Day 5: Praying for the exploited

By Gia Hughes
LIA Director of Human Trafficking Outreach

Pray for Christian workers as they encounter spiritual darkness in red-light districts. Pray that the Spirit will strengthen them as they persevere to share the Gospel.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. - Ephesians 6:32

From my post yesterday, we can see how spiritual darkness has overcome in these red-light areas. Sin is rampant with no moral consciousness at all. This makes me think of a room that is pitch black, where you can see nothing. Aimlessly, you wander, reaching out for anything that feels familiar. You cannot see what surrounds you. You hope to find your way as you stumble around. But then, in the distance, there is a flicker, a small opening where light breaks through. Although small at first, your eyes immediately become fixed on it. The darkness fades away and your eyes become focused. Your path becomes clear in the light. --- Jesus is the light that can break through any darkness.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” - John 8:12

This morning, the Lord placed such a heavy burden on my heart for a friend; to offer her encouragement and love; to be His light. It was overwhelming. I could not think or function until I did what He wanted me to do. As I returned home the song “We Are”, by Kari Jobe, began playing on the radio. The words speak volumes, I hope you will listen. Here's a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8cX6SHtxeE

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." - Matthew 5:14

We are up against a great darkness in our broken and dying world. We must continue to be His light.

Blessings!

Day 4: Praying for those trapped in human trafficking

By Gia Hughes
LIA Director of Human Trafficking Outreach

Pray for commercial sex workers who are attending church in one red-light district in Thailand. Pray God will give them courage to share the Gospel with their co-workers and families.

". . . but (Jesus) said to him, 'Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.'” Mark 5:19

Many times I hear people say that their witness is in how they live their lives and they don’t actually have to speak it for people to know. You’ve heard that saying, “You may be the only Bible some people read… You may be the only Jesus some people see.” As believers, it is extremely important in how we carry ourselves and in the way we live, but throughout the Gospels Jesus commands His people to “tell” or “proclaim” or “preach.” That is a command to be verbal.

In the above scripture verse, Jesus is not speaking to a preacher or an evangelist; he is speaking to the one He had just delivered. While this man did not have a history showing he knew Jesus by his lifestyle, he could immediately tell others of the one who had come and changed him. It is true that our world looks at us, waiting to see our mess-ups and our failures and use them to promote their disbelief in Christ. However, we cannot continue to justify that “only right living” is the path that will allow others to meet our Jesus face-to-face. We have to introduce them to Him. We have to let them know what the Savior has done for us. We - the believers, the transformed, the delivered --- have to “tell.”

A red-light district is part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theatres, etc. Prostitution is illegal in Thailand, although officials with commercial ties accommodate and even promote it for financial gain. The following excerpt is by Bethany Brueggen as she and other missionary students served in a red-light district in this country in 2010. It gives us insight to the very ones these sex workers are called to “tell.” (Location of prayer need undisclosed.)

“I'm trying to figure out the best way to explain the flashing red lights, the ladyboy prostitutes, the "girls for sale" signs, the streets lined with pole dancers, the broken women, and the lonely, desperate men of Phuket, Thailand. I can't. There is no way to adequately communicate and convey the depravity and perversion that I have seen the last two nights in the bars here. I have seen families with young children walking down streets filled with prostitutes. I have seen girls walking with their boyfriends into strip clubs and married couples hanging out with prostitutes. I have seen fathers with their sons laughing about picking out girls for the night. I have seen bars where they raffle off a girl every night. You can buy a cheap ticket and if your name gets pulled, you win her for the night.”

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” - Romans 8:32

We all need Jesus and to hear of His great love for us. I thank you, Lord, that these sex workers in Thailand have found you among their demoralizing conditions. I thank you that you give courage to all who ask so we/ they can go tell.
Is there someone you need to tell?

“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” - Acts 4:29

DAY 3: Praying for the exploited

By Gia Hughes
LIA Director of Human Trafficking Outreach

Pray for Jerry and Nima.
They are commercial sex workers who have professed faith in Jesus but remain confused and in pain. Pray that God will give them an "undivided heart" to follow Him.

Confusion is defined as the lack of clearness or distinctness. Even when the physical bondage of sexual slavery has been broken, many victims are held captive by their minds. The emotional and physical scars of their past continually haunt them. The mind game within the trafficking trade is extensive.

As I thought about this and how our minds have so much control over our actions, I remembered a story shared by Acton Bowen, our speaker for the Wired Youth Conference this past summer. I have his permission to share it with you.

From his lunch meeting with a Special Ops Member- this team member shared:

Four missionaries had been captured in a country that the U.S. did not have diplomatic ties with. They were being held in a 10 x 10 foot pit and given only enough food to keep them alive. There were no bathrooms; they were forced to live in their own excrement. His team had been assigned to go in and rescue the captured. They had found the exact location and had only five minutes to get in, rescue the missionaries and get back out.
The day came. The Special Ops team members were outfitted with cameras so the missionaries’ families at home could watch. Unknowing to them at this time, during the three years of the missionaries’ captivity, the captors would play mind-games on the men and call into the pit and pretend to be their rescuers. They would release them from the pit and as they ran almost reaching the fence that would be their freedom, the captors would fire at them, recapture them and throw them back in. This went on time after time.

