The Sound of Freedom movie is having a lot of success at the box office despite resistance from certain circles and subtle (and not so subtle) attempts to thwart its showings. You may have already seen the movie. I certainly plan to, but have to be in the right prayerful state as this is not a blockbuster movie designed for escapism and entertainment. The powerful reality of the dark message conveyed about child trafficking can crush one’s spirit, create rage, or make one calloused; none of which are helpful to the cause to fight this evil.
A number of years ago, God led me into this dark world through a complete stranger and a local organization. Wanted nothing to do with this madness, my preference was to keep an ‘out-of-sight, out-of-mind’ mentality, like an ostrich with head in the sand. It was scary, evil, and perhaps dangerous. Fighting this pull with tooth and nail, the Spirit kept pushing with more nudges and out-of-the-ordinary encounters than could be numbered. The doors remained opened and stepping through seemed no longer a choice.
Second Life Chattanooga was a anti-human trafficking organization led by former Pastor, Jerry Redman. He currently is the Director of Street Grace Tennessee, a faith-based organization that “utilizes evidence-based demand reduction strategies to eradicate the commercial sexual exploitation of children…” I met with Jerry a decade ago in a Starbucks downtown and we discussed the opportunities to get involved with the awareness arm of the Second Life organization (the other arms were law enforcement and social work). The extraordinary successful model of this organization has been adopted across much of the southeast region.
Over coffee, Jerry asked what drove me to reach out to him. Strangely enough, it started with an interview of a potential student for the Athletic Training graduate program where I work. When I asked the interviewee why she wanted to become and athletic trainer, without hesitation, she stated to help put an end to human trafficking. I nearly fell out of the chair. Never has there been an answer like that in over 15 years of conducting interviews, nor has there been in the 10 years since. Her goal was to become an athletic trainer in the National Football League, using pro-athletes’ influence to get the word out about human trafficking. As we dove deeper into the conversation, she related that every year, approximately 10,000 women and children are “shipped” to the Super Bowl a week in advance to be subjected to every form of human wickedness.
Left speechless and nauseated by the possibility that this could be occurring right under our noses at a sporting event we eagerly watched as a family every year, I hit the research hard on the topic. Was she accurate in what she said? The information uncovered was unthinkable. Not only was the Super Bowl issue true (as well as with other major events), Chattanooga had its own homegrown trafficking and was not just a transfer hub from Atlanta or Nashville.
Back to Jerry. He laid out for me all the possibilities for involvement, yet he sensed my strong hesitation. Perhaps it was the shade of green I had turned. After a period of silence and a long sip of coffee, he looked me dead in the eye and said, “The words of red in the Bible tell us that following Jesus will not be easy; we are assured a difficult journey, not a rose garden” (John 16:33) He said something after that, but the shocking sting of conviction blocked the ability to think or hear.
After a few days of prayerful contemplation, hoping that God would close this door, it became evident that that jumping in had to happen. Additional meetings with Jerry resulted in two objectives that he needed assistance with: 1) To help Second Life Chattanooga get their foot in the door on the University’s campus, and 2) To increase awareness in faith-based communities. Sadly, he related that the greatest resistance to human trafficking awareness initiatives comes from within the churches.
Three and a half years was the time it took to meet both objectives. During that time, the learning kept growing through anti-human trafficking meetings and events. There was no doubt in my mind, that all people are fallen and essentially wicked. We are all one decision away from doing something incredibly good and amazing or evil and devastating. Without Jesus, there is no hope for mankind. We are desperate for His merciful cleansing and saving grace (Romans 3:23).
