In This Issue: The Problem of Human Trafficking – Books, Ministries, Online Resources
Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!
Resource Reviews, edited by Marti Smith, are published once a month.
The Problem of Human Trafficking
“‘Fortune’ magazine annually lists the 500 richest people; no one knows the names of the 500 poorest.” (Philip Yancey, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?”)
What do we know about the world’s poorest people? Some of them are those who not only have nothing, but find themselves the property of someone else. They are caught in the modern slave trade. Today, 200 years after the abolitionist movement made its greatest advances, slavery is far from abolished.
Activists estimate that three times as many people live in various forms of slavery now as did then. UNICEF says that more than 1.2 million children are “trafficked” each year.
Can we, as world Christians, do something about this? I’m stirred to learn more about this issue and seek ways to make a difference. This edition of Missions Catalyst focuses on resources that understand and respond to this tragedy. Please feel free to contact us with feedback or suggestions.
BOOK – Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade and How We Can Fight It
By David Batstone (text below from WorldChristian.)
With 2007 bringing the 200th anniversary of the climax of the 19th century abolitionist movement, the world pays tribute to great visionary figures such as William Wilberforce of the United Kingdom and American Frederick Douglass for their remarkable strides toward framing slavery as a moral issue that people of good conscience could not tolerate.
This anniversary serves not only as a commemorative date for battles won against slavery, but also as a reminder that slavery and bondage still persist in the 21st century.
Trafficking in people has become increasingly transnational in scope and highly lucrative. After illegal drug sales and arms trafficking, human trafficking is today the third most profitable criminal activity in the world, generating $31 billion annually.
Human trafficking enslaves as many as 27 million people around the globe, half of them children under the age of eighteen. In this book, award-winning journalist David Batstone profiles the new generation of abolitionists who are leading the struggle to end this appalling epidemic. He carefully weaves the narratives of activists and those in bondage in a way that not only raises awareness of the modern-day slave trade, but also serves as a call to action.
Harper San Francisco, 2007, 301 pages. Price: US$11.96 plus postage from WorldChristian.
Other books on this topic and available from WorldChristian include:
– This Immortal Trade, by Baronness Caroline Cox (2007)
– Terrify No More, by Gary Haughen (2005)
– Good News about Injustice, by Gary Haughen (1999)
– William Wilberforce, by Kevin Belmonte (2007)
– The Wilberforce Connection, by Clifford Hill (2005)
– Real Christianity, by William Wilberforce (2005)
MINISTRIES – Responding to Human Trafficking
Stop The Traffik is a global coalition of organizations (currently more than 300) working together to fight against people trafficking through advocacy and education. Materials below are designed for a British audience but most would work in other contexts.
– For ideas on how to be involved, click here.
– Lesson plans for youth groups are found here.
– For additional materials for churches, click here.
– Resources for teachers (designed to fit UK national standards for primary schools) are available here. [Note: links removed July 2009]
Polaris Project provides direct services and shelter to survivors as well as working to pass legislation and build grassroots support to end modern slavery. Polaris works in the US and in Japan.
International Justice Mission is a human-rights organization that rescues victims of violence, oppression, exploitation and slavery, documents and monitors abuse and oppression, and educates the church and public about such abuses.
SEE ALSO:
– Set All Free
– UNICEF
– Anti-Slavery International
– The Salvation Army
Several of the ministries listed above include short video presentations on their web sites and/or have videos one can purchase to use with groups.
As we mentioned in a previous set of Resource Reviews, the World Evangelical Alliance has developed resources to accompany “Amazing Grace,” the recent film about the abolitionist movement. See, for example, Ten Things You Can Do To Help End Slavery.
Questions? Problems? Submissions? Contact publisher/managing editor Marti Smith.