21 Days of Prayer for issues of Human Trafficking...Day 11

"It takes an ignorant and stagnant community to see a prostitute; it takes an informed and educated community to see a victim; it takes a responsive and courageous community to make a difference!" Author Unknown

Day 11
The Mirror, a UK newspaper, has published an account by two young Lithuanian women of how they were trafficked into the UK. They met two men near their village in Lithuania in 2004. After a few dates they agreed to go on a short holiday to the UK with them, but when they reached London’s Gatwick airport they were taken to a coffee shop in the airport terminal itself and sold for £3000 each in full view of the public. Despite their distress, no member of the public offered to help them. The two women, now aged 19 and 21, were raped and forced to work as prostitutes. Eventually both women escaped and their traffickers Serbian-born Tasim Axhami, 19, Lithuanian Emiljan Beqirat, 18, and Vilma Kizlaite, 20 have been jailed for 21 years, 16 years and 11 years respectively. Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said, “It is unacceptable that these women currently do not get proper protection in Britain after so much suffering.”

Please pray for women being trafficked into the UK to be exploited in the sex industry . Pray that the demand for women in this country would be reduced as this is what creates the crime in the first place. Pray that men in the UK realize that the abuse of human trafficking is widespread in prostitution.

Prayer Diary available at: http://www.stopthetraffik.org/downloads/prayer_diary.pdf

Call to prayer for those caught in human trafficking

Where does one start combating the complex issues involved in human trafficking? How can one person have any impact on organized crime that is making billions of dollars and is ruthless about coercing people into doing their will? How can I make a difference? The issues are very complex but there are 2 simple things that anyone can do:

1) Become informed
2) Pray

About a dozen ReachGlobal Europe missionaries from 6 different cities are very interested in the issue of human trafficking. I think there are more that we don't know about yet. For 21 days, we are joining in prayer for God's intervention. Using a Prayer Diary available at www.stopthetraffik.org, we are focusing prayer on the issue of human trafficking. Each day has a brief news story, testimony, or some educational information and a suggested prayer request.

Day 18 highlights Prague so I have copied the information below:

Radio Prague reported that police in the Czech Republic have broken up a human trafficking ring which may have made up to $500,000 by trafficking Czech and Slovak women into sexual exploitation abroad. In a police operation which involved more than 160 officers, 16 people were arrested and charged, 8 of who are now in jail. It is not yet known how long this trafficking ring may have operated for. If proven, this will be another case of women being trafficked within the EU for sexual exploiitation, showing that human trafficking is not a problem of illegal immigration.

PLEASE PRAY FOR PEOPLE WITHIN THE EU who are trying to migrate legally, but end up being deceived by traffickers into situations of slavery.

For more information about human trafficking in Prague, you can visit ExodusCry.com where their "city in focus" for April is Prague.

I have had more response to my blog entries on human trafficking than anything else I have written about. This seems to be an issue that God is addressing and asking people to join him in. Would you consider joining RG missionaries in Europe in praying against human trafficking? Maybe you could take the prayer guide and start praying alone, with us, or in a small group of people. I believe that God leads us through prayer and He will lead as we pray for those who are caught in human trafficking.

Winter Travels 4: Amsterdam (part 1)

There is a distinct carnival-like atmosphere in the Red Light District in Amsterdam. As you enter the district, bright neon lights and signs assault your eyes. There are museums, shops, hotels, and restaurants close by. Lots of people, including couples walking hand in hand down the streets ogle "the goods" that are advertised in the windows. Unfortunately, the "goods" are about 500 window prostitutes. Horrible to imagine...yet this is only a very small percentage of the estimated 8,000 to 11,000 prostitutes in the Netherlands. There are many brothels where women are violently forced to work. Most of these prostitutes are NOT there by choice. They have been manipulated, violently forced, and even sold into slavery. Amsterdam is one of the top destinations in the world for human trafficking.

This is probably not the place for an in-depth education on the means that are used to force women into modern day sex slavery...but start reading some of the testimonies of women who are rescued from this tyranny. Click here to read a short testimony. Or get out on the street with an experienced ministry worker and you will not believe your ears.

As I entered the district, I couldn't help reflecting on the events that had led me to be here instead of listening to D.A. Carson speak on The Gospel and Good Works. Just a month ago I was at the Refugee Highway Partnership conference where I was made aware of the depth of the human trafficking problem in Europe. After doing some research on the situation in Prague and seeking out people who were ministering to women caught in human trafficking, I made it one of my many goals to connect with some ReachGlobal missionaries who had been at a particular conference on human trafficking. At this church planting conference I overheard someone talking about going to visit the Scarlet Cord ministry center in the Red Light District. I asked more about it and within 10 minutes I was in a van with the very people I had wanted to connect with. We were going to downtown Amsterdam.

