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.
Showing posts with label child trafficking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label child trafficking. Show all posts
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
ECM Gets Involved in Fighting Child Sacrifice, Ritual Abuse
When Resty, the coordinator of ECM’s Gayaza Sponsorship Project in Uganda visited her sister recently, she told me she had my training on child trafficking fresh on her mind. So when she learned that a village woman had just rescued a three year old child who was discarded in a sack, she was immediately interested. As she learned to do in her training, she began to ask more questions, to look deeper.
When she learned what had happened to the little girl, she knew she had to get involved. The baby had suffered horrific ritual abuse in a traditional shrine, including having her undeveloped canine teeth cut out of her jaw, undoubtedly for ritual purposes. Her head hung to one side and her neck looked rotten, signs that she had probably been tied up around the neck. Then she had nearly suffocated when stuffed alive into a bag and discarded. She was found nearly drowning in her own feces, and seemingly near death.
In God’s mercy, a kindly lady found the little girl and did everything possible to rescue her, cleaning her up and seeking medical treatment at a hospital in spite of that fact that the child seemed not to see, hear or make any sound, and that all her joints had stiffened, including her backbone. The foster mother named the child Hope Tereza, and cared for her valiantly in spite of the fact that she had two other children to care for, one of them also unable to speak, and that her tumbledown hut leaked badly.
As the police began to search for the parents, two men showed up threatening the foster mother. It turned out that these men had kidnapped the child eighteen months previously and had used her as a sacrifice for rituals in a traditional shrine. The police then were able to locate the parents, who had nearly exhausted all their resources, even selling their land in their search for their missing child. The police have advised the family to leave the child in foster care for the time being while the parents settle some family issues. The girl’s original name was Resty, the same as the ECM worker who has been helping her.
ECM is now helping the valiant family who rescued the child as well as to the child Resty herself. We’ll call her Resty Hope to combine the two names. We have given assistance from our Rescue Fund, but we now need additional help. If we pull together, we believe that this family should be the beginning of a new sponsorship program in the Masaka District. We are seeking sponsors not only for Resty Hope, but for the two other children of the foster family. We also need special funds to help meet Resty Hope’s special needs and to get the new Masaka program started. In addition, our staff are working with all stakeholders to develop informative skits for public use that will show parents how they can protect their children against the growing problem of child sacrifice in Uganda. Gifts will also be accepted for this program.
Resty Hope’s joints are becoming less stiff with therapeutic massage, she seems to be seeing and hearing, and she is now able to smile. It is believed that a cerebral palsy chair would help her.
I remember being impressed recently as I watched a video recently of Gianna, a young woman who suffers cerebral palsy induced by the late term saline abortion by which her mother sought to end her life. She was born alive but damaged by the saline, and has become a mighty advocate of life. (You can watch her at www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPFhCNOuQ. If you have difficulty, just go to youtube and type abortion survivor in the search box.)
Like Gianna, Resty Hope, may never again be normal (although we acknowledge God’s ability to heal). But even if she is never normal, God must have very special plans for her life. Who else could have sent a woman who had such a heart to help her, just when she was at the point of death?
Let’s all join together in praying for Resty Hope! Those who wish to help can designate their gifts for one of these projects when giving to Every Child Ministries at www.ecmafrica.org.
When she learned what had happened to the little girl, she knew she had to get involved. The baby had suffered horrific ritual abuse in a traditional shrine, including having her undeveloped canine teeth cut out of her jaw, undoubtedly for ritual purposes. Her head hung to one side and her neck looked rotten, signs that she had probably been tied up around the neck. Then she had nearly suffocated when stuffed alive into a bag and discarded. She was found nearly drowning in her own feces, and seemingly near death.
In God’s mercy, a kindly lady found the little girl and did everything possible to rescue her, cleaning her up and seeking medical treatment at a hospital in spite of that fact that the child seemed not to see, hear or make any sound, and that all her joints had stiffened, including her backbone. The foster mother named the child Hope Tereza, and cared for her valiantly in spite of the fact that she had two other children to care for, one of them also unable to speak, and that her tumbledown hut leaked badly.
As the police began to search for the parents, two men showed up threatening the foster mother. It turned out that these men had kidnapped the child eighteen months previously and had used her as a sacrifice for rituals in a traditional shrine. The police then were able to locate the parents, who had nearly exhausted all their resources, even selling their land in their search for their missing child. The police have advised the family to leave the child in foster care for the time being while the parents settle some family issues. The girl’s original name was Resty, the same as the ECM worker who has been helping her.
