When I Want To Stop Fighting

I'm gonna to be honest. Tuesdays aren't easy for me.  I committed to God that I would research, pray, educate myself, and promote awareness about Human Trafficking every Tuesday but ... it's painful.  

Some weeks I contemplate not doing any of it.  It's so hard to force myself to look at this horror.  It hurts to fill my mind with thoughts of children as young as four years old being raped in exchange for money (and often not even for exchange, but just as abuse).  And if you've been with me for the past few months on Tuesdays, I know you're probably feeling the same way.  Just to let you know, I have a passion to fight for abolition on the other days of the week too.  My research has been nearly non-stop.  And when I'm not researching, I'm often praying.  

The truth is, as much as I want to take a break, God keeps calling me back to this.  Because how could I take a break when she can't?

photo credit: joy.org

What keeps me fighting most days is a vision. A vision of something different.

A vision of children and women valued as treasured human beings, not sex objects.

A vision of healing for those who thought it once impossible.

A vision of an army of abolitionists, rising up to defend the defenseless, vulnerable, weak.

A vision of brothers who refuse to let their sisters be raped by strangers, who stand against their own parents who sell daughters to brothels and pimps.

A vision of reformed sex-buyers and traffickers who have come to their senses because they looked into the eyes of a girl and saw Jesus there.

A vision of prayers like continual cries, rising to the Father's ears and bringing Him glory when He delivers these souls into His Kingdom.

A vision of rescue for girls too young to know this evil.

A vision of people who will stand up and say, "This is not funny."

A vision of a generation of girls who know they are worthy of being loved as a princess, because they have known the joy of being loved by the King.

A vision of many, many men and women who will just listen.  Long and hard and with nothing but compassion.

A vision of intellectuals, professionals, politicians, and prosecutors who will speak up and do something.

A vision of fathers who open their eyes to an option other than poverty or selling their daughters - the option to be the provider of their families, as God calls and leads.

Do you see it too?

"There’s hope for your future,
    declares the Lord.
        Your children will return home!"
                 -Jeremiah 31:17 (CEB)

Lord, You see this vision too, don't You?  I believe You can do this. Change our world. Free slaves.  I have to believe in Your power to overcome, to redeem, restore, and revive.  Without that faith, I won't be able to keep fighting this unspeakable, evil, terror-stricken, torture-driven horror.  But with this faith in Your capable hands to change a human heart - I can keep going.  Please return our children, humanity's children who belong to all of us, home.  That is the only hope for our future. And if You are declaring it, then I choose to believe it again today.

edited re-post from earlier this year

One More Day - Hire an Investigator, Rescue a Slave {25 by my 35th Challenge}

[I] should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ - Acts 20:35 (NLT)

Okay, then - I'll remember. 

This week, when I turn 35, I'll remember that. I don't want to receive anything special, but I DO want to give something pivotal. 

Freedom. 

And I want you to help me. Give with me. Forget about receiving a few dollars a month, and be blessed.  When you give to this cause, it's a blessing that doesn't stop with you - it results in rescue. Slaves broken free of their chains and delivered into safe houses. Lives with a new start. No longer bound to violence, rape, brutality, coercion, or daily death threats. Boys, Girls, Women, even Men - free. 

If you could share freedom, would you? 

You can, Dear Reader. Today - you can be a part of a Search and Rescue Team. And you can be more blessed than when you received freedom by giving it to someone. 

And you can get texts like I get when it happens. Messages like this one:

Ugandan Girl FREE! In India, BRAVO team rescued pregnant trafficked woman.

Ready for this? It's the last day before Robyn's Challenge is over, and I'm not lying - I'd rather give freedom away than receive any gift for my 35th Birthday. Will you join my team of rescuers?

I want true life for you. The same life I felt rushing through me when I got my S&R package in the mail from The Exodus Road. The same life I felt exploding in me when I read that a slave was rescued, her virginity kept as a choice for her future and hope. The very same life pulsing when I pray for my investigators to have victory over evil whenever I see my stickers and key-chain and magnets with these words:

So here's my audacious goal, but feel free to blow me away, friends. 

I want 25 by my 35th.  

