http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/buy-child-10-hours/story?id=5326508
"So how much will it cost me to get a child?" I ask.
"The last one I gave was $300."
Trying to test the value of human life, I push a little.
"I have a friend who got one for $50."
"No," he says.
"What about $100?"
"$150," he offers.
I accept.
I listened to Emerald Road play Leaning on the Everlasting Arms. And thought about children who'd never been secure from alarms. Who'd never had a single thing to lean on, let alone an everlasting God.
My mom isn't on social media- she hasn't seen the memes. The pictures and quoties people post while they're lounging on their Lazy Boys, convinced that 32 likes will save a life, somehow.
She was doubtful when I told her. Mom, slavery still exists. Right here in the U.S. Right here in Greenville, South Carolina.
I heard that the I-85 is one of the most heavily traveled highways. Tons and tons of merchandise- cars, snack cakes, human beings. We're having a great day on the I-85.
I heard from law enforcement personnel who have search warrants on their desks for pimps. From women who worked to get their victims to safe houses.
I heard about the manipulation that can make a love-hungry teenager want to stay with a money-hungry man.
A man who'd lurked in a mall or a fast food joint looking for the girl with low self-esteem. The one who stared down at her tennis shoes. The one who'd be easy to convince.
I love you. You're valuable to me. I'd do anything for you.
I want you with me.
He'd found an addition to his stable.
The victims are mostly girls, but not all. They're the runaways. The kids who are already living on the streets. The kids whose parents don't bother with them, or don't even want them. Some are sold by their own parents for the next high. The overdue rent payment.
Amber Alerts are for rich kids.
If you've worked with men, chances are you've heard someone talking about going to a strip club. I have. I just want to go back in time, get right in those men's faces and tell them. Some girls don't choose to entertain you in that way. They are forced.
Wanna go to the slave auction with me tonight?
There are over 100,000 victims of domestic minor sex trafficking in the U.S.- right now. The average age is 12. Guess what percentage of these children get rescued? Oh, between 1 and 2.
The rescuees? Usually, they die in about 7 years. They get diseases. They get addicted to drugs. It must be a little hard to cope with the fact that your body has been sold and you don't even know what has been done to it.
Every person living in the U.S. is privileged. We have police who are available, who want to help. Who will arrive on the scene as quickly as they can. The thing is- they don't find out about most trafficking incidents. It's easy for a pimp to hide a child, especially a child he's won over- with purses and trips to Disneyland.
And children in Haiti don't even have the possibility of police protection.
What have I to dread, what have I to fear.
I watched a beautiful young woman walk up to the stage after hugging one of the women who worked in the safe house. She enthusiastically asked us if we were awake, or if we needed chocolate. She made us laugh by admitting that although she was Indian (from India) she always wanted to be white. I have to admit, some of her teen- like phrases put me off a little bit. Home girls. Duh.
But then I started listening to her story.
It was a brief account, completely devoid of self-pity. The story of her mother's divorce and remarriage to an abusive man. Her own low self-esteem as a teenager. The 40-year-old man who gained her attention at just the right time.
You're beautiful. You're special to me.
The "modeling" she did for him. The move into his home. The abuse she endured. And the day that he died- the day she found mass-produced pictures of herself that she didn't even know existed.
And then she told us about the goodness of God. That's right. I listened to her overflowing with joy over the fact that God had saved and changed her. She said that she was in her first healthy relationship, and she had a wonderful life. I haven't heard anyone (except the fictional George Bailey) say that so sincerely, in a long time.
She told us that she renewed her mind every day, and showed us her truth cards. She told us what these girls, these victims need to know the most. Their identity in Christ.
The truth card she shared with us? It's one I want to tell the girls I work with, one day.
For this is what the LORD says.
You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed.
Isaiah 52:3
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