me and see Him.

He made me in His image.

I think this verse came to mind not so much as a reminder of a law that God laid down several thousand years ago. I think this verse came to mind as a reminder that we are to deal lovingly with all human beings because “God made man is His own image.”

We can honor the children and human beings who are victims of human trafficking by committing to see every individual, every single human being, as a person made in God’s image. To truly treat other human beings with respect and to show love and mercy.

But how do we do that?

It’s just a matter of doing something.

Sponsor a child. Get involved with International Justice Mission, our partner in the 58: Alliance, or simply join us tonight at 7 p.m. MT for a Twitter chat with Zach Hunter, the teenage abolitionist and founder of Loose Change to Loosen Chains. (Follow the hashtag #cichats)

[1.12.12: If you missed out chat with Zach, here's a summary of how it played out.]

I believe human trafficking exists because someone looks at a child, a woman, a man and doesn’t see God’s image. And the consequences of that are grave and heartbreaking.

The second part of today’s One in Spirit devotional verse is quite fitting for today. Don’t you agree?

“We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” –- 2 Corinthians 4:10, NIV

As Zach says, “You are the someone. Today is the day.”

Especially today.

“Our world is a messed up place. People are hurting. Suffering is everywhere . . . . Where is the help?

. . . This morning when you woke up, there were people around the world and in your own community who were hoping that today might be the day. The day someone stepped in between slaves and their oppressors. The day relief from suffering begins. The day they could feed, clothe and educate their kids. The day someone showed kindness to them, or let them know they had value . . . .

Don’t wait for someone else. Don’t wait for someday. Because, YOU are the someone and TODAY is the day.”

– Zach Hunter

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As a new school year begins across the nation, students will once again take up their books to learn about the shameful history of the slave trade around the world.

The problem is that the slave trade is far from history. In fact, it is very much the shame of our world today.

Currently, more slaves exist than during the time of slave trade abolitionist William Wilberforce. But unlike in Wilberforce’s day, 80 percent of today’s slaves are women and girls; 50 percent are children.

Earlier this summer, the U.S. State Department came out with its Trafficking in Persons Report for 2011. The report created global concern as nations reacted to their “tier placements.” Most third world countries fell under “Tier 2,” a dubious designation reserved for nations whose governments don’t “fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA’s) minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.”

The report is no surprise to those of us who work to rid the world of extreme poverty. For instance, in the 26 developing nations where Compassion International serves, 19 were placed in the “Tier 2” category. An additional five nations where Compassion serves were on the “Tier 2 Watch List,” a group of “countries whose governments do not fully comply with the TVPA’s minimum standards, but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards,” according to the report. Only one of the 26 countries found itself in “Tier 1”—meaning it was fully compliant with the TVPA’s minimum standards.

Read the entire post at FoxNews.com

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Bagamoyo is a well-known place with a population of 228,967, located on the east coast of Tanzania facing the Indian Ocean. One of the things that mark the town of Bagamoyo is its famous slave trade history, which reached its climax at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

Culture

This area’s culture has been affected by the Arabs and the slave trade. Bagamoyo played a major role as a terminal for slaves who were captured from the mainland, shipped to Zanzibar’s major slave market, and subsequently sold to Arab countries and the Middle East.

Generally, people of Bagamoyo and the coast do not put much weight in work, as they associate hard work with slavery. After the abolition of the slave trade, this association developed and has contributed to the low economic level of the people. People of the coast love dancing and long parties.

A church used by the Catholic community in Bagamoyo

The slave trade was carried out for several centuries between the coast and the mainland, and this contributed much to the changing culture of Bagamoyo’s people. In Bagamoyo there are two types of people: descendants of slave owners and descendants of slaves. Agreeing or settling upon a marriage can be problematic if one of the spouses is from slavery lineage and the other is not.

Economic Activities

Subsistence farming and fishing are the major economic activities of the people of Bagamoyo. They grow rice, cassava and maize, but on a small scale.

People are involved in fishing and selling seashells to tourists who visit the town to learn about the historic slave trade.

Food Crisis Update

Bagamoyo and the coastal area in general have not been spared the escalation of food prices that has hit many areas in Tanzania. Insufficient rainfall during the last two farming seasons has resulted in a shortage in food harvested.

Bagamoyo is directly linked to Dar es Salaam, and any food fluctuation that has hit Dar es Salaam over the past two years has hit Bagamoyo also.

Families have had to adjust their meals when they cannot afford to buy what they used to buy previously. However, no child in our Child Sponsorship Program has gone hungry, and each child development center makes sure that at least every Saturday, the program day, the children get a balanced diet.

Local Issues

The cases of HIV/AIDS here have increased. With Dar es Salaam’s infection rate of 8.9 percent, well above the national rate of 5.8 percent, the influence and impact of this big city of more than 4 million people is directly felt in Bagamoyo, which is 66 kilometers away. Apart from HIV/AIDS, other common diseases are malaria and bilharzia (another parasitic disease).

Home Life

Most of the indigenous people have their houses built under the many mango trees planted in the area, typical to the Arab slave trade route. The houses are built with mud/soil and thatched roofs.

Schools and Education

There are several primary schools in Bagamoyo but, like many places in Tanzania, the schools lack enough teaching facilities. This makes the level of education low, and most primary school graduates do not go beyond that level. Young people are satisfied to engage in fishing.