Twenty-five brave partners by the day I turn 35. It's just a few short hours away, but I believe in God and His miraculous freedom and love for each one. For you, Sweet One. For her. For humanity. Here's how.

Robyn's Challenge: Join my Team. Hire an investigator. Rescue a slave. It really is that simple.

1. Check out how Search and Rescue works, and decide which team you want to be on. Alpha and Delta are in SE Asia, Bravo is in India, and Charlie is here in the US. (Also, if you want to know how TER manages the money we give, check this out.)
2. Fill out the Donation Form, and use the resources God has blessed you with to fund rescue and freedom with The Exodus Road. For $35 a month (less than the cost of a new pair of jeans), you can hire a team of investigators and be a part of giving freedom to women and children trapped in the clutches of their traffickers. These people bust brothels, pedophiles, and trafficking rings, and bring justice. For Real. Please don't forget! Under the portion where it says "Additional information/Select Operating Project" PLEASE type a bird in the box. This is my code for my project -25 by my 35th.  For real - rescue is what I want for my birthday. Twenty-five of my readers and friends - on board to change the world. Listen - if by next November you aren't addicted to sharing freedom in this way, by all means opt out. I'm asking you to try it for just a year, though. I think it's worth it. For real.
3. Please don't skip this part! Drop your name in the comments below, and tell me why you decided to be a part of bringing freedom to slaves. I'm going to be drawing a number (1-25 of the first readers who partner with me) out of a hat for a giveaway of Laura Parker's book, The Exodus Road, as well as a hand-made journal and a stack of my greeting cards. This is just an extra incentive and thank-you to my amazing readers who make this nest a place of God's joy. I'll contact you after my birthday to let you know you won, and get your mailing address. 
4. Like and share this post on Facebook/retweet on Twitter/share with your social network via email, because I'll bet your friends care about slaves too. (There are some handy buttons for you right down there at the bottom.)

"If we are dying of thirst, passively reading books about water quenches little; the only way to quench the parched mouth is to close the book and dip the hand into water and bring it to the lips. If we thirst, we'll have to drink." - Ann Voskamp

Our world is thirsting for freedom. Humanity pants for justice. Let us partake of the Fountain, and then be the vessel that quenches freedom's thirst. 

Lord Jesus- You know, and You see. Please help me and my readers bring freedom and love to modern-day slaves. This is what You came for and whom you died for, and it's what we do when we follow You. Thank You - I'm so thankful to be a part of YOUR freedom-fighting team. Help us to keep fighting, until everyone is free. Amen

I Hope This Disturbs You ... But That's Not Enough

As promised, I'm writing to you, Cherished Reader - to offer my pulsing heart on a platter in hopes that this love will land in you. By now it's no secret:

Precious people are being bought and sold like a commodity, and if our generation continues to turn apathetic eyes away, human trafficking will destroy us all.

I'm pretty sure you've heard the numbers already, but in case you haven't:

I found this article and video this morning, not by chance I'm convinced, about a navy-man-turned-activist who saw trafficking first-hand in the Philippines (my family origin) and then here in the United States. His video was so compelling that I can't help but share it here. Seriously - please watch it. It will be worth the nine and a half minutes of your life.

"You should feel a little outraged ... and upset about this. And that's great, but that's not good enough."

"We all drive demand. We all tolerate sex everywhere."

"It's really time to stop walking on by."

Are you ready? Here's my open door to you, Dear One - my tears running over, my heart in my hand, my world blurring into a vision of what could be - RESCUE.

I'm absolutely, truly, no-doubt-about-it convinced that God's people need to be about the business of freedom. It is for freedom that we have been set free, through His blood on the Cross. And some may say, "Great - I'm freed to be free." But what if that verse means, "You have been set free to spread this freedom and to make freedom for others?" It is for freedom ... Your freedom? Of course. But even more. Even greater things. Humanity's freedom.

Today I'm asking you to take a step and put your money where your faith is, on behalf of the slave next door and the slave around the world, because real rescue is possible today. 

I'll tell you a secret. Every day I wake up and wonder - will I get a text today? Will my team send me a message like this one: 

FREEDOM! 12 yr-old girl rescued early this morning! Her mom and pimp were selling her virginity for $2000 USD. BRAVO Team rescued her and arrested perpetrators.

