Last night, my team and I had a really cool discussion about what we've gotten ourselves into. As we cruised the streets in our tok tok, we passed a few clear instances of prostitution and some children playing in trash. During feedback (our team takes time every night before bed to review how everything went that day), we were discussing the difference between what ministry we're doing now versus what ministry we will be doing: currently, we live with girls who, by God's grace, have been saved from ever having to be in the sex industry; next stop, we will nightly have our hearts broken for women who are used and abused daily for their bodies.
The fact is that we will not be able to stop human trafficking. There will always be a girl who gets abused, a little boy who is taken away from his home, and a woman who is threatened if she doesn't want to have sex. There will always be a story of tragedy, of someone who never got to experience freedom, or someone who has died at the hands of injustice.
So what's the point of trying? What's the point of wishing, but doing nothing, for four months?
The truth is that God desires no one to be in captivity.
The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed.
– Luke 4:18
It's not about single-handedly putting human trafficking to an end. It's not about pulling people out of oppression for the sake of a greater good. It's not about my desires or my feelings or me in any way, shape, or form.
It is about God moving among people that he loves and cries for. It is about pulling people out of oppression because God said to proclaim freedom. It is about loving God, loving God's people, and loving God's ways. It is about God teaching me, about me returning the favor of love to Him, and about me growing up in Him. It is all about God, and nothing I do will ever matter if I do it separate from Him.
(The prayer box we got for the girls; they decorated it and put TONS of prayers in there!)