The Department of Homeland Security (HLS) was involved with a number of these events, providing invaluable information about cyber-bullying, dangerous phone apps, and the deep dark web to name a few. God used this learning to share with others through a series of presentations and articles within the athletic training professional association. One of the articles was co-authored with an HLS FBI agent on cyber-security in hopes that athletic trainers would educate teenagers, young adults and families on the dangers of certain platforms being used by predators to “hook up” with unsuspecting young ones. These platforms are used by traffickers as well as they seek out ‘low hanging fruit.’ God also opened doors for staff members from Second Life Chattanooga to present on the University’s campus. They, along with HLS representatives, met with pastors and presented to parents in the Chattanooga area. The point in all of this is that none of these things were by my doing, but occurred as a result of God’s work through a willing (or perhaps better said, eventually willing) vessel. When we step into obedience, which is often difficult to do, the Lord will do amazing things, through His power and for His glory (Jeremiah 9:23-24; Matthew 5:16; Romans 11:36; Ephesians 2:10: 1 Peter 4:11).
This all occurred during a season of writing. I’m no poet, but somehow the words came together from these experiences that resulted in a poem which was posted on a anti-human trafficking website under a different title. The poem and all of the related experiences have been weighing heavily since the release of the Sound of Freedom movie. Attempting to write this week’s post about the Jewish Feasts of God resulted in delays and roadblocks with detours that led back to trafficking. Surrendering, the poem was back up on the monitor, read and revised with the sense that it was supposed to go into this post. Hopefully it displays the compassionate heart of Jesus, and how our hearts should be towards those in bondage through human trafficking and for all those who have suffered any form of abuse. We are also to forgive and pray for the abusers. They are merely tools being used by the Enemy. They made a choice, but they too are in bondage in desperate need of Jesus.
You Are Not Without a Voice
For sacred treasures taken; malevolence that defiles and destroys. Find solace in the God who sees you, you are not without a voice.
The Lord never abandons His sheep; He knows each dear heart by name. Tenderly lifting the poor in spirit, sweet child, your suffering is not in vain.
Vile souls attempt to erase you, enslavement crushes allusions of freedom. Shaken, but not defeated; eternal life and liberty found in His Kingdom.
The multitudes deny such evil exists; they will answer to the Risen King who stands victorious. Omnipotent, anointed, sovereign, invincible; His wrath upon those who cause these little ones to stumble.
Is it possible to forgive someone whose blood runs cold? An enemy – a betrayer of the innocent, Whose heartless and abusive hands, destroy dreams like castles on drifting sands. Embrace the light of Christ; let your faith in Him not waiver. Love Him with everything you have, the Almighty King, Healer, and Savior.
Forgiveness is not impossible and results in transcending peace. The Word will guide you to love and trust again. Vengeance belongs to the Lord; He is the One who holds the keys.
When hope for a hero wanes; your help comes from above. The throttling pain of a shattered heart is no match for His tender, perfect love. So beautiful are you in His eyes; princes and princesses, royal, beloved, set apart. The power of the Gospel of grace transforms; life in Messiah mends broken hearts,
We ask and pray for your safe release, to be greeted with resounding rejoice. For some such earthly freedom will never be; our hearts mourn that you have no choice. Through the God that created you, the Son who saves you, The Spirit that resides in you, and the saints who intercede tirelessly for you, You are not without a voice.
M.A. Colston
Strangely, as powerful as the drive was to get involved in the awareness efforts, when the two objectives were accomplished, the conviction to keep pressing into this ministry immediately stopped. Then came the guilt about not remaining involved (a slick tactic of the enemy to render us ineffective). At the same time, calls from Second Life stopped as they were starting an internal reorganization process. Yet, the struggle to get past what seemed to be ‘ministry fickleness’ was real. Thankfully, godly wisdom from my husband related that God opens doors and closes others. “Mission accomplished; it’s time to move on,” Jon said. In God’s abundance and faithfulness, the impact went beyond the two objectives. God then closed that chapter for a new one to begin. It was only a short time later that out of nowhere, and in an equally bizarre fashion, the Jewish people were heavily on my heart and constantly before me. What on earth was I supposed to do with that? I’ll save that story for another post. 🙂
Thank you for reading and enduring the dark nature of the topic. Light dispels the darkness, Darkness has no light. We need the light and with grateful hearts, have the light of Jesus in us if we have accepted Him as Lord and Savior. This solid foundation enables us to withstand the storms that come our way and to sometimes intentionally jump into a storm. Evil may shake us but will not defeat us when our lives are in Messiah and His Spirit dwells in us.