And after that wonder, I pray. Oh, please God - I want rescue today.

I'm on a team of abolitionists and rescuers, supporting with others like Bravo Team in India, a group of investigators who work undercover with local authorities to Search and Rescue modern-day slaves, and bring them to restoration homes where they can be offered what we all need: freedom. 

Let's put the Word first, and let the love of Christ compel you, before I tell you how this is going to work.

"Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life." - 1 Timothy 6:18-19 (NLT)

I want true life for you. The same life I felt rushing through me when I got my S&R package in the mail from The Exodus Road. The same life I felt exploding in me when I read that a slave was rescued, her virginity kept as a choice for her future and hope. The very same life pulsing when I pray for my investigators to have victory over evil whenever I see my stickers and key-chain and magnets with these words:

So here's my audacious goal, but feel free to blow me away, friends. 

I want 25 by my 35th.  

Twenty-five brave partners by the day I turn 35 next month. It's just a few short weeks away, but I believe in God and His miraculous freedom and love for each one. For you, Sweet One. For her. For humanity. Here's how.

Robyn's Challenge:

1. Check out how Search and Rescue works, and decide which team you want to be on. Alpha and Delta are in SE Asia, Bravo is in India, and Charlie is here in the US. (Also, if you want to know how TER manages the money we give, check this out.)
2. Fill out the Donation Form, and use the resources God has blessed you with to fund rescue and freedom with The Exodus Road. For $35 a month (less than the cost of a new pair of jeans), you can hire a team of investigators and be a part of giving freedom to women and children trapped in the clutches of their traffickers. These people bust brothels, pedophiles, and trafficking rings, and bring justice. For Real. Please don't forget! Under the portion where it says "Additional information/Select Operating Project" PLEASE type a bird in the box. This is my code for my project -25 by my 35th.  For real - rescue is what I want for my birthday. Twenty-five of my readers and friends - on board to change the world. Listen - if by next November you aren't addicted to sharing freedom in this way, by all means opt out. I'm asking you to try it for just a year, though. I think it's worth it. For real.
3. Please don't skip this part! Drop your name in the comments below, and tell me why you decided to be a part of bringing freedom to slaves. I'm going to be drawing a number (1-25 of the first readers who partner with me) out of a hat for a giveaway of Laura Parker's book, The Exodus Road, as well as a hand-made journal and a stack of my greeting cards. This is just an extra incentive and thank-you to my amazing readers who make this nest a place of God's joy. I'll contact you after my birthday to let you know you won, and get your mailing address. 
4. Like and share this post on Facebook/retweet on Twitter/share with your social network via email, because I'll bet your friends care about slaves too. (There are some handy buttons for you right down there, next to the little pencil.)

"If we are dying of thirst, passively reading books about water quenches little; the only way to quench the parched mouth is to close the book and dip the hand into water and bring it to the lips. If we thirst, we'll have to drink." - Ann Voskamp

Our world is thirsting for freedom. Humanity pants for justice. Let us partake of the Fountain, and then be the vessel that quenches freedom's thirst. 

human trafficking, and when I become just like the devil

Well, you know my Tuesday drill.  For those of you who are new here to the nest, I'll explain the Tuesday drill briefly.

1. We fight. I help us become aware of the injustices all around us, and we choose to stand up, in full armor rather than plunging our heads into the sand.

2. We pray, and hopefully choose to include a form of fasting each Tuesday in order to stir our desire for more of Him by stirring our hunger as a physical reminder.

3. We decide to be a part of the solution. Here and there.  If you want, you can stop reading now, and simply DO. I promise - I'll not even be a stitch offended.

photo credit: Mary Ann Fiebert

So, I'm in the car, driving the kids to school this morning, praying and listening and planning and writing in my head. Seriously, I have no idea how my brain works so fast. It's gotta be my coffee! And as I was listening to my stomach growl and wondering why I was so hungry, I remembered again after about a half-hour of going this fast, "Oh yes! I'm hungry on purpose. Back to prayer." I'll eat later on today. For now, intercession on behalf of the girl who's being raped this very moment for money is more important.

