Innocence Atlanta

We went to another great Emergent Cohort last night.

The topic was sex trafficking, in particular, the trafficking of young girls who are sold into sexual slavery. A women from
Innocence Atlanta informed us that Atlanta is number 1 city in the nation for sex trafficking due to the airport.

We mainly talked about the causes and possible solutions to this problem, but the one true story the Innocence Atlanta representative shared at the beginning was truly terrifying and heartbreaking. She told us of a young girl and her sister kidnapped from Moldovia, rapped, beaten, (the sister died) then trafficked from Europe to New York. Like many others this girl was sent to work all over the country, it keeps them from forming bonds. She was forced to service 20 men a day and her life was constantly at risk. When she finally managed to escape she as recaptured several times, beat again and again, and finally died in the hospital before the rescue agency could get to her.

The story is told in full here.

It makes me ashamed of all the spiritual navel gazing I've been doing. While spiritual questions are important, there are so many lives at risk today that I need to re-evalute my priorities. My husband and I are looking at ways to support the work being done by Innocence Atlanta.

In the past, I've felt that I had to help people because it was what God wants, now I want to help people because my heart is breaking for them.

Let your heart break for those in need. Then take action.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I heard about trafficking when I was in Tanzania. It is a terrible thing.
February 5, 2008 at 10:17 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eating SDA Style

(This is an essay I wrote for part of a Cultural Memoir Assignment) One former Adventist friend of mine always says, “It was the table that fed me” in referring to our shared Seventh-day Adventist background. My friend was referring to the morals, values and spirituality of Seventh-day Adventism that we still hold onto, even though we disagree with the Church in many ways. I, however, can’t help but think of feeding in the literal sense. Seventh-day Adventism did truely feed us, but in very unusual ways. Seventh-day Adventists have something they refer to as the “Health Message.” Just like the Mormons we have our very own prophet, only she was a woman and not a polygamist. Ellen White encouraged healthy living and vegetarianism in the Seventh-day Adventist church. In many ways this has been a blessing to the church. Adventists who follow the health message are some of the longest living folks in the nation. On the other hand it has brought a spirit of legalistic infighting ove...
Read more

Penguins and the Big Bang

I have become a neophyte science geek. When I started my journey away from Adventism I didn't realize I would become a nerd. Initially all my thinking was wrapped up around moral and spiritual questions. As I became more comfortable in my own semi-buddhist agnostic skin an unintended side-effect took place. I blame it on The March of the Penguins. I saw this movie with my Kindergarteners. Without my creationist goggles on I really started to marvel at how the penguins came to be. I researched penguins for quite awhile afterwards. Then I started researching amphibians for a thematic unit. I must have watched this video of the Surinam Toad over and over again. Sooo gross but soooo cool! Next I blame auto-tune. For some reason I was watching videos that had been auto-tuned and I came across this one with Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking. Funny but strangely moving. Then i started reading about the vastness of space and the galaxies and the big bang. Radio Lab has b...
Read more

Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire

On June 15 I got a letter in the mail stating that my name had officially been removed from the membership rolls of the Seventh-Day Adventist church per my request. It was a nice form letter, very respectful of my choice, and I give the church kudos for it. So, just a few short days latter the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists rolled into my town, and so did many friends and family members, some from ages past. Of course I had to go to the GC. You don't often get the chance to catch up with so many people from various stages of your life. That part was wonderful. The exhibit hall was wonderful too, with lots of color and sound and pretty display booths, many which were promoting amazing things like health outreach, ministry to the poor (Go ADRA!!) and general "light unto the world" kind of stuff. I went to the first weekend's Sabbath service with a family member who was staying with us. The Sabbath School was fairly uplifting and it reminded us to re...
Read more