27 Million Tears

By Salem Afangideh

I recently saw the movie “Lincoln” in theaters and was amazed by how much President Lincoln was willing to sacrifice to bring freedom. Often when we hear about the slave trade, its so easy to think about what we would have done had we been born during that time period. Would we have dared to make a stand for freedom? Could we have possibly been one the “Lincolns,” “ Rosa Parks,” “Martin Luther Kings?” 

Although the slave trade is over, there is still a need for the “Lincolns” of our generation to rise up and proclaim freedom. See, there are more slaves in the world today than the there were in the entire Trans-Atlantic slavery! 

Human trafficking is modern day slavery!  

There are 27 million people in the world today are physically enslaved to other people, forced and coerced into bonded labor slavery, about --- of women and young girls are manipulated and threatened into sex slavery. Most people have heard about trafficking but always think about it as some foreign country problem and while a lot of the trafficking does take place in Europe, about 100,000 people are trafficked into America every year with 27,000 American children at risk of being trafficked. 

27 million sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, parents, friends, beloved children of God, do not physically have the freedom that you and i do. The reality of this truth is what pushes me to be a law student, to be an advocate for freedom. 

Knowing that 27 million people need to be brought to freedom can be a little bit overwhelming but everyone can play a role in fighting modern day slavery. Here are some practical ways you can do something now: 

1. Be aware of the trafficking hotline number in case of any suspicious activity (18883737888). Save it on your phone.
   
2. Research about human trafficking, read books to be better informed, attend training events.
   
3. Pray for slavery to end.
   
4. Get creative with your talents and social media to tell others about the evils of human trafficking
   
5. Write encouraging letters to women just rescued from slavery with the A21 campaign.
   
6. Buy fair trade products that are made slave-free
   
7. Visit some anti-trafficking websites and partner with them. Some of the big ones are (1) a21campaign.org (2) Ijm.org (3)freetheslaves.net (4) slaveryfootprints.com (5)enditmovement.com
   
8. Support the ladies just rescued from slavery by purchasing their jewelry at nightLight international.
   

Don't let the desire to fight slavery be a burst of passion in you, but let God use your talents and gifts everyday to bring freedom to His children. We are all imperfect vessels that can be conduits of His perfect Grace to the 27 million enslaved today. We all can dry the tears of these 27 million, one people at a time, one day at a time.  Lets end slavery in our generation!