The Scarlet Cord has been ministering in the heart of the red light district for many years. Started by the Association for Salvation of the People, they have been talking personally with women in human trafficking and helping them escape slavery. They raise awareness of the awful truth of human trafficking and its' effects. They do prevention workshops in the schools. They print the stories of the women in trafficking and give them a voice that both allows healing and warns others. They exist to help the women who are caught in human trafficking find freedom from slavery--physically and spiritually.

Toos, our host and guide, knew her stuff. She talked with us for almost two hours about human trafficking in Europe and the personal stories of women she knew. She shared how the Scarlet Cord ministers to these women. A startling moment for me was when she said that one of the most trafficked groups of women are Roma coming from the villages in Hungary and Trans-Carpathian Ukraine. I already knew that Roma women are high risk for being trafficked in the Czech Republic. She went further to explain that 60 % of the prostitutes in Amsterdam are from former Eastern European countries. I could see the frustration on her face as she talked about the fact that there was only one organization in Hungary that was equipped to transition women out of trafficking into a normal life.

Later, as she took us through the district itself, she pointed out where the various prostitutes came from. She pointed out the pimps, the loverboys, the different nationalities of prostitutes, the male prostitute brothels, etc. etc. etc. One of my colleagues said it well when he said he felt like she was a general walking through a war zone. She knew the terrain, the enemy, her own resources, and was ready for action at a moment's notice. She depended on the Lord to guide her every day of ministry.

The 6 of us who visited together ate supper and debriefed for a while. Each one of us had a greater knowledge of human trafficking and what it looks like face to face. I don't know exactly what God is doing but a few people are becoming aware of the human trafficking problem in Europe...and America...and Asia...and all over the world. Please take a minute to pray for God's work to be done among those who are being trafficked.

Winter Travels 3: The ghettos of Athens

refugees hanging out in Athens

brothels in Athens

"Some wish to live within the sound
Of Church or Chapel bell;
I want to run a Rescue Shop
within a yard of hell."
C.T. Studd-missionary to China, India, and Africa

To the mass of humanity that I was pushing through, I obviously didn't belong here. As I made my way through the hundreds of refugees with nothing to do but hang out in the ghettos of downtown Athens, I could see that they were from all over the world and they had one thing in common: they had nowhere to go. When I finally got to the refugee drop-in center I had to step over homeless refugees desperately covering themselves with cardboard to avoid the rain. Pushing my way through a courtyard entrance, I contorted my body in ways I didn't know were possible to avoid the 8 heroin addicts weaving wildly and holding syringes with open needles. After passing their dealer who was selling heroin openly, I noticed 6 policemen walking by checking paperwork of refugees. They were not interested in the drugs.

Just a few short blocks away from here was the "red light district" of Athens. I had already heard the testimonies of women involved in human trafficking in Athens and Thessalonica so I knew the plight of the women behind these doors where sex tourists unashamedly walked through doors from building to building.

My journey to downtown Athens to help distribute bags of food and hygiene items started because of the annual Refugee Highway Partnership Conference for European workers. I was privileged to be representing ReachGlobal Europe as representatives from all over Europe met in Athens, Greece. There was a great balance of presenting information, networking, working on committees, and serving refugees. Athens, for many reasons, is one of the largest "arrival points" for refugees escaping North Africa and especially the middle east. Because of recent political events in Iran, refugees from Afghanistan are flooding the streets of Athens.

A disturbing "highlight" was becoming aware of the human trafficking situation in Europe and making some connections between Roma ministry, Refugee ministry, and Human Trafficking. Here for the first time I was able to get a clear picture of another "highway"...the routes of trafficked sex slaves. Prague, among other cities in Europe, is an origin point, a transit point, AND a destination point for human trafficking. Traffickers in the Czech Republic deal in both prostitution and forced labor.

A member of the A21 campaign to abolish human trafficking spoke at the conference and I was glad to have a private conversation with him. The things I learned have caused me to do a great deal of reflection on how ReachGlobal can be involved in ministry to trafficked people (and traffickers). This will not be the last time I mention human trafficking. Soon, I will blog about the "coincidences" (read God's leading) that led me to visit to a minstry center in the heart of the red light district in Amsterdam.

In the meantime, if you are interested, write me to find out more. Or check out the A21 Campaign webpage at: a21campaign.org Especially note their "TAKE ACTION" section where they have listed 21 practical ways you can get involved.