Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Isaiah 58:6
Prayer breaks chains and gives favor that is supernatural. It enables rescue and puts people in the right place at the right time.
Greetings! This month I want to update you on some interesting developments.
Super Bowl Update
Your prayers for the Super Bowl were well done. Read this NBC.com article to hear about the 522 johns and 30 pimps arrested in a Super Bowl sex trafficking sting across 14 states. Multiple other states and counties have published similar stores, and we rejoice at the justice and hope of rehabilitation – for trafficked victim and john alike!
50 Shades – No Way
Last week, just in time for Valentine’s Day, 50 Shades Darker came out. This movie, the sequel to 50 Shades of Grey, was released and has already made over $147 million. Now, before you get upset that I'm bashing a movie you may like - please read a bit further and hear my heart. This movie and its content goes deep. It isn't harmless.Jeremy Vallerand, President and CEO of Rescue Freedom, easily explains the correlation between violence, pornography and human trafficking in this great article.
I would like to break this movie down for you and tell you why it’s important to be guarding our hearts and minds - Craig Gross did an excellent job unpacking his thoughts in “What I Learned” after watching the movie. After all, the repercussions of this are about a lot more than fantasy and a popular book. But Exodus Cry, a faith-based anti-trafficking organization, has also done such a great job expressing why this movie matters, that I thought I’d just leave this right here for you: Lifting the Shades.
Technology Fighting Trafficking
Also making news this month is Ashton Kutcher, who founded Thorn with Demi Moore in 2009. Thorn works to fight child exploitation through technology. Ashton gave an emotional appeal to the U.S. Senate this week. You can see it here.
Why is this important? Because as technology becomes more and more advanced, tools ARE being developed to help find, and free those trapped in sex and labor trafficking.
There is a lot going on this month, and a lot for us to pray for.
Let’s pray:
- Pray for the buyers arrested in Super Bowl stings (publicized or not) across the nation. Pray for them to see the reality of their actions and need for healing. Pray for their families. Pray for freedom from sexual addictions.
- Pray for strength to resist and/or freedom from pornography. Women, men are not the only ones who struggle with pornography. Did you know that the Bible addresses sexual sin as both “written and visual?” (1 Cor. 6:18 AMP) Whoa! But there is hope, help and grace. If you need help, seek it out. There is no shame coming into the light. Pure Desire and XXX Church are two great resources for you to check out.
- As Aston Kutcher’s celebrity brings this issue into the spotlight, pray that hearts will be awakened to the awareness of trafficking around them, and the reality that prostitution is not a ‘victimless crime’.
- Pray for great strides to be made in technological advances to find and rescue trafficked victims.
- Pray for victims. Pray for freedom – physically, mentally, and spiritually. Pray for healing, wholeness and hope.
- And pray for our partner, Rescue Freedom International. Pray for the children they serve to be healed, whole, and to rise up in their destiny. Pray for deep relationship with Jesus, protection and wisdom for every safehouse leader.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 NLT
Standing in the gap with you,
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Anti-Trafficking Specialist
Aglow International
