Human trafficking is an outrageous crime, an attack against those who were created in God’s very image, an attempt to enslave and control, when God’s will is that we live in the Truth who came to set us free! Aglow has a role to play in the abolition of slavery/human trafficking, in the 21st century.
Our Actions Steps are:
- Support the anti-trafficking organization Rescue: Freedom International through prayer as a ministry.
- Partner with local anti-trafficking organizations in your community.
- Receive and spread awareness about anti-trafficking.
Support an anti-trafficking organization through prayer as a ministry:
Pray for Rescue: Freedom International as they work with safe houses all over the world to see children rescued, restored and empowered to live life in FREEDOM.
Pray for:
- Trafficking victims – Pray for salvation, strength, protection, and hope.
- Sex and Labor Traffickers – Pray for the salvation of traffickers and dismantling of trafficking rings.
- Rescue – Pray for the rescue efforts of anti-trafficking organizations to be successful.
- Reduction of Demand – Pray for the demand of sex for hire to be reduced.
Partner with local anti-trafficking organizations:
Community involvement is important and powerful. Is there an Anti-trafficking organization around you that you feel led to partner with? If so, we encourage you to partner with them. Partnering might include praying for them during your Aglow meeting, making blankets or collecting toiletries for a safe house, being invited to pray/minister to people on-site, etc.
Other ways you can be involved in your community include:
- Join a Local Anti-Trafficking Coalition – Local Coalitions exist all over, and if one doesn't exist locally, you can start it up! It is a great way to network with others and join together to stop trafficking in your community. You can find a list of U.S. Anti-Trafficking Coalitions, by State here.
- Do a Google Search – Search anti-trafficking safe houses in your area and call them. Ask if they need mentors, toiletry donations, crochet hats or a service you can offer.
- Give – The simple act of giving a warm coffee or pair of socks, and a $5 bill to a homeless woman in your neighborhood can make a difference. (The homeless population are extra vulnerable to sex trafficking. Without knowing it, you could be helping a victim.)
- Help the rescuers – Write letters of appreciation to your local law enforcement, thanking them for working to find and rescue victims of sex and labor trafficking.
- Help the Lawmakers – Call and write your representatives and urge them to vote for anti-trafficking legislation. Call or write letters of appreciation to your congressmen, thanking them for working to pass laws to ensure freedom for all. U.S. Residents can use Shared Hope as a tool in this.
- Talk about Porn – Are you aware of the widespread availability and effects of porn on our culture AND on sex trafficking? Pick up John Hammer’s Book eXXXit or Every Man’s Battle (Also, Every Woman’s Battle, visit Pure Desire.org and other resources) and read up on this issue.
- Prayer Meetings – Prayer Changes Things. Designate a time when your group will pray about human trafficking. This could be a part of every meeting, or a specific prayer meeting once a month, etc. to pray for your community.
- Discover Your City – Take inventory of your city with daytime prayer walks through your local neighbourhoods, around junior highs, high schools, and shopping malls. Malls are usually open year round, and open early in the morning before shops open; they are excellent places to take early morning walks and declare the promises of God before the crowds arrive and shops open for business. Each of these places mentioned are ‘hot grounds’ for recruitment into sex trafficking.
Take a drive in the car and declare the promises of God as you drive. The same sites listed above are perfect for drive-by prayers, as well as: Truck stops, Rest Areas, Freeways, and Large Ports (L.A., San Francisco, Houston, etc.). Grab some friends and proclaim life over the areas you are passing as you drive.
An important thing to remember is that daytime walks/drives are preferred, and you should never attempt any rescue or put you or your group in the way of danger.
Raise awareness about anti-trafficking:
You can't stop trafficking if you don't know what it looks like. Let's get educated on this issue through books, articles, and documentaries. It’s amazing the difference that awareness of trafficking makes in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Not only does this open our eyes to situations around us, but it gives us insight into how to pray. Raising awareness makes us effective members of our community, and greater resources to help protect our family, friends, children, neighbors and others.
We each have a circle of influence. What a powerful opportunity to arise in an informed voice and pray into, speak into, and inform those around us – starting within our Aglow groups.