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.