So once again, my prayer goes back to "Why? ... Why this horror? Why so many? Why do they sell sex, and why do people buy it? Jesus, if I knew why, I feel like I could fight better, pray better, do more, give more. Why, Oh God, why does human trafficking exist?"

I've heard His answer before, so it shouldn't surprise me, but it does.

Power.

He gives us choice and will, but the bottom line is - power is reserved for God alone.  In attempts to be God, usurp God, play God, replace God, imitate God ... we all have stolen power.  It was Satan's first sin, and it was also humanity's. And it continues to ravage us, even as we ravage one another.

I almost can't drive when I realize it. I am just like that nasty snake. I steal The Father's power too.  When I hold contempt, refuse to surrender, strive for my own way, rebel against those who watch over me.

Add repentance to my intercession, and I think He's got me right where He wants me again. On my knees. At His feet. Leaning on Him. Begging Him to let me do His will. And to give me the strength to persevere in it.

Today is Tuesday.  As we look and pray and fight, let's not forget Why we have to do this in the first place. Because all power is and should be His.

Now check out this new site from my friends over at Exodus Road, and remember -

"May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right." -Peter Marshall

"Most of us assume that after a victim is rescued from modern day slavery, freedom is guaranteed.  Statistically speaking, this is not the case. After trial and release, victims still lack education, finances, or family support– the necessities which led to their vulnerability in the first place. Sadly, many victims are cycled back in to slavery."

This is the kind of fasting I have chosen:
    Loosen the chains of wickedness,
        untie the straps of the yoke,
            let the oppressed go free,
                and break every yoke.
 Share your food with the hungry,
    take the poor and homeless into your house,
        and cover them with clothes when you see them naked.
            Don’t refuse to help your relatives.

 Then your light will break through like the dawn,
    and you will heal quickly.
    Your righteousness will go ahead of you,
    and the glory of the Lord will guard you from behind.
 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer.

    You will cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am!”                                                                  -Isaiah 58:5-9 (GWT) 

Oh God, today as we seek Your sovereignty alone on this enormous mess of a globe where we've all stolen Your power from You, would You please show us Your glory?  Display Your goodness, Your redemption, Your strength over our lives and hearts as we surrender. God - rescue is needed and restoration is crucial. It's what I plead for as I'm here, on my knees, humbled in Your presence. Would You please do what only You can, and would You do it through us, Your willing vessels. Help my friends at Exodus Road, and many other organizations who are fighting for the freedom of these innocent women and children, whose only fault is that they don't have the strength to escape their precious vulnerability. This vulnerability is beautiful to You, Jesus, but it has been exploited by those who have stolen Your power. Would You please right this wrong, Lord? Would You please bring justice? And would You please send me?

who could redeem this?

Sometimes we lose sight of hope.  What we feel, what we see, what we hear - from within and without - points only to despair. The eyes of our hearts grow dim and the confusing doubt diminishes all light.  Abuse, violence, violation, sabotage, evil - all adds up, and who could ever right these wrongs?

The trap of darkness, the scheme - it is to envelop us into the lie that no one ever could do that.  But - the truth of light, the reality of what IS - there is an I AM who can.

This week I received a package I'd been scouring the mailbox for during the past weeks.  A thick envelope from an organization called Women at Risk (WAR), International. And within the package came real stories that testify of His power. No greater miracle I know than when He changes a human heart.  And when I read about Ipo, I remembered it again. God redeems what no one could fathom. Ipo's parents were also her traffickers, and how can a child know real love when those who gave her life proceeded to steal it back by selling her virginity and innocence?  All of my developmental education screams "There is no way a child can recover and know love after suffering that.  No attachment security. No trust of one's environment. No confidence for identity formation. She's doomed!"  I'm entirely relieved for the rest of the page ... 

Ipo came to a WAR, Int'l. safehouse and found God's love there. She suffered a miscarriage, but received safe treatment and is in school to become a beautician. I read that part and pray somehow God will show her the meaning of true beauty at His school too.  Ipo has hope for a new life, and I know - oh how I now know - only God can redeem her from that to this.  To His. 

The prayer devotional booklet gives prompts for how to pray for Ipo - for her peace and strength in Christ, for healing from the devastating loss of a child, and for her to finish her training and new life skills.  They give me a Scripture to pray over her:

He heals the brokenhearted

    and bandages their wounds. 

