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!

How are you? I hope you are doing well and that you have been able to find a way to participate in the National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. This awareness campaign runs for the entire month of January, so don’t be shy in sharing Facebook posts, hosting prayer meetings, giving out your nation’s anti-trafficking crisis number, and sharing what you know.

Darlene Jenks and a huge group of Arizona Aglow ladies have been doing an incredible job mobilizing prayer and praying on and off site for the Super Bowl.  Other Aglow groups have been hosting showings of the documentary Nefarious and movie Not Today.  And I have heard several other wonderful reports of groups getting involved locally in their community.  Great job, everyone!  

Around this time each year I like to focus on awareness of sex trafficking based around sporting events.  Since we’ve just now found out who will officially be playing in the Super Bowl (Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots), it’s a fine time to focus on the upcoming game and how that impacts sex trafficking in Glendale, AZ (where the Super Bowl is held), in your neighborhood, or sporting events in general wherever you live.

USA Super Bowl, February 1, 2014 -  University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona, USA 

On Sunday, February 1, 2014, two teams will battle it out at the University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona.  Fans will gather, people will cheer, and the Seahawks will win again – I hope.  But there’s another side to great events like these – and as we’ve talked about this before, we know it’s sex trafficking.  Because of the incredible numbers of people flocking to the city to watch and celebrate, it’s a prime gathering of potential customers - at least according to pimps  madams, and yes – former prostitutes who have spoken out on the issue.

Super Bowl Sex Trafficking – Myth?

Some articles, like this Huffington Post article from January, 2014 state that sex trafficking at the Super Bowl is a myth, and that it merely creates an environment of fear mongering and ties up police resources.  Other articles voice the same fear, but have a skewed look at prostitution. So let’s take a minute to look at this and see what we need to know regarding this Super Bowl, or other large sports events in your town or nation:

Regarding Large Sports Events – On Site

You need to know that pimps capitalize on any event that they can that seems like a safe place to make money.  They move their girls around often. Traveling to/for an event is not a problem as it’s just part of the industry.  So a large sports event (anywhere) with a party atmosphere – is that grounds for sex trafficking of minors or adults?  Yes.  Does trafficking happen at the Super Bowl?  Yes.  Are we right to raise trafficking awareness over large sporting events?  Yes.  However, does sex trafficking happen all over the nation 365 days a year?  Yes.

One cry critics echo that must be heard is, by focusing awareness solely on the Super Bowl, are we forgetting those everywhere else, forgetting trafficked victims on every other day of the year?  We must make sure – with our voting power – to allocate resources to police and task forces that support fighting sex trafficking all year long.  And we ourselves must continue to raise awareness year round regarding sex AND labor trafficking.

Regarding Sporting Event Parties

I’ve spoken of this before, and I’ll say it again.  Trafficking does happen in response to large sporting (and other) events.  However, it won’t happen only in Glendale, AZ this year – it will happen at bars, college campuses, and home sports parties all around the country.  So when we’re talking about trafficking increasing during large sports events, we’re including this too.  Prostitutes, under the threat of coercion and deception of pimps, are used for this ‘special celebration’ in cities far and wide.

Call, Pray, and Be An Example

First of all, make sure you have the U.S. National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline number: 888-373-7888 OR see if your country has an international trafficking hotline here. It’s as simple as this – if you see something suspicious, call.  Many prostitutes are underage.  Use your eyes.  Follow your gut.  Call.  Tips can be left by name, or anonymously.

Next, pray.  You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  Matthew 5:14 You have been placed in your city, in your community, on purpose, and you have a purpose: You are the ‘light of the world’.  Cover your neighborhood, your community in prayer.

• Pray for the plans of the enemy to be thwarted.  
• Pray protection over vulnerable girls and boys who could be trafficked.  
• Pray for rescue and restoration for trafficking victims, as security and awareness is especially heightened at this time.  
• Pray for integrity and strength for law enforcement, that they would help rescue victims.
• Pray for salvation and repentance for pimps and traffickers.

Finally, talk with those around you.  One huge and, perhaps one of the toughest areas, we will make a difference in over time –– is changing how we view women (i.e. NOT as sex objects) and how we view prostitutes.  

It is so easy to view prostitutes as women who choose a lifestyle – as if it were one of many career paths college students pour over.  And many people talk as if that were the case.  Pimps and buyers, through the use of media especially, have done a great job with this lie by hiding the background information of the threats, beatings, coercion, and even brainwashing that is done to drain the life and fight of the women they subdue and use.

To make this real for a minute – let’s talk bottom line.  Some women are physically branded – like cattle – with tattoos of their pimp’s name.  They are beaten mercilessly.  Many women or girl’s first experiences include being taped for pornography – and then threatened that the tapes will be sent to their parents if they try to run.  Others are told their parents or family will be hurt or killed if they try to run. These are not stories of sensationalism.  These are documented facts.  These are stories I have heard myself from victims.   These are stories I have seen.  Not all prostitutes are rebellious, careless women who “chose a path in life.”

Prostitutes are people.  With beating hearts.  With souls.  With stories.  With destiny.  With moms and dads.  With a future, and a hope that our loving God wants to give to them.  So this sports season, or any season, talk when the opportunities arise.  Speak of women with esteem.  Speak of women with honor.

When you see a fast food restaurant ad with a beauty in a bikini eating a burger, talk about what they’re selling and why.  Human beings are not supposed to use each other.  Men are supposed to value women, and women are supposed to value men.  After all, isn’t this the basis of what Jesus taught?

Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”  Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.  Matthew 22:36-40 New Living Translation (NLT)

Standing in the gap with you,

 
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Anti-Trafficking Specialist
Aglow International