ECM is now helping the valiant family who rescued the child as well as to the child Resty herself. We’ll call her Resty Hope to combine the two names. We have given assistance from our Rescue Fund, but we now need additional help. If we pull together, we believe that this family should be the beginning of a new sponsorship program in the Masaka District. We are seeking sponsors not only for Resty Hope, but for the two other children of the foster family. We also need special funds to help meet Resty Hope’s special needs and to get the new Masaka program started. In addition, our staff are working with all stakeholders to develop informative skits for public use that will show parents how they can protect their children against the growing problem of child sacrifice in Uganda. Gifts will also be accepted for this program.
Resty Hope’s joints are becoming less stiff with therapeutic massage, she seems to be seeing and hearing, and she is now able to smile. It is believed that a cerebral palsy chair would help her.
I remember being impressed recently as I watched a video recently of Gianna, a young woman who suffers cerebral palsy induced by the late term saline abortion by which her mother sought to end her life. She was born alive but damaged by the saline, and has become a mighty advocate of life. (You can watch her at www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPFhCNOuQ. If you have difficulty, just go to youtube and type abortion survivor in the search box.)
Like Gianna, Resty Hope, may never again be normal (although we acknowledge God’s ability to heal). But even if she is never normal, God must have very special plans for her life. Who else could have sent a woman who had such a heart to help her, just when she was at the point of death?
Let’s all join together in praying for Resty Hope! Those who wish to help can designate their gifts for one of these projects when giving to Every Child Ministries at www.ecmafrica.org.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
THE VALUE OF A CHILD, EVEN A GIRL CHILD
I just found out yesterday that I am going to be a Grandma for the dozenth time. Our oldest daughter Carrie is expecting her seventh. As we drove home from Carrie's I envisioned myself cuddling and loving that new baby we are soon to welcome in our family.
I couldn't help also remembering things I'd read recently about what is done to babies in some parts of the world, especially if they happen to be girls. (I couldn't help but think about that since so far, Carrie has five girls and only one boy.) I read that some mothers feed their newborns rice with the hulls still on, so that the rice will slit the newborn's throat. For economic reasons, mind you. Families can't afford the huge dowries that are required by their custom.
I thought about parents in some parts of Africa where our mission, Every Child Ministries, works, who sell their children into prostitution to gain a few dollars, give them as slaves to idol shrines, sometimes just to obtain a good crop or success on some business venture, sell them to traders to serve as bonded labor, diving into the river to gain a few oysters to sell.
What is the value of a child? As a Christian, I see every person at every age from the moment of conception to the grave, at every shade of ability and non-ability, of every color and language and culture to be made in the image of God, carefully crafted by His hand. That's what it says in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. "So God made man in His own image. In the image of God created He him, male and female created He them" (Genesis 1:27). If people don't believe this, if they believe human babies are just animals or biochemical machines, then I can understand how it is that they treat life as cheap. For them, they can treat children as economic pawns to be bargained for their own comfort and convenience. For me as a Christian it is not so. As a Christian I value human life because God made us all special and gave to us a unique dignity in His creation.
That's the underlying base that has caused me to become a mother to millions. That's the reason I "adopted" my BIG African family. And it's the reason we will welcome Carrie's baby. And it's the reason we will vote Pro-Life in the upcoming election. The value of a child can never be overestimated.
I couldn't help also remembering things I'd read recently about what is done to babies in some parts of the world, especially if they happen to be girls. (I couldn't help but think about that since so far, Carrie has five girls and only one boy.) I read that some mothers feed their newborns rice with the hulls still on, so that the rice will slit the newborn's throat. For economic reasons, mind you. Families can't afford the huge dowries that are required by their custom.
I thought about parents in some parts of Africa where our mission, Every Child Ministries, works, who sell their children into prostitution to gain a few dollars, give them as slaves to idol shrines, sometimes just to obtain a good crop or success on some business venture, sell them to traders to serve as bonded labor, diving into the river to gain a few oysters to sell.
What is the value of a child? As a Christian, I see every person at every age from the moment of conception to the grave, at every shade of ability and non-ability, of every color and language and culture to be made in the image of God, carefully crafted by His hand. That's what it says in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. "So God made man in His own image. In the image of God created He him, male and female created He them" (Genesis 1:27). If people don't believe this, if they believe human babies are just animals or biochemical machines, then I can understand how it is that they treat life as cheap. For them, they can treat children as economic pawns to be bargained for their own comfort and convenience. For me as a Christian it is not so. As a Christian I value human life because God made us all special and gave to us a unique dignity in His creation.
That's the underlying base that has caused me to become a mother to millions. That's the reason I "adopted" my BIG African family. And it's the reason we will welcome Carrie's baby. And it's the reason we will vote Pro-Life in the upcoming election. The value of a child can never be overestimated.
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