Church and Religion

The church in Bagamoyo is still weak and needs to be empowered to make its presence felt in this Islamic-dominated area (more than 90 percent). However, the area is acquiring new churches as the result of a wave of revival in East Africa.

Since certain Muslim groups practice polygamous marriage, some women get married several times, and this increases the rate of child departures within Compassion-assisted centers.

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They’re called “throw-aways,” people whom the world has no use for. Children who don’t have anyone to feed them, youth with no identification papers, people with no options. So the world finds a use for them.

There are more slaves in the world today than there were in the entire trans-atlantic slave trade of the 1800s. Approximately 1.2 million children are trafficked each year into exploitive labor, such as agriculture work, prostitution, or child soldiers. 2 million children currently are forced to work as prostitutes.

When I first heard about this several years ago, I found it hard to believe. I was living in Amsterdam, and I’d walked many times down the narrow canals of the Red Light District, known for the prostitutes standing and advertising their wares in the windows.

It would make my skin prick to see the European and American businessmen grouped outside the windows in their button-ups and ties, jeering and leering at the women. Amsterdam is one of the destinations for young women trafficked into prostitution. Some of those women who keep the red lights burning in Amsterdam are slaves.

Around the world, the situation is bleak. In Asia, countries like India and Bangladesh and Burma and Thailand are from where many pimps get their wares. There are plenty of poor here, children no one would care or notice if they were to go missing. Little girls and boys whose parents can’t feed them, who are from minority races or tribes that aren’t valued in the larger society. The parents are offered money in exchange for their children. Sometimes the children are promised jobs working in restaurants or as maids. A better life. Many children aren’t sold, but kidnapped. As children walk, as they do each day, several miles to go to school or get water, they are an easy target.

Whether children are kidnapped or sold, some are then transported to brothels in big cities. They are abused and raped and sold as “companions” for western tourists over and over again.

Other children, in places like Africa, become soldiers, sex slaves of warriors, or workers in fields. I’d like to think that this only happens in faraway countries, but America is not exempt. Not only are American tourists some of the consumers of such “goods” abroad, human trafficking and sex slavery is alive and well in America.

What are we to do with the knowledge of such atrocities?

Abroad, Compassion promotes child advocacy. Country offices and projects promote advocacy and hold advocacy events to raise awareness of the value of children with parents and in the community.

For example, Compassion Honduras held events throughout the country this spring to educate children about their rights and how to respond to abuse and to educate parents, the church, the community, and local leaders about the value and rights of children.

When I first heard about these advocacy events, I didn’t really get it. Children are valuable — seems like a no-brainer, so why do we need an event to tell others that? But clearly not everyone knows and practices this message. Through community advocacy efforts, Compassion-assisted churches are bringing Christ’s message that children are infinitely valuable to transform communities.

Compassion International Asia has also developed a masters program in holistic child development to train and support those who work on the frontlines of children at risk, which is being implemented in seminaries throughout Asia.

At home, we can be child advocates ourselves, continuing to raise awareness of the needs and value of children in this country and abroad.

If you’re an American male, you can Take the Pledge to not participate in any way in the sex trade and protect the women and children around you.

If you want to learn more about human trafficking, visit International Justice Mission, one of Compassion’s ministry partners.

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That’s when it hit me. We are so blessed!

There my kids are eating chocolate chip cookies and cold milk with nothing on their mind but “I hope Dad forgets that we’re supposed to do nap time today.” While somewhere in a land far, far away from their minds (and mine most of the time) is a little girl Brooklyn’s same age working long hours of forced labor who has never had a day of cookies and milk in her whole life. Somewhere there is a child my daughter’s age (4) that will work harder today than I will and will go to sleep hungry tonight.

On our refrigerator at home there is a picture of our sponsored child. Her name is Heidi, and she lives in Bolivia. (Brooklyn thinks the little girl’s name is Bolivia.) We pray for Heidi often. We pray for her to have plenty to eat. Sponsoring Heidi is a great way for my wife and I to teach our children about others’ needs and how we can help by sharing.

Last Wednesday at Compassion’s chapel service I had the chance to hear a young man that truly grasps the power of sharing. Zach Hunter is a 16-year-old abolitionist who is giving his life to the cause of releasing slaves and giving them their God-given right to freedom. He has been speaking out against slavery since he was 11 years old.

I wonder how many students (or adults for that matter) have even thought about slavery today. Thanks to Zach Hunter at least 600 people thought about slavery that day in chapel and 500,000 more will think about it this year as he speaks to them.

As I studied Zach’s message I realized it is storming all around us, and for whatever reason God has given most of us in this country an umbrella. He didn’t give us an umbrella so that we would deny that it is storming. He gave us the umbrella to acknowledge the storm and share our umbrella with those who don’t have one.

Zach asked the question, “How do people in severe poverty know that God is good?” The only way they could know that is if God’s people share His goodness with those who have not experienced it.

It’s raining hard, Church. Share your umbrella.

(ed. – Bobby travels around the country preaching and using rap music as a ministry. Inspired by Zach’s Loose Change to Loosen Chains campaign, Bobby wrote It’s Not Over. He performed the song at our April 30 chapel. Bobby works in our Facilities department. He keeps the building from crashing down upon our heads.)

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