The Power of Print

As a writer, I love to see ways the written word can have a significant impact on fighting child sex trafficking. Here are two ways that books and magazines are providing ammunition in the prevention side of the trafficking fight:

Born 2 Fly: Diana Scimone has made some incredibly major strides since the last time I wrote about her.  Her wordless book, which is designed to make it easy to teach children how to avoid being trafficked regardless of where they live in the world and what language they speak, has been finished and is now in a rigorous testing phase around the world. Testing has already been completed in Russia and Bulgaria and is currently going on in the Philippines and Thailand. A companion curriculum will be distributed to schools, NGOs, etc. to help children understand the concepts presented in the book. This is huge. Diana has been working on this project for years and it's incredibly exciting to see it on the brink of being distributed globally. To support the Born2Fly project, click here.

Escape Magazine, Love146: Moldova is a hotbed for trafficking youth in Eastern Europe. To help stay current on the latest deceptions that traffickers employ, and to raise awareness of trafficking for young people in the area, Escape magazine is published every two months. It's a pop culture publication that also educates a readership of 100,000+ on how they can avoid being trafficked. The magazine has been deemed such a success that a pilot program is also being introduced in Ukraine. To support the efforts of Escape magazine, click here.

Yes, aftercare is a critically important part of the battle, but remember: prevention is what is ultimately going to win the war. Sometimes the pen really is mightier than the sword.

Image by ToastyTreat87

JBM

To my infant son:

Did you know that--years before you were even born--you were a reason I first became involved with Love146 and decided to start this blog? I remember thinking that I wanted to do something, no matter how small, to try to change this world for the better before you came into it. Although sometimes it seems too big to hope for, I want the trafficking of children to be something that ends while we are both living and breathing on this earth.

Often when you are sleeping in my arms I think of the children I have met, not so many years older than you, who have already experienced the antithesis of childhood and of love. Sometimes it is for them that I tell you over and over again how much I love you, and hold you maybe just a bit too tightly. Part of me looks at your little eyes and ears and never wants you to even know that such evil exists in the world. But I am fiercely aware of my responsibility as your mother: to raise you to love others; to have courage and compassion for what is difficult and heartbreaking; to act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

There are little boys who grow up to be pimps and traffickers and johns, and there are little boys who grow up to be heroes in the fight against injustices, both large and small.  At some point my parental guidance will end and the choices that will determine what kind of man you become will begin. But right now, I will cherish your innocence, hold you in my arms, and pray that your heart never breaks except when it's in compassion for those who need it most.

Image by SanShoot

Inspired.

Yesterday was the ten-year anniversary of 9/11. It also happened to be the day that Love146 came to my new church, Calvary Fellowship.

Maybe it was the new-mom hormones, or the memories that I have of the Love146 partnership trip that so easily rise up again, or the fact that yesterday was bound to be a raw day for all Americans, but I alternated between crying and beaming throughout Rob's entire talk.

I was thrilled to see that Calvary taped and has made Rob's message available online. I can't encourage you enough to hear it for yourself.


"God's Justice and Mercy in the Midst of Trafficking" from Calvary Fellowship on Vimeo.


How appropriate, on the anniversary of a day that brought so much sorrow, to be inspired to look forward with such audacious hope:

"I believe in a God who brings beauty from ashes. And the crazy, insane thing of it all is that he uses people like us to do it." - Rob Morris

I'm looking forward to meeting the future abolitionists who will rise up in the Hartford area over the next year as a result of this first step.

P.S. It was the highlight of my week to see you again, Rob and Matt!