A Crime So Monstrous …
... is the title of a book by Ben Skinner, about human trafficking. And it's aptly named. From my blog over on God's Politics:
If there is one basic denigration of the image of God that lies in every human being, it is when he is treated as if he were not made in the image of God and forced into bonded labor, or when she is treated as if she had no value or dignity and made to offer her body for someone else to exploit and someone else to profit.
You can read the rest here: "Slavery is Alive and Well ... For Now." And if you live in the US, you can click through on the link to ask your members of Congress to take an important step to combating child slavery internationally by supporting the Child Protection Compact Act.
Human trafficking videos
Original post: July 30, 2009; repost: March 26, 2010. I thought I'd repost these to mark IJM's Global Prayer Gathering, which begins in two weeks.
Sex trafficking:
Nigeria - Italy
Nigeria - Denmark
Russia
Argentina
India
UN Office of Drugs and Crime PSA
MTV PSA, featuring the Killers - "Goodnight, Travel Well"
60-second version
Full-length version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzIxn9CjrDw&hl=en&fs=1&
Also: Sex trafficking in Nepal
Human trafficking in the products we buy:
MTV PSA, featuring Radiohead - "All I Need"
Links of the Day, January 11
It's Human Trafficking Awareness Day! Tell someone who doesn't know about the 27 million people trapped in modern slavery. And then do something about it!
Check out these awesome pics to start out your week/day:
And then enjoy this cover from Cathy Nguyen and Andrew Garcia:
News
- Whistler's homeless are being relocated ahead of the Winter Olympics.
- The oldest known Hebrew script has been deciphered. Find out what it says here.
- Colt McCoy shows grace and faith in the face of defeat:
Human trafficking
- China claims to have freed over 10,000 victims of human trafficking in the last year.
Immigration
- A new report comes out: immigration reform will ease economic decline.
Miscellaneous
- NBC's Bryan Williams: why Jon Stewart is good for the news.
- GOOD covers the H&M saga.
- For the Angelenos, the fake freeway sign that became a real public service.
- Oh, the places you'll go ... The NY Times lists 31 places to go in 2010.
- As a fantasy geek myself, I can appreciate this from what's fast becoming one of my favorite blogs, YOMYOMF ("You offend me, you offend my family"): "Fantasy gone wrong."
- Some fascinating facts about sneezing.
- Some secrets about London!
Young Christians lament injustice
Last night, I was privileged to lead hundreds of young Christians in a time of lament as part of the Poverty and Advocacy track at Urbana 2009. We came together to cry out to God on behalf of those suffering from injustice and oppression, and particularly, as part of the Human Wrong Initiative, on behalf of millions of children trapped in modern slavery: in forced prostitution, forced labor, or recruited to be child soldiers. We came together to mourn the wrong that we see in the world, following the biblical precedents of the psalmists, of the prophets, and of Jesus, in engaging with God in prayer to seek change.
My role was to prepare the way for lament: to lay the biblical foundations, to provide a framework for engaging in lament, and to encourage a safe environment in which lament could take place. The rest was up to the students and God.
And boy, did we meet with God ...
One of the last points that I made was that biblical lament stirs us to action and partnership with God. In Luke 19, Jesus wept over Jerusalem. He cried, "Oh, if you only knew the things that make for peace ..." And then he went and cleared the temple. My prayer for those who engaged last night is that they use that session as a launching pad to do great and mighty things in the service of the kingdom of God.
[You can find recorded webcasts of the main Urbana 09 events here.]
The last weeks of 2009
Last week, I celebrated Christmas with Aaron, Amy and Elijah in Huntington, WV, home of Marshall University ("We Are Marshall") and of Amy's family. It was great spending a few days outside of DC, and with an awesome and wonderfully welcoming family.
To boot, last week ...
- I got to go on a tour of the East Wing of the White House.
- I got to talk with family in Australia, Hong Kong, and California.
- I got to talk with friends in New Zealand, Pennsylvania, Texas, and California. (What up, iChat video conferencing?!)
- I got to watch a truckload of enjoyable movies: Avatar, Invictus, The Blind Side, The Invention of Lying, and Sherlock Holmes.
It was a good week. 
[For Christmas pics, check out my Facebook.]
This week, I'm in snowbound St Louis for Urbana 2009, InterVarsity's triennial missions conference. I'm here with Sojourners, who are co-leading the Poverty and Advocacy track along with World Vision and International Justice Mission. It's the first time in Urbana's history that they're looking at advocacy as a form of mission, and so it's a pretty momentous occasion and an exciting development.
One of the things we're launching this week is the Human Wrong Initiative, which is geared towards combating child slavery in all its forms: prostitution, forced labor, and child-soldiering. Of the 27 million people still in slavery today, about half are women and children.
This is how the world is today. But it is not how the world should be. Nor how the world needs to be. Join us, get involved, let your friends know. Let's stamp out child slavery.
The other thing that's happening (that I'm involved with) is helping Sojourners lead a night of lament for the injustice in the world; that'll take place tomorrow (December 29th). I'll only be speaking for a few minutes, but I'm gonna be laying the groundwork for the couple hundred students in our track to engage with God in this way, so I'd appreciate your prayers!
[Pics to Urbana will follow. ]