Today, February 27th, is being used as a day to highlight the scourge of modern day slavery.
Why the 27th?
For starters, best estimates of the number of slaves right now is 27 million.
That is 27 million people that don’t have the freedom to come and go as they please. People that live under fear and coercion, who suffer violence or the threat of violence daily.
They may be child sex slaves in southeast Asia or eastern Europe. It might be a family stuck in bonded labor in India, trapped on a brick kiln. It could even be an immigrant held against their will in the United States.
I’ve long advocated for the fight against modern slavery. It breaks my heart to know that their are people caught in such a horrible web. It hides in the dark, so it takes a lot of people shining the light to help expose it.
Please take a moment today to educate yourself a little on this issue. In my sidebar on the right I have listed several organizations that work in the fight against human trafficking and modern slavery.
Twitter is a great place to find organizations that fight this. Some that I know about are: @IJM – International Justice Mission @EndItMovement @NFS – Not For Sale @SavingInnocents @AgapeIntMission – Agape International Missions @TraffickingEnd @TheSoldProject @TheA21Campaign @ECPAT – ECPAT International @F2W – Free2Work @SomalyMam @Polaris_Project @Love146 @FreeTheSlaves @GEMSGirls @CNNFreedom – CNN Freedom Project
There are others out there. It only takes a minute to look one up and find out what you can do in daily life to make a difference. If nothing else, put a red “X” on your hand today. When people ask you what it means, tell them you’re shining a light on modern slavery.
Most of all, pray for the victims. Pray for those on the front lines of the fight. Pray for justice from the God of justice.
This Mission Monday is a reminder of the “27 Million” song from Matt Redman and LZ7. Check out what this song means and I’ll have more next Monday in follow up.
This Mission Monday is a reminder of the “27 Million” song from Matt Redman and LZ7. Check out what this song means and I’ll have more next Monday in follow up.
The rough estimates (rough because the criminals behind this don’t advertise their numbers specifically) for human trafficking are 27-30 million people around the world under some form of modern-day slavery.
The word is getting out more and more. My church joined with thousands of others yesterday for Freedom Sunday, and it was a great blessing.
There are many quality organizations out there who are doing work in various avenues to combat human trafficking. One such group is The A21 Campaign, with a specific focus on Greece and eastern Europe. A comment on their website suggests 80% of their work is awareness – letting people know about the problem and shining the light so that those who hide in the dark with this evil have no place left to cower.
To this end, A21 has partnered with one of the most well-known names in the modern worship movement – Matt and Beth Redman. Along with British hip-hop group LZ7, the Redmans have created a song called “Twenty Seven Million.” The video below was shot when the song debuted at the recent Passion conference.
Today for Missions Monday I have a simple request that can raise awareness for human trafficking. Go to iTunes or Amazon and download the single “Twenty Seven Million” that debuts today in the UK and Australia, and tomorrow in the US. [UPDATE: It is now available in the US!] For the price of a Coca-Cola you can get a song that stirs the soul and lets the world know that we are growing in our knowledge and desire to fight for those who are in bondage to slavery.
The rough estimates (rough because the criminals behind this don’t advertise their numbers specifically) for human trafficking are 27-30 million people around the world under some form of modern-day slavery.
The word is getting out more and more. My church joined with thousands of others yesterday for Freedom Sunday, and it was a great blessing.
There are many quality organizations out there who are doing work in various avenues to combat human trafficking. One such group is The A21 Campaign, with a specific focus on Greece and eastern Europe. A comment on their website suggests 80% of their work is awareness – letting people know about the problem and shining the light so that those who hide in the dark with this evil have no place left to cower.
To this end, A21 has partnered with one of the most well-known names in the modern worship movement – Matt and Beth Redman. Along with British hip-hop group LZ7, the Redmans have created a song called “Twenty Seven Million.” The video below was shot when the song debuted at the recent Passion conference.
Today for Missions Monday I have a simple request that can raise awareness for human trafficking. Go to iTunes or Amazon and download the single “Twenty Seven Million” that debuts today in the UK and Australia, and tomorrow in the US. [UPDATE: It is now available in the US!] For the price of a Coca-Cola you can get a song that stirs the soul and lets the world know that we are growing in our knowledge and desire to fight for those who are in bondage to slavery.
There are others out there. It only takes a minute to look one up and find out what you can do in daily life to make a difference. If nothing else, put a red “X” on your hand today. When people ask you what it means, tell them you’re shining a light on modern slavery.