"You May Choose To Look The Other Way..."

Randy Alcorn:

When you see something evil, you see the reality of it. There’s no going back or denying it. That’s the way it should be anyway. I would apply that to something like sex trafficking. You read about it and watch a film of some of the things that are happening. You see it devastating the lives of children who are being used in such horrific ways. There should be no turning back. 

The same is true when you see children who are dying of hunger and diseases that are treatable, or kids that need clean water. Once you see that, there should be no denying it. 

And, of course, the big overlooked area today is abortion. I encourage everyone to look online at pictures of aborted children. It’s horrific. (A wonderful ministry called Abort 73.com has produced a simple two minute video showing the objective truth about abortion.)  

But from that point forward when you see the truth, you should never go back. We should always speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Read the rest.


Books by Randy Alcorn:

• Heaven
• If God Is Good: Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil
• Money, Possessions, and Eternity
• The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving (LifeChange Books)
• Heaven for Kids
• Safely Home

Eight Ways To Protect Your Child From Sexual Abuse

I hate even having to post a post like this but sadly I think it is quite necessary and will be increasingly so as we continue to live in a pornographic world. Lindsey Holcomb writes well here. Click over to her post to see her explanations.

1. EXPLAIN TO YOUR CHILD THAT GOD MADE THEIR BODY.

2. TEACH PROPER NAMES OF PRIVATE BODY PARTS.

3. INVITE YOUR CHILD’S COMMUNICATION.

4. DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN GOOD TOUCH AND BAD TOUCH.

5. DON’T ASK YOUR CHILD TO MAINTAIN YOUR EMOTIONS.

6. THROW OUT THE WORD “SECRET.”

7. IDENTIFY WHOM TO TRUST.

8. REPORT SUSPECTED ABUSE IMMEDIATELY.

Isn’t Porn Harmless?

Justin Holcomb:

There is a myth that porn is harmless. “It’s just a few consenting adults, doing what they want with their own bodies,” the thinking goes.

But this simply isn’t true. In reality, pornography is deeply involved in the exploitation of women and children as well as being destructive to its consumers. Porn is much more than an individual decision—it is part of a system that preys on women and children, and its viewers are participating in, contributing to, and being shaped by that destructive, enslaving system.

Here are the points of his post.  Go over and check it out.

• Porn Fuels the Sex Trade
• Porn Shapes Sexual Desires
• Porn Exploits Child Sexual Abuse Victims
• Porn Supports “Rape Culture”
• Porn Hijacks Children’s Sexuality
• Porn Limits Men

I know that most men who battle porn understand the darkness that lies underneath the porn industry.  I would readily admit that it is horrific.  But that knowledge alone is not enough to cause them to turn aside from the web pages.  

How do we actually sever the root cause of this sickness in our lives?  It's a complex answer but I would recommend these resourcess as a great place to start.  

Books

• Joshua Harris, Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is): Sexual Purity in a Lust-Saturated World (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah, 2003). 
• Randy Alcorn, The Purity Principle: God’s Safeguards for Life’s Dangerous Trails(Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2003). 
• John Piper, The Dangerous Duty of Delight
  God and the Satisfied Soul (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2001). Amazon | WTS Books(audiobook)
• William Struthers, Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain(Downers Grove: IVP, 2010). 

Articles on the Web

• Thomas Chalmers, “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection“
• David Powlison, “Breaking Pornography Addiction” (Part 1; Part 2)
• Tim Challies, “Sexual Detox: A Guide for the Married Guy” and “Sexual Detox: A Guide for the Single Guy

Accountability Software

• Covenant Eyes

Sex-Trafficking at The Super Bowl

Justin Holocomb has a good post over at the Resurgence blog about this issue.  Often I have no clue how in the world anyone could ever get involved to put an end to this horror.  Justin lists some good practical ways.  

