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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The evil one, the wicked schemer, devises wicked plans against the poor, and he has been highly successful. Over half the world’s population is a slave of his plan.

“…the schemes of the schemer are evil; he devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks justice.” — Isaiah 32:7, NKJV

I can’t think of a more accurate description of poverty.

This wicked scheme called poverty has stolen hope, killed dreams and destroyed lives.

The enemy has spoken lying words to those caught in his scheme. He has told them they don’t matter. He has made them believe they are all alone in their suffering. He has deceived them into thinking their situation will never change. They no longer dream or aspire to anything better, because they have believed his lies.

Imagine, billions of souls caught in the greatest destructive plot in history! Who will help them? Who will save them?

Look at the next verse,

“But a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand.” — Isaiah 32:8, NKJV

The answer is us. Me, and you, and all who call themselves by the name of the Lord. The answer is generous people, devising generous plans. Those generous plans are the antidote to the schemes of the enemy.

Compassion is a generous plan. It exists to speak the truth into the lives of children who are enslaved by the enemy and his lies. It exists to bring light to their darkness, and hope to the hopelessness of his wicked scheme.

I’m also thinking about generous people who plan and pray and devise ways to help the poor.

The family who fasts a meal a week so they can sponsor a child. The student who bypasses a few lattes so she can feed the hungry. The church groups who pool their resources so they can make a difference. Those are generous plans.

It’s not an easy fight, and it takes sacrifice and humility and persistence. But just think what might happen if enough generous people decided to use their intelligence, skills and resources to devise enough generous plans! Maybe we could defeat the wicked scheme called poverty once and for all.

So what is your generous plan?

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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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