         -Psalm 147:3 (NLT)

And in so praying, asking Him to restore and redeem her hope, isn't my hope redeemed too?  

And if He can take her from doomed to destined, why should I think anything I'm facing should be different? And that hope - the hope I see as I read, words becoming soul-warming light - that hope is what I apply as I pray - not only for Ipo, but for all this trouble around.  Can you see it? 

If you've been diving into the reality of Human Trafficking here in my nest with me, you know that I've learned it must end. And we begin to end it when we begin to pray. Not that prayer is all we will do, but prayer is also where we will finish. Our fight for the end of this begins in our asking the One who can put a stop to the horror by redeeming the hopeless to HOPE.   

You can get a prayer kit too - here.  It's beautiful hope sealed in an envelope. Hope that applies because the Source is boundless.  He transcends paper, screens, words, and flesh, and He reaches to the place no other can - to the heart. And He does this in response to prayer.

"The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with." - James 5:16b (Msg)

I want you to pray with me. With the army of prayer warriors and freedom fighters who are standing up to the injustice against the vulnerable children and women like Ipo.  Please contact me if you are interested in fighting too. It begins to end when we begin to pray.

Leave a comment below or email me: robynleelangdon@gmail.com.

God, today we ask You once again to be our Redeemer.  We've realized that only You, only the Divine, can take the darkness and make it the light.  And when You do - You get what You've wanted from the beginning - glory.  We praise You today for rescuing and restoring Ipo, and so many others. We know You will have to be in this to end this, or it won't end at all.  It's You we ask, with You we plead, to You alone we come. Strengthen us, Oh God, for Your work and Your purposes. Show us how to pray, and go and give and restore. Give us the great honor and privilege to be Your hands and feet. Please guide every victim's precious, unique heart and soul to Your redeeming love. Guide her hopeless life to You. You are hope. You are able. You are worthy.

What's prayer got to do with it?

Another piece of my heart today ... and it's broken, if it's anything.  Does God care?  Yes, and not only does He see my tears over injustice, He brushes them off my cheek, saves them, and prepares them to be poured out as a precious offering of prayer and praise.

"And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people." - Revelation 5:8 (NLT)

When we cry our prayers, they move His hand, because when they are poured out, they will be pleasing offerings of worship as He answers.




I'd like to dedicate myself more and more to pray over this, because I do believe the root cause of this is evil. Satan does not care about human life.  It's why he loves abortion and slavery and the devaluation of women and sex, which God originally intended to bring forth life, not to steal it.  God values our lives. They are treasures to Him. And when we have His heart, we have His eyes - eyes to see and to cry these precious intercessions for the lives of women and children all over the globe.

Would you join me?

Three initiatives of prayer I'd like to begin/pass on to you, my readers. If you'd like to participate, please let me know in the comments below.  I believe as we join together to encourage one another and pray for Justice, God will be pleased with that unity and look upon our requests with favor.

1. Red Light Prayer - every time you stop at a red light while you're driving, spend the time in prayer for red light districts and slaves around the world. Ask God to rescue those who have been trafficked and abused, and plead with Him to guide them to restorative care that will show these cherished souls His Gospel and great love.

2. Pray with your group - if you have a small group through your church, a group of friends you meet with regularly, a Bible study, etc. you can pray with them.  Intercede together on behalf of abolitionists, rescue fighters, and restoration counselors, and victims, as well as for the criminals, traffickers, and sex-buyers to be restored and reformed.  I will be giving you some resources for prayer starters in a group, including those from a few of the organizations I support.

3. Fasting once a week. I plan to fast one meal or one day per week for the purpose of praying and interceding as well.  Most likely I'll choose Tuesdays, but if another time works better for you, don't let that get in the way.  During these times we'll be praying specific Scriptures on behalf of justice and the value of life to prevail.

My [audacious] goal for this prayer initiative is to have 100 of you on my list of prayer partners.  Will you join me?  If yes, I have three ways for you to stay connected to this virtual prayer circle.