1. Get informed and inform others. A recommended reading list can be found here.
2. Read Rid of My Disgrace to earn about the effects of sexual assault and sex trafficking and the hope and healing for victims found in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
3. Support organizations fighting trafficking:
• International Justice Mission
• Not For Sale
• Unearthed Pictures
• Abolition International
4. Get involved
5. Be an informed consumer
6. Join a local or state anti-trafficking group

If you live in Wisconsin like me, check out 5 Stones.  It's a great ministry seeking to raise awareness for sex trafficking in WI.  

Read the rest of Justin's post.  

Another Profile on Human Trafficking in the US

Read it and be educated.  Slavery is alive and well in this country of ours.

(HT:  Shawnda)

The Face of Modern Slavery

NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF:

In my last column, I described a frightened seventh-grade Vietnamese girl who was rescued in a brothel raid that Somaly and I participated in. That raid in the town of Anlong Veng has already had an impact, for six more brothels in the area have closed because of public attention and fear that they could be next. And the seventh-grade girl is recovering from her trauma at a shelter run by Somaly, where a girl named Lithiya has taken her under her wing.

Lithiya, now 15, is one of my favorites in “Somaly’s army,” perhaps because she wants to be a journalist and has taught herself astoundingly good English. Trafficked at age 9 from Vietnam, Lithiya was locked inside a brothel for years before she climbed over a wall and escaped. Now a ninth grader, she is ranked No. 1 in her class.

Srey Pov, Lithiya and Somaly encountered a form of oppression that echoes 19th-century slavery. But the scale is larger today. By my calculations, at least 10 times as many girls are now trafficked into brothels annually as African slaves were transported to the New World in the peak years of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

So for those of you doubtful that “modern slavery” really is an issue for the new international agenda, think of Srey Pov — and multiply her by millions. If what such girls experience isn’t slavery, that word has no meaning. It’s time for a 21st-century abolitionist movement in the U.S. and around the world.

Read the rest.

The Redemption of a Sex Trafficker

Jacob's Story from Unearthed on Vimeo.

3 Lessons Learned from an Ex-Porn Addict

Michael Leahy from Scratching the Surface on Vimeo.


Covenant Eyes Blog:

Several things strike me about Michael’s testimony.

1. The Escalation of Porn Addiction

Michael is not alone in his story. Many people confess to the downward spiral of watching pornography. What starts with curiosity turns into a habit and then becomes an obsession. What starts as soft-core turns to hardcore. What starts as pictures on a screen turns to a desire to act out these fantasies with real people.

No, not all escalate the same way, but research shows the more porn we consume, the more we want to consume it.

2. The Personal Cost of Porn Addiction

Michael’s story of personal loss is heart-breaking. He understands firsthand how pornography feeds a warped understanding of intimacy. He also understands firsthand how pornography can destroy a marriage.

“Free porn” is a misnomer. Pornography always costs somebody something. In Michael’s case, obsessively watching pornography cost him almost everything: his sexual sanity, his marriage, and his children.

3. The Social Cost of Porn Addiction

One of Michael’s main messages as he travels from church to church, from campus to campus, is this: Regardless of how much one uses pornography, it is, by its very nature, exploitative and dehumanizing. If men want to stop being a part of the problem and starting being a part of the solution to sexual exploitation in our culture, then they need to stop buying into the glossy media that equates a person’s worth to their sexual prowess or the sum of their body parts.

An Exhaustive Report on Planned Parenthood

The Witherspoon Institute:

An in-depth investigation of Planned Parenthood by Americans United for Life, the nation’s first pro-life public-interest law and policy organization (where I serve as Senior Vice President and Senior Council), demonstrates that abortion is central to Planned Parenthood’s business. The AUL Report, however, uncovers much, much more than just the importance of abortion to Planned Parenthood operations. It reveals Planned Parenthood practices that are irresponsible, dangerous, and fly in the face of the organization’s claims of dedication to women in need of medical services.

AUL’s Report pulls together in one place, for the first time, a litany of scandals associated with Planned Parenthood, demonstrating the breadth and persistance of the organization’s abuses. The Report shows that the “fuss” about Planned Parenthood is currently, if anything, about far too little. What follows in this article are just a few examples of the many reasons, all documented by the Report, why state—and federal—legislatures are (and all Americans should be) rethinking their dedication to Planned Parenthood.

