Does a Watched Pot Boil?

“Did you know that child sex trafficking is huge in the Philippines?” I asked my Filipino friend.

“Yeah, and the people accept it,” she responded.

My conversation with my friend might shock you. It may cause you to ask or even scream, “Accept it? How can anyone accept it?” If I hadn’t just returned from a conference on sex trafficking and sexual abuse, it may have shocked me too and caused me to ask the same question. But I’ve learned that sex trafficking and sexual abuse are complicated issues. And these issues live and thrive in cultures where people are busy doing life, caring for their needs and for the needs of those around them, trying to survive one day at a time. Just like me. Just like my culture.

So I begin my journey, in the fight against child sex trafficking, by asking Jesus for a humble heart. You see, although I don’t think the US is at the point of accepting child sex trafficking yet, I am keenly aware that I and my nation are like the frog in the pot of water, with the temperature rising, and it could reach the boiling point—without me ever noticing.



The International Justice Mission, an organization devoted to eliminating sex trafficking world wide, has two offices in the Philippines and many others scattered across the world. Check out their website at http://www.ijm.org/ They are making a difference in this fight. Consider joining them.

So What

So what did you do about it?” I asked. “You were both alive at the time.”

I was seated at the dinner table across from my parents, an indignant adolescent, demanding an answer. We had just studied the Holocaust in school that day, and I was sure that if I had been alive during World War II, I would have done something about it. How arrogant.

Last night I attended the opening meeting of a conference, The Biblical Call: A Christian Response to Human Trafficking & Sexual Abuse. I learned that we have more slaves now in our world than we did in the four hundred years of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, many of them children, many of them sex slaves.

I’m alive. This is now.  So what am I going to do about it?

This afternoon I’m going to learn from the experts what I can do about it. So stop back next week, and I’ll let you know.

A Brothel Song

He enters the darkened room and checks for the exits just in case he needs a quick getaway.

“Would you like a drink?” A small girl asks.

“Yes,” he replies. He’s not a drinking man, but if he doesn’t drink, they might notice. He must blend in, just another foreigner, just another client ready to make a deal.

It's 11:00 PM. A child takes the stage. The only lights in the room blaze down on her. Her small eyes disappear as she squints toward an audience she can’t see. She adjusts her short skirt to hide her skinny legs from the many eyes that lust over her small scantily clad body. The music plays. Her voice is weak, but she sings. Knowing what will happen if she refuses; she holds the mike close so she can be heard above the music blaring from the karaoke machine. An American love song penetrates the smoke filled air. She sings tender words no one has ever spoken to her, tender words she may never know.

“You like?” The Mama San asks. Her hand touches his shoulder as she attempts to strike a deal.

“Yeah, I like.” His words taste bitter, but his jaw remains firm. He won’t let the Mama San notice. He refuses to let her see. Because if his plan works, the little girl on the stage will be singing her last song in this brothel tonight.



Today I listened to Tony Kirwan, founder of Destiny Rescue, describe a scene much like this one. Destiny Rescue exists to free children from sex slavery. Tony and others go undercover in countries such as Thailand, at great personal risk to themselves, all because they believe that every child deserves a childhood.

Now this momma believes passionately that children deserve a childhood too, but I can’t go to Thailand. However, I can support people like Tony. Check out the Destiny Rescue website and consider taking the 26 Second Challenge. I did. It was simple.

And together we can help Tony free another little girl from singing a brothel song.

Hide or Seek

When I played Hide and Seek as a child I preferred to hide than seek. I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps there was a little budding control freak evolving inside of me even then. I felt more in control when I hid. Perhaps it's because I'm far more right brained than left. Hiding involves creativity. Finding requires logical thinking. Or perhaps it's because, when one plays Hide and Seek, many hide and only one seeks. As a child, it was easier for me to belong to the group than stand alone.


When it comes to the subject of child sex trafficking I'd rather hide than seek. I know why, and I’m sure you do too. We probably share the same reasons. And, if you are like me, even as an adult, it's easier to stand in a group than to stand alone.

Today, I’d like to challenge you to seek rather than hide. Find some time over the next couple of days to watch this movie, The Candy Shop. It will take you to the dark side of child sex trafficking, but here’s the thing—it won’t leave you there. It will stir your heart and motivate your soul.

And together we will seek and find that what is hidden in the darkness, when brought into the light, will leave us standing together. Not alone.



Thank you.