Physically distraught and mentally worn down, the missionaries decided that the next time it happened, they would not go. Instead they would lock their arms and put their heads down.
Exactly as planned, the team was dropped into the location, found the pit and called down to the missionaries, “We are from the U.S. and we are here to rescue you”. The missionaries locked arms, bowed their heads, and didn’t move. The team members were stunned. They called again, same response. “We are out of time", said the officer in charge, “We have to get out.” This team member responded that he couldn’t leave them like that, so he took off his pack and got in the pit with them. He looked them in the face and said, “We are here to rescue you.” This finally broke through to one of the men. He told the others, the enemy would not endure the filth and get in the pit with us. They are who they say they are and they were then rescued.

They had been so battered and broken down over time that their thoughts almost cost them their freedom. Trafficking has this same kind of stronghold on the minds of its victims. The circumstances that many are forced to endure to lead to their total submission wreaks havoc on their thought processes.

John 8:36 says; “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” I am thankful for Jerry and Nima and for all others who choose to place their trust in Christ. If they will allow the Holy Spirit to continue to reveal God’s s truths to them, their minds will be set free as well. They will be able to follow Him with a whole heart.

Jesus has already endured the filthy circumstances of our lives and gotten into the pit for us to say, “I am here to rescue you.” Have you trusted in the One who can set you free?

Pray for those exploited by human trafficking

This is written by LIA volunteer Gia Hughes. Among the many things Gia does with LIA, she is director of our Human Trafficking Outreach. Please join us this month in daily prayer.
 
  By Gia Hughes
LIA Director of Human Trafficking Outreach

Day 2- Pray for those who are abused, abandoned and vulnerable to exploitation. They are women, men and children.

We, at Love in Action International Ministries, have been meeting with our local branches of law enforcement recently to become more educated and aware of what human trafficking looks like in our community. We are thankful for these men and women who put their lives on the line to protect and serve us, and who endure the forces of evil each day. One story we heard, though, is so unsettling to my heart and mind over the depths that evil will go to destroy. As a mother myself, I don’t want to even fathom the why, or how, or how could she?

“A mother repeatedly sold her 6-year-old child for money to buy drugs . . . to have whatever done to them . . . until this child was age 13.” That is seven years of being sold for sex. This child was in bondage; bondage from the very one who should have protected him.

This was not in the slums of LA or NYC or in a foreign country. This was here in my city. Oh, my heart cries. We too often look the other way and do not know or see what goes on around us. We are busy. We don’t have time to get involved. That just happens on TV. While shows like NCIS, Cold Case, CSI, etc., are entertaining and can educate and inform us, I think a lot of times they desensitize us to the very nature of the evil that surrounds us.
Statistics show that many hurting, abused and abandoned children end up being trafficked. They know no other life and don’t always know what they are doing is wrong.

When our son was in elementary school and was having a hard time with another child, we asked him to first look past the actions of what the child was doing before he got angry in return and see if there was something else going on in this child's life. Sure enough, his parents were going through a divorce, and although he didn’t say it, his actions screamed it. Children will not always speak about what they are going through, but we can sometimes hear their hearts cries if we open our eyes and ears and our hearts to theirs.

Abused. . . Abandoned . . . Vulnerable. . . It is not their choice.

“The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.” - John 10:10

There is life, hope, healing and restoration in Jesus Christ.

28 days of prayer for human trafficking victims

This is written by LIA volunteer Gia Hughes. Among the many things Gia does with LIA, she is director of our Human Trafficking Outreach. Please join us this month in daily prayer.

As an American, I recognize this Labor Day and I am thankful for the work that has been given to me over the years. But with that, I can’t help but think about those who are being forced into a work not of their choosing. My heart cries for them!

Human Sex Trafficking is plaguing our nation! It is stealing our children! The movie “Taken” sheds some light on this horrendous crime, but too many people may take the wrong message from it. First: that it only happens in foreign countries; and second: that good always prevails. While it is true that it occurs extensively in foreign nations, it is also very much alive right here in the USA. It is in your area--- it is in mine! Because we may not see it exactly as it is shown on tv, we think it doesn’t exist where we are. Don’t be fooled, it IS here! And in reality, only 1% of victims are ever rescued! . . . 1% . . . That means that there are 99% that are still being victimized! Of the 100,000 American children that are exploited each year and sold into sex slavery, 99,000 are still trapped! My heart cries for them!

I realize that many people do not understand this vile and debilitating offense. I didn’t either until the Lord laid its’ severity on my heart and I started researching it. He also brought it to light that it does happen here, in our city, when an arrest was made recently! With the knowledge we are given, we are called to action. As a part of Love in Action International Ministries, we want our community to be aware and informed; to know the signs, to know what to do. We want to protect our young people and give them the knowledge to make wiser choices. We want to do our part! We want to do what the Lord calls us to do! We have already been working towards this the past few months, but starting today and for the next 28 days, we will be praying over a specific area related to trafficking as passed down by the International Mission Board. (Thank you, Amy, for getting these together and passing them along).

Please join us in prayer as we move forward to combat this evil in our area and in our nation. We can make a difference! Today, Day 1- Read Genesis 16 and Genesis 21- focus your prayers on the exploited.

Remember: no young person just wakes up one day and chooses to prostitute themselves. It is not something they have dreamed about growing up and becoming. In a vulnerable moment, something happened, which trapped them mentally or physically or both. I pray as a nation we will open our eyes and our hearts and hear their heart cries!

It is an injustice! It is heart-breaking! It is not their choice!