What will help the child trafficking problem at the bottom line?

One of the things I committed to do was to place on slavery map (http://www.slaverymap.org/) all the examples of human trafficking and modern-day slavery I could find fom Africa or about Africans. It seemed like a big commitment, but it's been very helpful because right away I began to see patterns--both geographically and in ways traffickers do things.

Recently I've been posting a group of cases in which kids from Togo were trafficked to Nigeria. Again I began noticing patterns. Most were recruited by a "waga", a member of the local community who recruits poor kids for trafficking, promising them good jobs far away for whatever purpose she knows rings most loudly in their hearts. Most got to Nigeria by a long, circuitous route, picking up other recruits all along the way. And most escaped at least once--some several times--only to be quickly re-enslaved. Many of them assumed that if they could meet someone who spoke their language they'd be safe. Not always true. Often not true.

I dreamed about it last night and woke up thinking about it this morning. Escaping only to be re-enslaved. The heartlessness of the traffickers and enslavers was wrenching. What will help hearts like that? I have been thinking about why I am so involved in fighting child trafficking. It's not just out of emotional sentiment or pity. It's because I truly believe every human being is created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). From that basis, I see human life as worthy of respect and care. We go from that basis to Jesus' commands to love our neighbors as ourselves. That expression of our faith rests on the foundation of being created in God's image. Such a faith makes human trafficking, slavery and abuse of every kind unthinkable.

Can we fight trafficking and slavery adequately without that base? We can fight it to some degree, to be sure. I've met and read many modern-day abolitionists like myself who are fighting slavery. I can't say they don't care or they aren't trying to make a contribution. They surely are. But I think that the Christian base provides a stronger, more compelling reason for any humanitarian action. If someone truly believes God created human beings special and worthy of respect, he can hardly become a trafficker or a slaver or an abuser. I think about the Togolese children whose stories I am posting now on slaverymap. How different would their stories have been if on escaping, they had found Christians who truly believed they were worthy of respect? Lord, while I fight child trafficking and modern-day slavery, help me to maintain my balance. Help me to remember what really helps the most. Help me to give adequate attention to that.