The Super Bowl, Human Trafficking and an iPhone App

The Super Bowl is one of the larger venues where human trafficking is rampant.

The USA Today has an article up right now that talks about the Super Bowl and human trafficking:

Human Trafficking at the Super Bowl

 

Sponsor a Child at Risk

Here is some info on Human Trafficking from the Salvation Army: http://salvationist.ca/action-support/human-trafficking/

In addition, the Salvation Army has launched the first ever app that helps people spot the key signs someone may be being trafficked.

It is available on all iPhone and Android phones and is free to download http://sar.my/ahtapp 

Sex and the Superbowl

I am an avid football fan. I have only missed watching 1 Superbowl in the last 24 years.

I never really stopped to think about the dirty underbelly of the game.

The Superbowl is the single biggest human trafficking incident in the US! A recent USA Today article highlights this sad story: Child sex rings spike during the Super Bowl

I find this disturbing.

Of course any large event; the Olympics, the World Cup...it's the same story.

What can we do?

Well if you are in the US you can send a message to President Obama. The International Justice Mission is making it easy. You can click here and find a petition to send to Obama asking him to help stop modern day slavery. I would encourage you to send a copy to every one of your government officials.

Outside the US, maybe you can copy and make a variation of this petition for your leaders as well.

You can also help organizations that are fighting this terrible modern day atrocity:

International Justice Mission, IJM Canada, IJM Germany, IJM Netherlands, IJM UK

Free the Slaves

The Salvation Army

Even if all you do is pray, and IJM has a prayer bulletin, you can do something!

Today is the day to get involved. Let's remember Philippians 2:4, "not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."

The Truth Isn't Sexy

Over the last couple of years I have become more aware of the issues of human slavery and sex trafficking.

Maybe you aren't aware of these issues and how prevalent they are. The International Justice Mission has 2 fact sheets with the basic info:

Sex Trafficking Fact Sheet
Human Slavery Fact Sheet

The International Justice Mission is fighting even now for those victims of sex trafficking and human slavery. I want to encourage you to check out their site and avail yourselves of their many resources. They have a prayer bulletin that I hope you all sign up for.

In addition, the Salvation Army has a website with a list of resources and links:

The Truth Isn't Sexy

Please, pray about this issue and find out how you can help.

Just Courage/IJM

"There must be more to the Christian life than this--more than church each Sunday and waving to my neighbors and giving some clothes to Goodwill when I go through my closet each spring."

With this premise, Just Courage takes you on a challenging and engaging journey of adventure. I came across this little book while reading Anne Jackson's blog last year. When I ordered the book, I was not prepared to be challenged to do something more in the area of justice. Reading the stories set forth by author Gary Haugen I became more aware of sex trafficking, modern day slavery and a host of other issues. As a Christian, I felt like I could not ignore the issue now that I was aware of the extent of injustice. Gary kept me on the edge of my seat with story after story from the front line battlefield!

This led me to research Gary's organization, The International Justice Mission.

The International Justice Mission (IJM) is a human rights agency that seeks to secure justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. The IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems. With offices in the US, Canada, the UK and Germany, there is an office close to where you live.

The book was an incredible eye opener to an issue I had not been fully aware of. Gary lists further resources at the back of the book. One of those was the IJM website. You need to check that out. If all you do is sign up for the prayer bulletin and PRAY, you will be helping out in a tremendous way. However, there are a host of ways to get involved.

Sex trafficking is real! Modern day slavery still happens. Please, order this book. Visit the website and let the Lord stir your heart with compassion.

Christians and Sex!

Sex is wonderful. I believe Christians can and should have an active and vibrant sex life. We live in a sex-drenched society and yet, many believers still shy away from this topic. What is it about sex that frightens believers?

The Song of Solomon is a perfect example. This is one of the most amorous books in the Bible. The passion displayed in this book was cutting edge for it's time. The couple refers to their love for each other; they describe what appeals to them about each others bodies and their longing for one another. This is a perfect example of what married love should be like.

Yet, the first churches I attended as a teen, talked about Solomon's spiritual allusions to Christ's love for the church. Now I'm not saying that's not there, but as a teen I really needed to hear that God wants married love to be, in a word, EXCITING. Instead sex was the taboo word! Never talk about it, ignore it, suppress it, deny it!

Yeah-- that doesn't work for teens. Instead, I believe we should address it. In proper settings our teens need to know that sex is incredible within the confines of marriage. Outside those confines it IS messy. People get hurt, mistakes get made, sin happens.

Sex sells. Let's sell it to believers. I believe the Song of Solomon is there for a reason. To tell believers SEX IS OK! Romance, Passion and Sex were created by God.

Of course there is more to marriage than sex. Romance should happen throughout the day. Giving gifts, a touch, a spoken word, mowing the lawn, and doing dishes can all say "I love you" to your spouse. Consider one another, love one another and let God be glorified! As Dr. Kevin Leman says, "sex begins in the kitchen."