Poem...

This is a poem I wrote dedicated to all those innocent people victims of modern day slavery and human trafficking.

Alone in a bedroom—

Alone in a life I did not want—

I did not choose—

I do not need.

My soul is scarred and my heart is broken.

Mouth taped shut—

Arms bound—

I cannot move

But my soul stretches forth its weary hand.

I look to heaven—

save me.

Erhin Jackson © June 15, 2008

Summaries

Hey All,

Let me know if any of you want those summary sheets to the book by Zach Hunter called Be the Change. I can print some more copies and bring them to our meetings. I am now reading and working on another summary sheet for David Batstone's book, Not for Sale. This is a great book to read about this issue and it'll be very useful to have.

Phoneraiser.com

Used cells for cash! I've registered the church with Phoneraiser. This environmentally friendly fund raiser helps organizations raise much needed funds by getting old cell phones out of the house and recycled properly according to FDA standards. Check out the web site for more details
-We'll talk about this on Wednesday evening.

What a difference small change can make

I Just wanted to keep the whole "quarter2change" thing in context.

It might be important to list as one of our goals the importance of the "quarter" (.25)

We have been talking about how this little coin is one inch long and if laid out end to end in a line one mile long the amount of change would equal over $15,000. I would like to encourage all of us to use our imagination by seeing each quarter laid end to end by people from our community-All ages, nationalities, language groups, men, women and children linking arms for real change by placing any length of Quarters end to end for a day.

Just think, one inch at a time: people who have learned about the abominable practice of human trafficking who now, not only are enraged over the practice but who also desire to make a change. In one day much needed funding can be raised to assist with providing a home for recently rescued slaves here in America. The funding can be used to raise awareness in communities, college campuses and high schools. Let me ask you this question; Is the gravity of this issue is beginning to weigh heavier on you with each moment you think about it? Well, it is for me. Little by little I am beginning to understand just how important freedom and liberty are to those who have none. I'm also understanding that to whom much has been given much more will be asked (Luke 12:48).

So let's see how we can raise the issue of ending human trafficking first through awareness and then through action. I commend all of you for your desire to learn more about this travesty. I also commend all of you for opening your heart by opening your mouth and beginning to speak freely about this injustice. Now, let me encourage all of you to begin to fervently pray. Pray for strength, direction, personal convictions, repentance, and of course for the victims. God's idea of a true religion is one that cares for widows and orphans while keeping ourselves pure (James 1:27). We are reaching out to those who have been sold into orphan-hood and are now in need of homes and families. As the psalmist wrote:

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. (Psalm 68:5-6)

Let's be a part of what God is all about by staying clear of the sun-scorched land and living to live in the day of partnership with God in setting the lonely into families.

Astounding Stats

The other day I was reading Not for Sale, a book that Colleen let me borrow to read, by David Batstone. In the intro of the book, a few stats jumped out to me that I would like to share with you all. According to a 2004 UN study called Ten Million Children Exploited for Domestic Labor, a list was created containing the amount of children slaves in five specific countries:

• Indonesia: 700,000
• Brazil: 559,000
• Pakistan: 264,000
• Haiti: 250,000
• Kenya: 200,000

I, personally, was taken back when I saw these numbers. I couldn't believe that in Indonesia alone the amount of children slaves are higher than the amount of people living in four American states and terrorties. This is a staggering number and it is a lot to fathom. I hope that this little, yet very large list of statistis is just another motivation for all of us to move forward with this great and worthy cause to help fellow men, women, and children while changing the world.

Would I have been someone who
Would help fuel the slave trade,
Without knowing how to be someone
To make a change instead?

Would I have sold my daughter
To help pay for my life,
Without caring what
Would become of her’s instead?

Would I have thought twice
Before buying a cigarette,
Knowing that I would be helping
A child lose his childhood to hard labor?

Would I have paid 50 dollars
To pick up a prostitute,
Knowing that through her beauty
Lays a face of the abused?

Would I have sat at my computer
Watching things my wife wouldn’t approve of,
Thinking about how to prevent this
Instead of thinking when to click to the next site?

Would I have been someone
To take that young daughter,
And fulfill my own needs
Instead of loving her like her father should have?

Would I have asked these things
Without knowing these things do happen,
Or would I have asked these things
Without knowing that I am the change?


Matthew Jackson © 2008
Age 14

Counting the Cost

Price of a human - $90

Yearly trafficking profits - $32 billion

Ending traffficking and slavery - PRICELESS!