Dispatch #6 from Lausanne: Dr. Sabrina Black: Human Trafficking

Wednesday morning, we studied the third chapter of Ephesians.  It gets deeper and richer every time we get together.  It is so exciting to have an environment where people are expecting to hear from God corporately.  In light of what we have been hearing and experiencing in the past couple of days about the suffering church, this passage came alive even more, as Paul discusses the joy he feels that he is suffering, because it is for the Ephesians’ glory.  John Piper was our expositor this morning.  Those of you who have read his books, particularly Eternity in Their Hearts, will appreciate the passion he brought to the topic of the Cross of Christ and the role of suffering and prayer in the Church.  He stated, “The gospel isn’t going to spread without suffering and without prayer, because the places that remain to be reached are largely places that don’t welcome Christians.  The goal of the suffering and praying is so that the wisdom of God will be manifested in all of its magnificent, varied colors to the physical and spiritual world.”

In the second plenary session, there was a poignant testimony by the widow of one of the doctors that were martyred August 5^th in Afghanistan.  She shared about the work they were doing in Afghanistan, and of her husband’s last communications.  He called her twice a day during the trip to describe what the team was doing at the different points, and the many ways that God was using them to relieve suffering of Afghani’s in very remote places.  He described the physical hardship of carrying packs of medical supplies through mountain passes.  When they brought her husband’s effects to her afterwards, she found the blood spattered notes he had been writing for a sermon he was going to be delivering soon.  He had written a note to himself to tell the story of the Nuristani (sp?) goat cheese.  It is a particular kind of cheese that is aged while being carried in gourds on the backs of donkeys and other transport animals.  As this process goes on, the cheese seems to absorb the odors of the animals and the men that carry it.  It can be smelled for miles away.  It is not an attractive smell.  She likened this type of goat cheese to the aroma of death that Paul talks about in II Corinthians 2: 15-16.  “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.  To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.”  She said this goat cheese is an acquired taste and is very salty, sour, and pungent, but gives amazing strength when consumed. The weakness of Christ, which is the Cross, simply does not make sense to the unsaved man.  But to those who have come to the end of their struggle and allowed their self-life to be nailed to the Cross, the discovery is that this is the only way to live.

Please continue to pray for all of us here.  We are being exposed to so much and need to hear God as to how to bring it back to the people where we live in a way that they can digest it.  The longer I am here, the harder it is to think of going back to church and life as usual, so pray for grace for all of us.

KIDNAPPED and SOLD.

Every day as we fellowship with our small group we dig deeper into the Word of God as well as into one another’s personal life. The table talk discussions are designed to be small communities where we share and experience koininia. The questions from each of plenary session take us beyond the surface. The practical personal examples given allow others to have a glimpses into who we are.  This wrestling with the scriptures in the presence of others challenges us to consider not only the world but the application for our home context.  It was interesting this morning that when we began to respond to the questions on suffering someone commented that we had already discussed those issues the day prior and there was not much left to say. As a counselor, it was very obvious to me that the person was deflecting and not sure they wanted to go deep. I encouraged everyone to share some form of persecution or tragedy they had suffered.  Keeping in mind that we still have several days of table talk there is no way we could be done and that one way for us to become a caring community is to bear one another’s burdens.

Slowly with tears in his eyes, one of the men at the table (I’ll call him Jacob which is not his real name) shared that he had been held at gunpoint just two weeks before coming to Cape Town.  As we tuned into his whispers, the chatter from the surrounding tables faded. His being at the conference was a miracle. Two weeks ago the alarm went off at the gate to his family home in Eastern Europe. Thinking it might have been an animal he went out to check the area. The intruder pulled a gun to his head and demanded any cash, jewelry or weapons in the house.  Gangs roam freely in his area and rape, pillage and plunder. Knowing that his wife and daughter were in the house and would be attacked next, he prayed and chose not to just stand there but to fight. He heard the gun click several times but the bullet never came out. He wrestled the guy to the ground but he managed to escape shouting, “I will be back to kill all of you.” Our dear brother trembled as he talked about his family watching and screaming from the window.  The Saturday before the flight to Cape Town the family was out shopping when the man returned with others. They ran away on foot as the car drove up. Inside his home had been ransacked and the help was tied to chairs in the dining area. Praise God they were alive. Safety is a great concern even as they return. Jacob fears his daughter may be kidnapped and sold. We prayed fervently for his Christian witness as the believers in his area are often under attack.

At the end of these sessions you can feel the great draw spiritually as well as the emotional drain. The break which is about 30-45 minutes is barely enough time to leave the table. So while our minds are still wrapped around the earlier discussion we venture out to Multiplex luncheons followed by the Dialogue Sessions. There are over 40 topics from which to choose. Because the rooms fill up and the doors are guarded by the Stewards you don’t get a chance to go in and out of multiple sessions. This is not the time to attempt omnipresence. Selection of workshops has to be strategic in order to cover all the ground you need to be equipped for the work of the ministry. Representing several interest my task was even more difficult. During the time slot today there were four workshops that I really wanted to attend. They were: Partnership Essentials: advancing Your Ministry Cause Through Effective Collaboration; Fulflling the Great Commission Among Muslims: 7 Massive Trends Facing Today’s Christian  Leaders ; and Poverty and Wealth: Responding Holistically to the Issue of Trafficking. The latter was my choice.

The presentation was given by a panel of four women that worked in various offices and capacities at World Hope International an organization that endeavors to prevent human trafficking and to care for survivors of this slavery. Two of the young women were Africans:  Ajwang, a clinical social worker, studying for her PhD is the Anti Trafficking-in-Persons Coordinator for South Africa and Adeyemi is the director of Anti-Trafficking Programs at the Washington office in the USA. They discussed issues relative to defining Human Trafficking in a broad context, the demand, identifying vulnerabilities and common misconceptions. After a brief powerpoint presentation by each person we were given the remainder of the time to brainstorm some ideas of things we could do to help here in South Africa and or in our own communities.

Although I would venture to say that most people reading this will know the impact of Human Trafficking let me give a few brief facts: Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. Today, an estimated 27 million people are held captive around the world. These individuals are forced into sexual exploitation, labor, domestic servitude, armed conflict, begging networks, or bought and sold for their body parts. They endure physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual implications.

As I sat in the workshop, I thought about the innocence of Jacobs 14 year old daughter and pictured the faces of the many your girls Global Projects has worked with in Europe that have been trafficked from Nigeria. One of my action items from this session is to go back and follow up with these girls and provide additional supports linking them with various agencies in and outside of Europe. God has strategically connected me with some very dynamic individuals here at the World Congress. One such person is Dr. Julia out of New York. She is an immigration specialist along with several other titles (Aviation Engineer, Government official, and community advocate and teacher)  I also thought about the young ladies in Detroit and what we need to do to assist them in education and awareness so that they are not prey for the enemy. We began outlining a program last year for high school and middle school girls. We will look at protocol for implementation. Global Projects has started the conversation about partnerships with other agencies that fight against this social injustice. Our current STOP TRAFFICKING campaign is listed on the website www.globalprojects.org along with the WRAP – White Ribbon Against Pornography – Initiative which will be held October 31^st - November 7^th.

The dialogue session was key to the work we are doing and the program expansions we are considering for next year. There were several individuals in the session who would like to also partner to help address the needs of those who are vulnerable and at risk. Please join us in prayer for the injustices of this world and that we would overcome evil with good and the hope that is found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.