Today my Instagram feed and Facebook scroll was filled with pictures of red x’s on hands. The captions all said something along these lines: “Shine a light on slavery. Raise your voice for the 27 million enslaved today. #EndItMovement”
I’m all about it, I am. Human trafficking is a heartbreaking, despicable thing that we can’t ignore. We should raise awareness everyday because EVERY DAY human beings (just like you, me, your best friend and your little brother) are trafficked for all kinds of reasons: sex, forced labor, forced marriage, child labor, international adoption (yes, really), organ harvesting, and more.
But today, perhaps for the very first time since this whole #EndItMovement began, today I wept as I scrolled past all the marked hands on Instagram and Facebook. Because it’s not that easy anymore. It used to be easy to do my part, to post my picture and to tell people about it who asked…but everything has changed.
Because it’s not just a red X on my hand anymore. That red X was given a face this year, the hashtag replaced by names and stories of harsh realities my red X used to make so easy.
I can’t look at a red X without seeing Geralyn on the streets in Dublin.
I can’t see “#EndItMovement” without hearing the voices of the Jaz home girls.
I can’t scroll through my feed today without scrolling through the memories of girls being sold to Western tourists for the night right in front of my eyes.
I can’t watch video montages of statistics without remembering the pain & desperation in the eyes of the children we sent away from our tables multiple times a night without money to take back to their boss.
And they are why this has to be more than writing on your hand, more than a hashtag.
A hashtag in itself is not a movement. A movement has to move, to live & breathe outside of your instagram and twitter posts. A hashtag promotes a movement, a hashtag gets people talking, but that talking HAS to get us moving. For Geralyn. For the girls in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. For the children in Cambodia and Vietnam. For the coffee bean harvesters “working off a loan” that has plagued their family for generations. For the men and women in sweatshops making the clothing you’re currently lounging around the house in.
So how do you make it more than a hashtag? How do you make that red X on your hand sink into a permanent red X on your heart? Not everyone can go and stare it in the face to confront it. So what do we do? How are we to live? Here’s a few ideas.
1. Educate yourself.
Most of you who posted pictures today have at least a general idea of the issue of modern day slavery. That’s super & it’s important to keep sharing it. Skip down a few lines if you’d like. For those of you reading this who are saying “modern day slavery, say what?” here are just a few resources.
The A21 Campaign WebsiteNot For Sale
Nefarious Documentary
Those of you who know stats, educate yourself more.
Go here to find out how many slaves work for you. The survey takes you through your home, your food consumption, your jewelry and your clothing to come up with the number.
45 is my number by the way. It makes me want to throw up.
2. Change the way you shop.
Check out free2work.org to see how your favorite brands relate to trafficking and other labor abuses. You might be surprised. Do some research into fair trade & ethical shopping – here’s a great blog to get you started. Commit to a lifestyle of less. Every time you buy something, you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want to live in. “If we continue to spend money on things that are produced by forced labor, we are devaluing our brothers and sisters and saying that our saved pennies are more important than their spent lives.” ~ Elizabeth Bricknell
3. Put your money where your hashtag is.
There are organizations who literally rescue people every day from trafficking, counsel and rehabilitate them. There are organizations who provide a way out to girls who see no way out, giving them a job and a safe place to live. You know what they need on top of your hashtag? Your dollars. Rescue operations and rehabilitation programs are expensive. Here are just a few organizations I love. Check these out or do some searching on your own to find something you connect with.
Lighthouse in Action- ThailandWellspring Living – Atlanta, GA
A21 Campaign – Worldwide
Modern day slavery isn’t something you can remember for a day and then choose to be ignorant of for the other 364 days of your life. Scripture compels us to educate ourselves and to do something. God’s heart is breaking at the thought of His children, those he made in His image, living in bondage.
And last but certainly, certainly not least – 100,000 years from now it will not matter if a woman running a sewing machine in Phnom Penh, Cambodia is rescued if she is not offered the spiritual freedom only Jesus can give. Jesus is the only one who can set them truly free, and He has set us apart to deliver this message of hope.
So as you shine a light on slavery, don’t forget that what these precious souls – from your neighbor enslaved to her insecurity to the teenager in a foreign country enslaved to a pimp – need deepest is the light of Jesus, the light that you carry inside of you.
