Chuan led her through the club, occasionally pausing to give a brief greeting to a male patron. Once they reached a staircase at the back of the club, he pointed upward with his index finger. Srey Neang went first. At the top of the stairs they reached a small hallway with three doors, all shut. She turned around to get further instructions. Chuan jerked his head deliberately to the right, indicating which door she was to open.
Srey Neang turned the knob and tentatively pushed forward. It startled her to see a man standing in the middle of the room as if he were anticipating her arrival. She heard the sound of the door click shut behind her… the room did not hold much furniture, save a bed and a small nightstand. The man, in his mid–thirties… uttered a simple, shocking command in the local dialect: ‘Take off your clothes.'”
— true story, called “The Conspiracy”
My life was ruined last night. I don’t think that I’ve ever said that before, let alone sincerely meant it to the very core of my being. In the matter of minutes I’ve never had my heart shatter into so many pieces that the only ounce of expression left in me manifested itself through more than three hours of tears.
Heart graced my cheeks.
And it wasn’t something that I really wanted to happen – it just did. It hurt. It still hurts. And within me I can’t ignore the urgency to act, to actually take a stand and respond out of obedience. I have to do something. I will not remain silent. It’s one of those moments where the Lord’s righteous anger boils within me, yet with such grace and love that my life pulsates with His goodness, His heart, and His mercy for all people.
Yet in the same moment I’m waging limitless war on hell.
I’ll fight this until the day I die.
A few of us watched a movie last night called “Human Trafficking”. I had heard of the issue in passing, not in depth, and I knew that it was a passion of many… yet I still never cared enough past myself to really dive in and learn. Maybe it was a subconscious attempt to keep myself distant from responsibility. Like I’ve said before, the further we can keep ourselves from an awareness of an issue, from keeping ourselves from knowing the facts, from the possibility of having some kind of “invested-interest”… we can void ourselves from having to react.
It’s almost like an excuse for survival… but I don’t accept it – even for you.
In case you don’t necessarily understand the term “human trafficking”, let me break it down for you into understandable terms: slavery.
I’m not kidding.
Human trafficking is, in fact, modern day slavery and it happens all over the world. At any given moment the International Labor Organization (ILO) reports that 12.3 million people are in slavery worldwide, the majority of them being for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Between 600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked every year internationally (that doesn’t include domestic trafficking) for sexual exploitation.
That means they’re used for sex against their will.
There’s a lot of reasons that human trafficking exists, many I attribute to sewage that seeps out of hell and infects lives through all kinds of lies, deceptions, accusations, and the like. But it’s also because people make a choice; they choose to feed the system, to turn over money to the monster that enslaves and imprisons. “Out of the total number of foreign visitors, roughly two-thirds entering Thailand were unaccompanied men. In other words, about 7.3 million unaccompanied men visited the country in 2003. Certainly, not all of these men came as sexual tourists, but it is a good bet that a significant percentage did. In fact, according to a survey of travel agents conducted by international aid agency World Vision, 65 percent of all tourists to Cambodia are men and one-fifth of them travel with the express purpose to have sex.”
You might be thinking to yourself, “well, Matt, I’ve never even been to Thailand or Cambodia and I never intend on going. I don’t contribute to the madness.” There might be truth to that statement – I agree. But think about this: every time you sneak onto your computer and check out a little bit of porn here, a little bit of porn there… you contribute. In the Netherlands and Germany, they’ve found a significant association between prostitution, pornography, and human trafficking. The pornography industry is a multi-billion dollar industry… every year… and prostitution’s merely a front that will typically mask human trafficking.
So maybe you weren’t aware, but now you are, that many people that are trafficked are also used for pornographic purposes, yet another ploy within sexual exploitation.
I can get onto more facts in another blog… but you might be wondering what the Lord’s calling out of me.
I’ve never heard the Lord speak to me with such clarity. Last night I was sitting on the balcony/rooftop of the house we’re staying at here in Phnom Penh, letting the Spirit express itself through my body. I was wrecked beyond words. Kim was inches from me crying her heart out as well. I’ve never prayed more in my life.
And I’ve never heard the Lord speak to me with such certainty.
He said, “Matt – I’ve made you an exhorter, a teacher, a fire-starter… and I want you to create awareness. You’re my mouthpiece. I need you to speak. I need you to open eyes and hearts to issues long ignored. Don’t remain silent.” He also told me to go to Bangkok, ASAP, and see as much as I can first-hand. I have a responsibility now and I cannot be disobedient to it.
The Polaris Project
NightLight
The Hagar Project
The Well
Innocence Atlanta
She Dances
