Slavery Today

“Today I learned about a couple in Asia who were selling their two little boys as prostitutes,” our friend Bob said over dinner.

I wanted to plug my ears and begin humming loudly. Everything in me screamed, I don’t want to know! I’ve forgotten the rest of the evening except the thought in my mind as we said good night: Let’s not have Bob over again.

I quite enjoyed my life: two sons, 20 years of marriage, self-employment as a marketing consultant. Safe. Predictable. But God was about to open my eyes to an adventure I would never have invited—but now can’t imagine leaving.

Misplaced fears

Most of my life I struggled with fear. I had a rough childhood with two alcoholic parents. Many years later, when my husband and I had our first son, Zach, I worried about his health and well-being. Son No. 2, Nate, was one more reason to worry over what could happen.

I had begun trusting God and being free from worry when we first heard Bob’s story. Ironically, a few days after our dinner, Bob asked if I would help him establish promotional material for International Justice Mission (IJM), where he worked. I don’t know what possessed me to say yes, but I agreed. Soon I was unloading boxes of photographs from countries where IJM was working to rescue slaves.

I spent hours looking for images to tell the stories that represented the work of IJM. I shuffled through the photographs and found notes on the backs about little girls being sold into brothels, men working as slaves in rice mills, whole families being held in slavery, intimidated and beaten.

I wept. I wept over the evil I was uncovering. I wept over the lost innocence of children. I wept over the freedom that’s been stolen from fellow human beings. I wept over my own lack of courage simply to know more.

Justice for all

As the days went by, God revealed to me the truth taught by the men and women who work as abolitionists for IJM: He is on the side of the oppressed, and those who engage in the plight of the hurting and suffering are drawn closer to His heart.

I discovered joy in the stories of former victims of slavery. The more I learned, the more I appreciated my own liberties—and the opportunity to make a difference. I began to realize that even a mom with two kids, a husband, a dog and a safe little life could be used, no matter how small, to bring about justice.

My newfound courage proved contagious. In junior high, my son Zach studied some of the activists of history: Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth and William Wilberforce. He already knew a little about modern-day slavery because of my consultations with IJM; Zach became angry over the evil that people inflict on others for selfish gain.

He wanted to be a part of the abolitionist movement, to carry on in the spirit of the great abolitionists. He wanted to use his voice to help free others. So he launched the Loose Change to Loosen Chains campaign to help mobilize students and raise money toward ending slavery.

Now in high school, Zach travels the country carrying shackles that were used on child slaves. He conveys the stories of children like Rakesh, who was held as a rug loom slave, beaten with an iron claw and forced to work long hours in appalling conditions. Rakesh is now free.

Free

The safe little world I’d created was sheltering me from the realities of the world. As long as people are in slavery and injustice runs rampant, if I remain silent, then my world is a self-absorbed existence. As Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Through the courage of IJM, emancipated slaves and my own son, I gained the courage to face the world’s atrocities. I discovered the joy of working for a God who loves justice.

“Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right” (Psalm 106:3).