1. email me robynleelangdon@gmail.com 
2. leave a comment with at least your first name below
3. message me on facebook (Robyn Mills Langdon, if you're not already my friend)

Here is a sample of what we might pray:

"But deal well with [her], O Sovereign Lord,
    for the sake of your own reputation!
Rescue [Your precious daughter]
    because you are so faithful and good.
For [she is] poor and needy,
    and [her] heart is full of pain.
[She is] fading like a shadow at dusk;
     [and] brushed off like a locust.
[Her] knees are weak from fasting,
    and [she is] skin and bones.
[A] joke to people everywhere;
    when they see [her], they shake their heads in scorn.

Help [this helpless victim], O Lord my God!
    Save [her] because of your unfailing love.
Let them see that this is your doing,
    that you yourself have done it, Lord.
Then let them curse [us] if they like,
    but you will bless [Your beloved]!
When they attack [her], they will be disgraced!
    But [we], your servant[s], will go right on rejoicing!
May [her] accusers be clothed with disgrace;
    may their humiliation cover them like a cloak.
But [we] will give repeated thanks to the Lord,
    praising him to everyone.
For he stands beside the needy,
    ready to save them from those who condemn them."

             -Psalm 109:21-31 (NLT)

                                                                                                                 

Finally, I want to leave you with This song.

May it bless your heart and move you to prayer. If your prayers lead you to tears, remember where those tears are going - straight to His throne as incense, pleasing in favor and guiding His hand to move on her behalf.

I look forward to praying with you, my friends.  

Together we fight with the truth of His love.  His love of each life.

When you buy the lie ...

... what you've purchased fills your hands.  Like Eve, clutching dripping, sweet fruit with all ten fingers.  And what could God give her that way?

Today I cry tears of broken anger and sometimes that's all I have.  But tears are powerful prayers.  And prayer is powerful fighting.  So, once again - all I have left ... is all He wants.

Some Tuesdays I ask you to give.  Some I ask you to open your eyes.  Some days I ask you to go.

Today I'm asking you to pray.  With me.  Stand in prayer as three.  Because He's here too.

"A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." -Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NLT)

Prayer is my only weapon today. I'm glad it's the only one I need.

What are we praying? Let's tackle this together.


Satan's biggest lie: You Can't

• do anything different with your life
• choose
• find worth
• escape your chains
• hold hope
• be rescued or restored
• have another identity than the one given in pain
• be loved

And he sells this lie.  His price: varies and is ever-increasing, until you own nothing, not even your own soul.  It might seem a trifle at first, and what you buy might even be fun and seem worth it.

But Jesus offers something else.  He stands in a safe, Self-drawn circle and invites you to enter. What He sells is Truth:  YOU CAN

• take victory
• have freedom
• receive healing
• find an identity for which you were created
• hold hope
• keep restoration
• know true love

The cost: Already Paid.  His Blood. He holds His good wares out and offers them for free.

And what do we do?

Buy the lie. (*scream*)

"They exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator himself..." -Romans 1:25 (GNT)

And our hands become so full of it, we can't even see over our chains to Jesus's offer any longer.

This was my vision this morning.  The one that made me cry these powerful-prayer-tears.  Jesus offering His blood.  And us - choosing sin instead.  It's been me. I've broken His heart too.  It's been the guy addicted to p**nography, and the girl who chose to be in the video too.  

But not everyone has made the choice to reject Him.  Because they haven't even been given a choice.  Girls and boys, before they could discover His love have been stolen and sold.  They are helpless and hopeless and they are the victims, and they matter just as much as my own daughter and son.

This is why I fight. To free them long enough to offer them that choice.

Tuesdays we fight, and today it's all about prayer-war.  I'm girded up with my Armor, are you?  Here a weapon for you, powerful against every lie:

"I was chosen and sent to help the faith of God's chosen people and to lead them to the truth taught by our religion, which is based on the hope for eternal life. God, who does not lie, promised us this life before the beginning of time, and at the right time he revealed it in his message. This was entrusted to me, and  I proclaim it by order of God our Savior." -Titus 1:1-3 (GNT)

How do we pray, and what do we pray?