The conclusion:

Planned Parenthood claims to be a “trusted health care provider,” but the AUL Report clearly shows that there is little to trust about Planned Parenthood. Even so, the Report only scratches the surface. Congress should use its power to investigate Planned Parenthood futher and determine, once and for all, if it deserves our support, our loyalty, and our money. Until Planned Parenthood answers for its behavior, the surprise is not that the people of Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, and Texas want to take away their funding, but that Planned Parenthood has not already been stripped of taxpayer dollars throughout the nation. Slowly but surely, Americans will become aware of how little Planned Parenthood deserves our trust, our respect, and our tax dollars. It is time to consider if you really know about Planned Parenthood.

If you would like to learn more and read the complete report published by AUL, please visit www.aul.org.

Read the rest.  

The Candy Shop: A Sex-Trade Fairytale

From the Covenant Eyes blog:

A fairytale about child sex trafficking? Yes, a fairytale. That’s exactly what The Candy Shop is: a short fantasy film that aims to fuel the growing anti-slavery movement in Atlanta, Georgia.

Atlanta is the number one city in the U.S. for child sex trafficking, and number 10 worldwide. Approximately 500 young girls are trafficked and 7,200 men pay for sex with adolescent females in Georgia each month. Director Brandon McCormick greatly wrestled with these facts: how could so many children be victims of sex crimes no more than 20 minutes from his home?

McCormick got involved with a group called Street Grace which works to unite churches with public, private, and social sectors to abolish the sexual exploitation of minors in Atlanta. Wanting to use his talents as a director and storyteller to shed light on this issue, his group of talented film makers at Whitestone Motion Pictures put their heads together to create The Candy Shop.

Presented in a dark steampunk style, The Candy Stop is a pre-depression-era Hansel and Gretel. Doug Jones (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) plays The Candyman (picture Willy Wonka meet Pennywise the Clown). Townsfolk are curious about the new candy shop and the dark figure greeting men at its door selling decorated lollipops, but it’s young Jimmy (played by Mattie Liptak) who discovers the The Candyman’s secret. Deep the basement of his shop is the Candyman’s magical machine that turns little girls into tasty treats.

There are many layers to this cinematic parable. “Candy,” of course, has its own sexual overtones in American culture. But more than this, the film shows how when young girls enter The Candyman’s machine—i.e. the underground sex trade—they are turned from human beings into commodities, something to be bought, sold, and consumed. The use of a machine in The Candyman’s dirty work is also a very fitting parallel to the Internet, which not only facilitates the buying and selling of children, but also fuels the demand for consumer-sex through the proliferation of pornography.

At one point in the film, Jimmy is tempted by The Candyman to join him in his exploits—much the same way young men are lured into a pimping lifestyle on the streets of Atlanta with the promise of money and power—but after one of Jimmy’s own friends is trapped by The Candyman, Jimmy sees through his cellophane lies and takes action.

In a way, you might say each film-viewer is Jimmy: will we choose to become consumers in the sex business with our flippant mouse-clicks (or worse), or will we choose to become activists? When will we take a stand?

• Support the Stop the Candy Shop campaign.
• See photos from the Stop the Candy Shop campaign premier at the Fox Theater in Atlanta.
• Watch behind-the-scenes footage from the making of The Candy Shop.
• Watch “How to Stop the Candy Shop” from Public Broadcasting Atlanta.
• Watch Abolition, a documentary about Atlanta’s sex trade from Innocence Atlanta.

The Candy Shop Trailer from Whitestone Motion Pictures on Vimeo.


The whole film here. No sexual content but it is dark.


The Candy Shop from Whitestone Motion Pictures on Vimeo.



Here for a short documentary on sex-trafficking in Atlanta GA.

