The Weak, the Fatherless, the Poor, and the Oppressed.... and My Response

Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. (Psalm 82:3)

The Team and I in Moldova, October 2010, working with Phillip and Chrissie Cameron at Stella's Voice

Tonight, some of my friends and I discussed the account of Israel in Judges 19.  It's a tough story.  It's the sin of the movie "Taken" in Bible times.  It's vulgar, painful, brutal, and ugly.  It's a modern day horror story.  

I have read it before, but life's twists and turns have given me a totally different perspective.  A big supporter and promoter of anti-trafficking movements and causes, I read the account last night and asked God: "What did this woman do to deserve that treatment?"

The answer? Nothing.  She didn't deserve the treatment at all.  

Then why?  I want to ask God this question.  OK, I did ask God that question.  "Why did You allow her to be used and abused like that?"  

My friend Phillip Cameron feels the same way about the ugliness of trafficking.  When telling his account of a girl named Stella (read the full account here), he says "I just can’t come to terms with the callousness and systemic wickedness that permitted such an awful thing to happen to anyone..."

I don't have the answer to this "why" question whether it is regarding this unnamed concubine, a girl in Moldova named Stella, or any other people that are currently being used and abused in hell holes all around the world.  All I have is anger for the act.  All I can do is pray for protection for those who are not protected, mourn for the hurting,  and beg God, in His mercy, to shut down the evil hand that compels those acts.  

My meeting was difficult tonight, because I came away with another perspective, but my heart still hurts.  My throat was still swollen with choked-back tears as I read the story with my friends again and thought of the people I've heard first-hand stories of in Moldova, in Florida, and in Ecuador, all on the brink of death after similar encounters with this evil.  

I can be positive every day and search for good in everything, but there is no denying the fact that evil exists in this world in very real ways to people I see every day.  Don't mistake my search for joy in life with my realization that this pain is a very, very, real thing to many, and it is not fair.  

So I have a choice.  Where do I go from here?  What do I do with this burden?  Well, I tell you about it.  I make you aware of this hidden, yet common, brutality, and that there is no excuse for the behavior.  I continue supporting and promoting movements, causes, and organizations that fight trafficking (see some links below).  And I look for every opportunity I have to stand up for the weak and wounded, while trusting in the power of God to apply justice where justice is due.

And until heaven, I do what I can to see others find freedom that, truly, cannot be found except by a miracle of an All-Powerful God.  

Please, PLEASE, help fight the cause of the weak, the fatherless, the poor, and the oppressed of our generation.  

Useful Sites:

Humantrafficking.org

Kaleo Kids and Dunamis

New Hope Trust

One Way Out Ministries

Southwest Florida Human Trafficking Coalition

Stella's Voice

US Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP)

(Thanks to Pastor Phillip Gonzales for his insight on the story in Judges...)

A Dowry Downfall

I just found this video online via ABC News.  Please pray for the country of India and the oppression of women and girls that happens simply because of the cost of a dowry.  And please do what you can to support organizations that help combat abortion by making way for other options such as adoption.


From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

- Crystal

Women Pregnant With Girls Pressured Into Abortions in India - ABC News

Redemption (II)

Redemption is such a powerful and soothing word.  Redemption implies that someone has done something wrong, and that they do not have what it takes to make things right.

Psalm 49:15 NLT
But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave.

Redemption in this life means I have done something worthy of death itself, yet I don't have to die.  Not because I am so powerful to avoid death, but because someone has paid the price I owed.  This someone is God through Jesus Christ. 

Oh, how desperately I need this redemption all too often.  I need to be redeemed from myself!  Plus, I don't want to live a life of doing things wrong. 


I've grown up in church and done my best to follow God my entire life.  I've realized how bad of a person I am on my own, and how much I need Jesus as my eternal savior.  And I have accepted Him as such.  Yet I still do wrong.  The decision to accept salvation has not made me exempt from being human.  I need redemption just as much as the next person.  I need help to make good decisions and to quickly forgive those around me. 


We're all headed for the same place - a courtroom.  And nothing will be hidden here.  HOWEVER, if I chose Jesus as my attorney, my records are sealed, and the accusations against me are blotted out.  Any objections to my innocence are overruled when I've repented and been redeemed.  Redeemed.  This is my judgment.  I have been found in the wrong, but I have been redeemed.  And this is why, as a Christian, I can say, "I am set free".

