Not Doing Good, Part 1

I've been trying to ignore something for months because it's sad. More than sad, really. It's heartbreaking and horrific and completely unfathomable in my neat and tidy life. I've been ignoring it because it doesn't affect me. It's not part of my life.

And so over the past 9 months to a year, I have actively found ways to avoid the issue of human trafficking--specifically the area of sexual exploitation. I have refused to read Sold by Patricia McCormick because of the content, even though the book comes highly recommended. I've avoided thinking too much about blog entries like this one because I might have to admit that people actually live that nightmare day in and day out. My theory has been if I don't think about it, I can pretend it doesn't exist.

However, that hasn't worked out so well for me. God has been persistent in tugging on my heart strings. First there was the song When the Saints by Sara Groves. It's a fabulous song, but those two lines "I see the young girl huddled on the brothel floor, I see the man with a passion come and kicking down the door" convicted me every time every time I heard the song. Then there was the movie Slumdog Millionaire. God used it to get me thinking back in March. During the summer I came across blog entries like this one about a community in Thailand.

Early this summer I finally became willing to acknowlege the problem (what a gross understatement!) of sexual exploitation. While I would like to ignore the issue, I know for the women and children who are victims of the sex slave trade it's not an option to just ignore it. They have to deal with the nastiness and horrors of sexual exploitation every single day.

Now that I've acknowledged the problem, the next step is doing something about it. I've spent the majority of the summer doing nothing. And that my friends is going to change.

"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."
James 4:17