She’s 10 and May Be Sold to a Brothel

Nicholas D. Kristof:

M. is an ebullient girl, age 10, who ranks near the top of her fourth-grade class and dreams of being a doctor. Yet she, like all of India, is at a turning point, and it looks as if her family may instead sell her to a brothel.

Her mother is a prostitute here in Kolkata, the city better known to the world as Calcutta. Ruchira Gupta, who runs an organization called Apne Aap that fights human trafficking, estimates that 90 percent of the daughters of Indian prostitutes end up in the sex trade as well. And M. has the extra burden that she belongs to a subcaste whose girls are often expected to become prostitutes.

The conclusion:

...it is surreal that these scenes are unfolding in the 21st century. The peak of the trans-Atlantic slave trade was the 1780s, when just under 80,000 slaves a year were transported from Africa to the New World.

These days, Unicef estimates that 1.8 million children a year enter the commercial sex trade. Multiply M. by 1.8 million, and you understand the need for a new abolitionist movement.

Read the rest.

The Bikini Barista and My Own Heart

Wendy Alsup:

Understanding how the curse has played out in my own heart has helped me understand my culture as well. On my drive to the grocery store, I pass a bikini barista coffee drive-through. I wonder what desires prompted her to take that job. Is it the affirmation she gets from a stranger leering at her as he orders his coffee? If so, how long do the feelings last, and how does she feel about herself when she goes to bed at night? Did she take the job simply for the money? Was her own view of her mind so little that she didn't think she had anything but her body to use to earn income?  Chances are, that's just the tip of the iceberg of the ways she'll let men treat her. She stays chained to the toilet lapping up the waste with the water, either unable to free herself or unaware that there is anything better.

Read the rest of this post as her main point is further fleshed out.  

LiveAction.org Continues to Uncover The Horror of Planned Parenthood

Here is the next video from a Planned Parenthood in the Bronx.  Click here to read about this one.  Here is the video:



If an organization is willing to aid in the murder of millions of little humans every year, it's not that hard of a jump to aid in sex trafficking.  We shouldn't be so shocked.

Unearthing Sexual Exploitation

Unearthing Sexual Exploitation from Unearthed on Vimeo.


The Resurgence:

Here at the Resurgence we've been pushing to educate the church about sex trafficking. Pastors Mark Driscoll and Justin Holcomb were recently interviewed for a documentary on human trafficking by Unearthed.

Facts:

• The average age of entrance into sex trafficking is 13 years old.
• Members of every country and ethnic group perpetuate these crimes.
• 27 million people are trafficked globally.
• There are few places to put people who come out of trafficking.
• Few people are aware of this massive issue.

 For more info:
What is human trafficking?
Unearthed pictures
International Justice Mission
Love 146

Sex Trafficking and the Gospel in Seattle

This is a great example of word and deed ministry.

Rescue The Girl

Sexual Slavery on Main Street

Elissa Cooper, writing for Christianity Today:

For 72 hours last fall, FBI agents and local police targeted truck stops, casinos, night clubs, and adult entertainment spots in 36 American cities to rescue teenagers being trafficked for sex.

During the October raids, law enforcement rescued 52 minors (children under age 18) trafficked into either prostitution or adult entertainment. Nearly 700 people, including 60 pimps, were charged. Since June 2003, the task force has recovered 886 minors from the sex industry. The raids have resulted in 510 convictions and $3.1 million in property seizures.

Despite these victories, new research indicates that the sex-trafficking problem in the United States is more widespread and more severe than previously thought.

Read the rest.  

Child prostitutes Rescued in US

Praise the Lord for this justice being done. Read about it here.

Porn Again Christian

Mark Driscoll has released his full book, Porn Again Christian. You can read it here for free. I would encourage anyone who has struggled with sexual lust in any way to consider this short book.

This Made Me Want To Throw Up... But You Need To Watch It

JT:

John Scanlon at Culture11 reviews the new film, Call + Response (trailer below), about the movement to abolish sex trafficking.

**UPDATE**
Read an interview with the director of Call + Response here.