Follow Up: America and Illicit Industry

This is a follow-up blog from my post on September 28th, 2011.

Dare I say I'm proud of American families?  Well, I'm certainly thankful to God for conviction He placed on the hearts of families that "play" together.  And yes, by "play", I mean "watch t.v.". 

The notice recently came out about NBC's TV show "The Playboy Club", being cut after just 3 episodes.  According to Reuters, the Parents Television Council stated, "We're pleased that NBC will no longer be airing a program so inherently linked to a pornographic brand that denigrates and sexualizes women".

Here's the full article from Reuters:  Parents Television Council Crows About 'Playboy Club' Cancellation

For the record, I'm no follower of the Parents Television Council, and so I don't promote their work in general.  I appreciate what they've stood for in this instance, though.

Here's the call from Parents Television Council to its followers regarding 'The Playboy Club': 
Stop NBC Airing [of] The Playboy Club

Most of television is driven by numbers, so we're told.  I wouldn't disagree.  But, I'm not naive enough to believe that God had no part in it.  I'm also not naive enough to believe that Satan is no longer king of the earth.  I am, however, gutsy enough to believe that people are still moved by the things that God cares about - whether they know this as the reason or not. 

Inside each of us is a place where God, alone, can fit.  And in this God-spot, there is a piece of His spirit infusing us with Him as we allow Him to do so.  It's a spirit-transfusion, and it's constant.  This is the place where the injustice of allowing degrading t.v. shows and abusive situations continue is questioned and is fired up.  This is  the place where, when we've located it within ourselves, we know that we can make decisions based on what we know to be true there. 

There's a God-shaped hole in all of us
And the restless soul is searching
There's a God-shaped hole in all of us
And its a void only He can fill

-Plumb, God-Shaped Hole 

 

America and Illicit Industry

Just found this quote on a Yahoo! article, a comment made by LeAnn Rimes' husband Eddie Cibrian, a star in the new t.v. show "The Playboy Club":

"When we come on to the set, we get transformed into this world that we're trying to bring to America, to kind of give a glimpse of what it was inside this Playboy Club. So it's fun," he said.*

I have no hate for Mr. Cebrian.  Perhaps it is because I have been out of America, and seen the ugliness of illicit industries such as pornography, but this statement saddens me greatly.  Is this the voice of America: to make pornography a bigger part of our world?  An actor's words are heard and seen by untold numbers of people.  Is he speaking for America?  He is not speaking for me.

But if I turn on my t.v. and watch this show, I am supporting not only the show, but the actor, the director, the writers, the network, and the message.  I cannot knowingly support such.  Not when I've seen young children and women who are thrust in the middle of sex slavery, heard their terror stories, and seen the devastation it's causet them.  It's unthinkable.

Have you ever seen the movie "Taken"?  What happens in this movie is real.  This happens to hundreds of thousands of females every day all over the world.  Most of them end up in America.  We're already in a bad spot.  Why make it worse?

Because this world is fueled by the intentions of a fallen angel.  And the allure of fame, fortune, and power are too much for some to walk away from.

So what can I do?  I can not watch the show.  I can post this blog.  I can explain to people why I won't watch the show if it comes up in conversation.  Most importantly, I can pray to combat the root issue: the intentions of that fallen angel. And I can rest in the promise that the One who speaks through me is even greater than the one who is using Mr. Cibrian.

And knowing that you, as a reader, may have no interest in the ethical dilemma this presents, look at the economical.  Hypothetically, say you indirectly participate by watching this show.  You pay the salary of the director and all other entertainment participants, you pay for the ideas from the pimps, you pay for the abuse to the enslaved, you pay for their voyage to America.  Then, you pay for their healthcare, their housing, their potential drug usage (as many are forcefully addicted by the traffickers), their recovery, their usage of public facilities, and, very quickly, their death costs.  You lose money overall, because you think you're only paying for a cable bill or an internet bill now, when you are the one who foots the bill for their cost of living eventually.

"...every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.... You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them."    I John 4:3a,4-5



*See the full Yahoo! article here: Eddie Cibrian Defends LeAnn Rimes: She 'Eats More Than I Do Sometimes'