Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. (Psalm 82:3)
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| 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:
Kaleo Kids and Dunamis
(Thanks to Pastor Phillip Gonzales for his insight on the story in Judges...)
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