1. For truth to be PROCLAIMED.  In boldness by you and by me and by all of His redeemed ragamuffins still on this side of eternity.  (see above)

2. For lies to be exposed and silenced. Truthful words stand the test of time,
    but lies are soon exposed. - Proverb 12:19 (NLT) 


3.  For hearts to be opened.   I am asking you to respond as if you were my own children. Open your hearts to us! -2 Corinthians 6:13 (NLT)

This week I found a blog written by a survivor of human trafficking  {Stones Cry}.  On this post she details how we can be praying.  Here's a portion:

"Survivors desperately need people who will pray for their healing with the conviction that, without their prayers, she may not make it.  However, knowing that prayer is important is completely different from actually praying effectively for this issue."

4. In gratitude for the victories He is already making possible as we fight, and has accomplished in many rescues, restorations, and recoveries.  Like when FreedomRocks!  :



For more rescue victories to thank your Father for, see the full stories of Exodus Road.

5.  For the roots of these lies to die.  Poverty. Greed. Exploitation. Prejudice. Fear.  ... Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. - Luke 10:19 (NLT)

Lord, today I pray as one humbled my my own refusal to receive.  I know You paid the price for me, Jesus.  And I want to receive with open hands all that you have for me.  Help me to put down every sin and hindering stronghold so that my hands and arms are ready for You and all of You.  Lord, as we pray for the victims of human trafficking, each soul You know.  Please help them to find the safety they long for.  Guide them to rescue, and give them Your healing restoration.  Send Your light and Your Truth to break down every lie and half-truth.  Show the community of freedom fighters how to fight with wisdom and zeal.  Guide us to be effective Gospel-proclaimers as we reach into the darkness with Your Love-Light.  Come against the oppressors with Your wrath and Your vengeance.  And bring them to Your grace too.

photo credit: Bill Longshaw freedigitalphotos.net

Fighting the evil root of injustice

I've been a wounded soldier. Too broken to care, too weak to fight, and too betrayed to stand.  In the middle of that, I wondered if God was ashamed of me for putting down my weapons for a season of unknown days.  When you spend time in the infirmary, healing takes as long as it takes. 

During the past year, God has brought me through spiritual rehabilitation, and I'm amazed at His love when I see just how weak I was by juxtaposing that with the strength I feel with His blood rushing though my veins.  I can't believe how strong I feel.  Can't believe the joy I have in wielding these weapons and shield again.  I'm astonished that I can do this again and I know it has nothing to do with me. Everything to do with His grace.

And so when I tell you that I fight on Tuesdays, I hope you know that I'm fighting every day.  Fighting against the devil and his evil schemes to rob me of all of this.  Fighting for my thoughts and my feelings to once again be brought under the submission of His peace (Phil 4:9).  I fight for justice, and I also fight for me.  I wage war in my prayers for my family, my husband/shepherd/leader, my family-flock, and the down-and-out all around.  Having risen from the hospital bed with a new heart, fresh with confidence and His power as my constant companion - I can't really even express how ready I am.  

Because I get to do this.

Today as we fight in prayer and awareness and action, let us once again visit our fictionalization of a real human trafficking story - that of Anna.  I'm writing her story here in 4 parts (about one per month as insert into my Tuesday series) for you, my reader.  Because I want you to know.  I want you to picture an individual soul among the 27 million victims of this horror.  Why do I want this for you?  Because God's heart is for people - one by one and all of us, and I want us to open our hands in willingness to let Him shape our hearts like His.

For Part One of Anna's Story click here

[2] ... Anna woke with a start as the bus lurched to a stop.  Three men stepped up into the vehicle and surveyed its passengers with menacing eyes full of scrutiny.  Two of them were large with rough beards and dark hair, and the other was smaller but just as foreboding as the others, with cold blue eyes and a nasty scar running the full length of his cheek.  Anna shuddered once again in fear and shifted in her seat as her stomach began to growl in hunger again.  Her lips were dry and she longed for a drink of anything.  
     "Let's go - out!" the smaller man barked.

One of the other girls, the one with light blonde hair, mustered the courage to speak. “Where are we? Is this were we get on the plane for America?”

            The blue-eyed man looked at the man who had escorted the girls and taken Anna’s papers when they left St Petersburg.  They glanced at one another and chuckled.  Blue-eyes asked, “What did you tell them, Kristof?”

