Change we can believe in…

          It’s Sunday morning and I’m sitting on my futon, looking out the window. Mere feet away, birds are hopping around, trying to find a meal, and the sounds of kids playing on the nearby playground are drifting their way into my ears. It’s a sweet sound. A sound of happiness. A sound of hope. A sound of naivety and of contentment. This sound gives me a goal. It makes me want to hear rescued children as they get to play on a playground for the first time, or get to eat ice cream for the first time, or get to feel safe for a first time. After such torture would they even get to enjoy it? I have to think to myself. Yes. They would.

          I saw a documentary on rape in the congo about a month ago. On it there was an 11 year old girl who was lying in a hospital bed, still broken and torn apart inside, literally, after being raped by 13 men and then by gun barrels and sticks. When they first showed her and told her story I was on the brink of tears, and thought that surely this girl wouldn’t be a happy little kid. I was wrong. She was smiling, laughing and teasing the Doctor. But why was she so happy in this specific scene? Because the Dr. was telling her that she could take the catheter out of her because she hadn’t wet the bed in over a week and she was healed enough to go normally.  The little girls smile shined like mine when I see food, or a beautiful woman! It was angelic. I lost it, and bawled my eyes out for an hour, till long after the documentary.

          I’ve mentioned in my about me, a book called Divine Nobodies, by Jim Palmer. He writes a chapter about his work with International Justice Mission (who’s link is on the Resources section at the bottom of this page), and about the intensity of seeing little girls who would be sold into the Sex Trade, or were currently in it. It changed his life! In an interview that I conducted with Jim, for Wrecked for the Ordinary, I asked the following question, and he gave the following response. Check out the whole interview for some other great thoughts!

Q:        You have been to South Asia where you witnessed little girls who were being forced into prostitution? Where was God in all their pain and suffering?

A:       Religion tends to place God somewhere out there or up there in the sky. The religious logic naturally follows then for people to summons God out of the sky to intervene into human affairs, particularly to protect or rescue people from pain and suffering. This seems an odd notion to believe for Christians, particularly since Jesus Christ was divine life clothed in human flesh who saved the world from inside it. As mentioned, the metaphor of “the body of Christ” conveys that the divine life is still present on earth in and through us. Strangely, Christians sometimes fail to realize and live out the implications of the truth that the infinite God is dwelling within us and therefore placing God in close proximity to the needs and problems of humankind.

          I hear in Jesus’ words “the kingdom of God is within you” that the mind and power of God are within us to both conceive and give birth to his will “on earth as it is in heaven.” In the face of human suffering, we sometimes look into the sky petitioning God to come down and do his God-thing and solve it. Instead, I believe God replies by saying, “YOU fix it.” The reply, however, comes from within reminding us that we move in concert with God as God lives his life in and through and as us.

          One million new girls every year are forced into child prostitution around our world. I locked eyes with several of these little girls, moments before they were auctioned off to the highest bidder to be raped. To be honest, I sometimes wish I could just forget the whole freaking thing and go about my merry little life. I can’t. The God inside me loves these little girls and so they have found a place within my own heart. The common question is, “Where is God in the midst of the pain and suffering of the world?” Once I truly realized that God is present within me and present to the world through me, the question shifted to, “Where is Jim in the midst of the world’s suffering?” The “God and human suffering” question often drifts off into all sorts of theological, philosophical and theoretical debate, meanwhile little girls stand in long lines at makeshift clinics around the world to receive medicines for any number of sexually transmitted diseases.

          What the people at International Justice Mission taught me is that God shows up around the world to bring rescue to these girls and other victims of injustice through the intervention of people like us. I decided in conjunction with my books that I would speak out about this injustice and encourage people to become active in efforts such as IJM. I made a promise to myself about these girls that I would never forget them.

          Confronting oppression wherever it exists and bringing rescue to victims of injustice wherever they are is a reflection of the heart of God in our world. God’s kingdom is one of love, beauty, wholeness, freedom, peace, truth, and justice. Some people seem to be sitting around waiting for God to drop it on us. Maybe God wants to give birth to it through us.

          Thinking of those little girls in South Asia , the next time brothel doors are kicked down by IJM operatives, perhaps one of those girls will ask, “Where is God in my pain and suffering?” I believe the answer is, “God did not send your pain and suffering, but God enters into your pain and suffering and shares it with you. God is here now rescuing you, and God is able to bring deep healing and transformation from his life within.”

          Right now I’m sitting on my futon, looking out the window, and I’m trying to contain myself. Trying to hold myself back from cynical resignation. There are things I can do, and there are things you can do. The whole point to what I’m saying in this blog and in this mission, is simply this… Love one another. If I obey that spiritual mandate then I will be forced into action. Action that I pray makes some kind of difference. But regardless of ones faith, it is a universal truth that we can join hands in. Love these little girls and boys, love these victims of rape, disease, war and murder. Love them and help them. Take action against the people who have enslaved them and give them back their lives. There’s no time like the present!

          Trafficked Hearts was nominated for a bloggers choice award! Please vote for us by clicking the picture to the left and voting for us. Remember every vote is a vote for change! Hehe I always wanted to say that. But seriously, every vote is a vote for those little children being enslaved around the world. Please join with us!