The Mag - WMU

Human Trafficking?
Here?
by Allison Henderson
human exploitation: the unethical,
selfish use of human beings for the
satisfaction of personal desires
and/or profitable advantage
Human exploitation has been a prevalent
issue in our nation for a long time,
but recently the numbers have grown
exponentially, particularly in human
trafficking.
So what’s the
difference?
What’s the difference between human
exploitation and human trafficking?
Human exploitation takes on various
forms. It includes bullying, cyberbullying,
queen bee bullying; human trafficking of
children, teens, and adults (for labor and
sex); media’s exploitation of families and
children; exploitation of natural resources
for personal gain; pornography. (For
explanations of these issues, visit
www.wmu.com/projecthelp.)
Human trafficking is a very serious
form of human exploitation that involves
using force, fraud, or coercion to recruit,
harbor, transport, or purchase a person
to then sell or use that person as a slave.
Traffickers use victims in the slave labor
market and the commercial sex industry.
Victims for slave labor can be found
in these places: agriculture, landscaping,
“Speak up for those who cannot
speak for themselves, for the rights
of all who are destitute. Speak up
and judge fairly; defend the rights of
the poor and needy.”
—Proverbs 31:8–9
factories, hotels, janitorial services,
construction, day labor, restaurants, nail
salons, domestic servitude, illegal drug
trade, fishing industries, tourism, and
traveling carnivals.
A victim trafficked for the commercial
sex industry can be a runaway or
throwaway child, a coerced or kidnapped
teen, an international or a US citizen
trafficked within our borders.
“Doomed is the one who builds his
house by injustice and enlarges it by
dishonesty; who makes his people
work for nothing and does not pay
their wages.”—Jeremiah 22:13 (GNT)
Didn’t
slavery end after
the Civil War?
There are more than 30 million slaves
in the world today, more than at any
other point in human history. Every year,
14,500–17,500 people are trafficked into
the United States.
You may not have known that this was
such a prevalent issue in our own country,
and most people in your church probably
don’t know either. Tell them!
It is said that ignorance is bliss. But
even though some days I would rather just
not know how horrible our society can be,
I need to know.
As Christians, we are called to take
God’s light to the darkest places, shedding
His light on the darkest of issues. Your
church will want to respond, and by the
power of Christ working in you, the world
can be changed for Him.
What can I do?
Acteens ® and other WMU ® organizations
are teaming up to fight human
trafficking any way possible through an
initiative called Project HELP sm : Human
Exploitation.
WMU will explore a condition of the
human spirit that has been around for
ages—the misuse of our relationships with
other people. We have become such a
selfish society, never thinking twice about
other people as we shove our way through
our own daily agendas. This just has to
change, and it all starts with one—one life
sold out for Christ, committed to justice,
being a voice for the voiceless.
Two avenues for you to help fight this
fight are the Power Project and Give 3.
The Power Project—To go along with
the current Acteens theme G3: The Power
of a Girl to Change the World, Acteens
will take part in the Power Project. To
learn more about the Power Project, turn
to page 36.
Give 3—You have the opportunity to
give in different ways to impact the lives
of at least three young women. Think and
pray about how you can make a difference
in the lives of girls in your home and
around the world. To learn more about
Give 3, turn to page 38.
But I’m just a
teenager...
You have the power of God in you! Second
Timothy 1:7 reminds us that God did
not give us a spirit of timidity. God is the
source of all power and He gives it to us
willingly!
There is power in prayer, and no matter
where you are or who you’re with, you
can always pray. Pray for yourself—for
understanding and insight into this
heavy issue, for guidance as to what you
specifically can do, and for boldness to
speak out about horrible crime.
Take action! Once you’ve taken the time
to research the issue and learn just how
rampant it is, you’ve simply GOT to do
something!
Resources to Check Out
Trafficked! An Experience in Choices
and Consequences (see p. 18)
Quest for Freedom: An Exploration of
Project HELP: Human Exploitation
(see p. 18)
www.wmu.com/projecthelp
www.worldcrafts.org/set1free.asp
www.notforsalecampaign.org
www.stopthetraffick.org
Allison Henderson is a Blume sm intern
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at national WMU ® and is excited about getting married in January 2012!
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