            Grinning ear-to-ear, Anna’s once-trusted “friend” replied, “They’re going to America to be nannies, remember?”

            Changing his chuckle to a full-out guffaw, Blue-eyes looked back at the girl who had spoken and then clenched his teeth.  “You belong to me.  All of you.  And you will do everything I say, or I’ll send Kristof here to kill your families and feed them to my dogs.  He has your addresses in Russia, so don’t even dream of trying to run.”

            Anna shrunk in her seat and tried to stop the tears of fear running down her cheeks.  It was worse than she thought.  Her stomach began to swim, and she tried hard to swallow down all she couldn't bear.

            Kristof spoke again, this time to the five girls.  “The first gift of your new life is this,” and he held out a long rope.  The girls looked at one another in confusion. “Tie each other’s hands. The tighter the better.”

            Anna took the rope cautiously and began tying the girl next to her.  Blue-eyes took a gun out of his jacket.  “If one of you gets loose and runs away, I’ll shoot the one who tied her.  If you cooperate, I’ll give you a drink of water.” 

            Fine way to turn us against one another! Anna thought.  She tied the pretty blonde’s hands next to her while silently pleading with her eyes for forgiveness.  Horror struck all of them as they realized that without money, passports, or even a single word of this foreign, Asian language, they were absolutely hopeless.  

            The next days for Anna and the girls were worse than anything they had ever imagined a human could endure.  Once taken to an individual room that was little more than a jail cell with a small, dirty bed and one shared bathroom under constant guard, Anna was informed matter-of-factly that instead of caring for children, she would be entertaining men every night with no respite aside from a few hours in the morning to eat and sleep once the brothel’s clients had tapered.  In order to be “trained” for this work, they were subjected to repeated beatings and rapes every night for an entire week by the two dark-haired men, Blue-eyes, and Kristof.   Each night Anna pleaded for them to leave her alone and each night they were increasingly rough.  Screams came from the rooms around her and she knew without seeing that her travel mates from Russia had all been subjected to the same torture.  She stopped screaming after the third day and stopped crying after the fifth morning, as her shame and fear gave way to numb submission and hopes for death.

            Anna had lost count of the days of her imprisonment, but after what her best guess told her was about two weeks later, she overheard an American client refer to this place as Laos, and Anna began to hate herself.  Without the courage or strength to escape, she hated her body that man after greedy man stole.  In fear that Blue-eyes would be true to his threat to feed her dear grandmother, siblings, and mother to his dogs, Anna hated her memories of them that kept her from running.  She hated her light skin that caused her to be chosen first and most often every night from among all of the sex slaves.  She hated her own hands for trusting Kristof with her passport, and most of all – she hated herself for being a girl - weak, vulnerable, alone, and afraid.  Denying all hope and semblance of emotion, Anna tried to escape within the recesses of her own mind as she battled the deep desire to end her life and the nightmare she couldn't end.

... [more of Anna's story to come soon]

Human trafficking is our generation's nightmare.  More slaves are reported today than at any other time in history.  This globe cries for justice and you and I can no longer stand by and hope someone else stops it.  It's up to us.

So perhaps you're as fired up as I am, and maybe - just maybe - you want to do something too.  How about this:

India Rescue Mission and Exodus Road.  No gimmicks, just rescue.

Want to help too?  What better thing do you need to buy for $10 than freedom for a human being?

Bust 7 brothels in India, Rescue 40 girls 

Another interesting organization I found just today is fighting the root of this evil of sex trafficking: demand.  What would our world look like if God changed the hearts of men and brought them to a life of pure sexuality?  I can almost picture it.  Can you?  Maybe this will help ...

Unearthed: "The heart of the problem is the heart of the human being."

Lord, today my prayer is for all of us as humanity.  For young women and boys and girls trafficked all across this globe, I plead for rescue.  For men and women who care, I ask for courage, wisdom, and strength to fight.  Because we get to. For men, I pray for new hearts that want You more than they want the perversion our world offers.  For You - I ask You to show us how to overcome our sin so we can all glorify and thank You.  Because You really are worthy of every breath to be praising You.  I love you Jesus.  Give us faith.