This past Monday night, along with 4,500 other people committed to the fight against child sexual exploitation, I watched a fairy tale of unspeakable acts. This fairy tale is The Candy Shop. This movie is meant to undo you. Meant to rock you at your very core. It raises anger, compassion and a glimmer of hope. This movie is meant to make you not forget the wrong that is being done — so that people – normal people like you and me – can make a difference. This film represents the spearhead of a citywide and possibly a nationwide campaign. It is not a documentary. It is not a PSA. It is the beginning of a movement. It is a production put on by Whitestone Pictures and StreetGrace — both local to the Atlanta area. It’s not explicit. It’s not even very long – the running time is only 30 minutes. But if it was any longer, you wouldn’t be able to handle it. It’s a story that needs to be told. It’s a story that needs to be stopped.
One of the scriptures God gave me when I was first starting preparing to go on this trip is in
Isaiah 49,
“I’m setting you up as a light for the nations
so that my salvation becomes global!
When the time’s ripe, I answer you.
When victory is due, I help you.
I form and use you to reconnect the people with me,
To put the land in order,
to resettle families on the ruined properties.
I tell prisoners, ‘Come on out! You’re free!’
and those huddled in fear, ‘It’s all right. It’s safe now.’
God has comforted his people.
He has tenderly nursed his beaten-up, beaten-down people.
‘I’ll never forget you – never.
You’ll know then that I am GOD.
No one who ever hopes in me ever regrets it.’ “
I have watched many, many documentaries on the subject of Human Trafficking. I have read many books. I have heard the facts so many times I catch myself saying the numbers in my head as they appear across my computer screen. I can honestly say the only time I have felt hope for these people that are imprisoned in this ghastly industry is when God is the ending in their stories. I believe that is where the glimmer of hope comes in. That is what I plan to offer them.
Here is the trailer of what I saw at the Fox Theater, The Candy Shop:
