Day 18: Praying for the exploited

By Gia Hughes
LIA Director of Human Trafficking Outreach
 
Pray for the directors of a day shelter in South Asia, where teen girls receive education and life skills. Pray for reinstatement of a program designed to keep girls under the age of 13 off the streets. The program was canceled a year ago due to lack of funding, resources and staff.

"Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith." - Galatians 6:9-10

Under the age of 13 . . . .they were 9 or 10 years old possibly, or younger- most of us can’t even imagine. Sadly, we have learned what will likely happen to them if they do go back out on the streets. It is heartbreaking. Girls need time, and a safe place, to grow and become young women. There is enough concern on their minds just to survive with the basic necessities of food and shelter without being preyed upon. But in reality, another life is tragically altered.

In the United States, we have a this problem, too. Eighty percent of girls who find themselves in the clutches of sex trafficking are runaways or from the foster care system. Most already have low self esteem and feelings of worthlessness from their lives of abandonment and trauma. Sometimes their home lives are so permeated with abuse that anything would be better. They feel they have no option but to leave.

Girls on the street usually have a window of about 48 hours to be rescued before their situation turns grim. Even then, they are not always aware of what their future holds. Traffickers “court” their victims to build trust and loyalty at this vulnerable time. This is an easy open for a girl who is hungry and has nowhere to stay. Just in friendliness, he offers her the care and love she has always wanted. He knows all the right things to say and do. He builds upon his role as caretaker. When the “boyfriend” stage begins, she is trapped. She will most likely do anything he asks and if not, he will use force.

There are no easy answers or fixes. You just can’t change something that is this broken overnight. However, we do know nothing will change until people realize it is a problem; until our country wakes up to see it is here.

We, at Love In Action International Ministries, pray for the Lord to guide our every step in this matter. We only want to do what He wants us to do to change the current situation. In truth, we know real hope and change will only come when Jesus' love is poured into these young lives, whether here in the U.S. or in South Asia or anywhere in between.

But what about you? Will you allow Him to change the way you think about these street girls? Will you let Him change your heart on how to help?

Blessings!