Pimped-Out

    There are times in your life when you come across a need that appears to be so overwhelming, so deep, so devastating, and so pervasive, that you would rather turn a blind eye to it and ignore the enormity of the problem altogether. Sometimes an issue can appear so massive that our meager efforts seem pointless, like aiming a squirt gun at a forest fire.
    27,000,000 slaves being trafficked worldwide. Are my efforts really going to do any good?
    25,000 girls in the Chicago area, under the age of 16, sold as sex slaves by their pimps multiple times every night. Some of these girls are as young as 10 years old. The average starting age for a prostitute in Chicago is 12.
    When it’s a 132 billion dollar industry, second only to illicit drug sales (but gaining rapidly), and when there are so few arrests and prosecutions to impede it’s growth, what could possibly stem the tide? Me? Can I really do anything?
    Yes, you can. One life, one girl at a time.
    William Wilberforce thought that way. Slavery worldwide was at it’s apex and his homeland’s economic system was built on it’s success. But it was morally evil and he could not hold back from speaking out. Despite tons of criticism, much of it from other leaders in his church’s denomination, he poured his life into changing the mindsets of average people, and thereby affecting British law. It was due to Wilberforce’s efforts, which flowed from his commitment to serving Jesus, that led to the end of slavery in the British Empire in the 18th century, and also through his influence in America, that brought it down in the civilized world a generation later.
    But that was then.
    Today, more people are bought and sold than during the height of the African slave trade.
    But yes, there are some things we can do.
    First, we can stop turning a blind eye to it. We can change our perspective on those caught in prostitution, understanding that most of them were sold into it at a very young age and know little of life beyond it. We can see them for who they are, victims of the malicious manipulations of evil people. We can view the pimps differently. They are portrayed in too many movies and TV shows as harmless, often humorous, business people who are out a little over the legal edge. They are not. They are slave masters who use physical violence, drugs, and a multitude of other psychopathic means to control young girls for their own enrichment and the girls’ destruction. I can no longer use the popular idiom, "pimped-out".
    We can turn our legislatures on to the problem. A big hurdle the law enforcement community faces is the legal code, which protects the johns and the pimps, while labeling the victims as perpetrators. One reason human trafficking is increasing so dramatically is because it is so difficult to catch and prosecute with any real deterrent factor, those who are the root cause of the problem, the pimps and the johns. If everyone who is disgusted with this crime were to write state and federal representatives, laws would change and prosecutions would begin to make a difference.
    And we can support ministries that are devoted to helping those caught in the trafficking web to restart their lives with purpose, meaning and hope. We have one such ministry office right down the street from our church. These ministries, such as STOP-IT and PROMISE, need our daily prayer support, financial support, and eager volunteers. You may be able to do all three. I’m sure you can do at least one.
    So it is an enormous problem. But there are also some things we can do. I believe this is possibly the scourge for our generation to do something about. And that starts in our church this weekend. I trust you will be there.