On a more serious note...

today is an international movement day to

I know that what we are doing here to prevent and support orphans is making a difference, since many are the most vulnerable and likeliest victims to slavery and trafficking, Here in Haiti children are often sold in to lives as household slaves called "restaveks". Others are forced across the border into the DR to work as child prostitutes, many are enslaved by their poverty to making difficult choices that destroy families and futures.

I happen to be in the midst of a course from LeTourneau University right now on this very subject and it has been enlightening and grim. It has fanned the flame of my convictions on finding ways to help.

The more that I have studied it the more that I have realized - just like the orphan population, this isn't something that we can IGNORE!

"You humble yourselves
 by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
 like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
 and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
 Do you really think this will please the Lord?

 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
 lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
 and remove the chains that bind people.
Share your food with the hungry,
 and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
 and do not hide from relatives who need your help."

"Feed the hungry,
 and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
 and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
^{The Lord will guide you continually,}
 giving you water when you are dry
 and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
 like an ever-flowing spring.
^{Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.}
 Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
 and a restorer of homes."

-Isaiah 58:5-7, 10-12

27 MILLION -

"That's how many slaves there are worldwide. Take a moment to wrap your head around it. That's the population of Georgia and Florida, combined. That's the population of New York City metropolitan area. There are more slaves around the world right now than at any time in recorded history. A problem that most people think ended more than a century ago is, in fact, thriving as never before." (End It, 2013)

Buy a person for $90

"That's it. People's lives are bought and sold and traded and shipped off, never to return, for $90 or less a piece. It costs the same amount of money to buy a nose-bleed section ticket to a major league baseball game as it does to purchase a human life. And, as the market value of the human trade is $32 billion a year, that should give you some idea of the scale of the problem from a purely human standpoint." (End It)

There is a movie coming out in theaters across the US this weekend, that shines light on this very issue.Watch the trailer here. >>

You don't have to live in Haiti or visit India to open your eyes to the TRUTH. Right needs to be done. It falls to us as an opportunity to obey our Lord, by educating ourselves on these issues, embracing the painful realities of others, and being willing to sacrifice time and resources to put a stop to such things!

You would want the world to move heaven and earth to do this for YOUR child or brother or sister or mother....So why wouldn't you do it for THEIRS???

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.'" (Matthew 25: 40, 45 nlt)

If you study this, you will find a MULTITUDE of ways to make a difference to rise up as ONE in His name and go head to head with the ruler of this fallen world for the lives of women and children and families!