God In A Brothel.

Wow! Kate & I have both been so overwhelmed by the positive response to this blog. It's only been 24 hours & it's been so encouraging to hear all of your feedback about what we've been doing so far! I'm really looking forward to seeing how this is going to grow & hopefully impact alot more people as we continue forward.

I recently read a book called "God In A Brothel" by Daniel Walker. A New Zealand native, he worked for 4 years going undercover in brothels all over the world, breaking up dozens of trafficking rings & freeing so many girls. He writes from a personal, candid, & (most importantly) Christian perspective. He experiences things firsthand that most of us could never imagine - & frankly wouldn't want to. It's a great read for anyone who wants to learn more about what sex trafficking looks like across the globe.

For this post, I want to leave you with a few quotes from his book that encouraged me but also challenged me concerning the Church's part in this battle.

"Without thinking, I quietly began to sing [a worship song] under my breath. It was one of those moments when my heart spontaneously began thanking God for who He is: Father to the fatherless & Defender of vulnerable orphans. I thanked Him too for allowing me to experience the sheer exhilaration & joy of having a part to play in the dramatic transformation of a young life....

I realized I was praising God not just for who He is & what He's done in history, but crucially what He had done through me that very day.

I began to wonder what would happen if men everywhere embraced their God-given destiny to defend & protect the vulnerable children & women in their communities. What would happen if, in addition to unleashing their strength, skills, & passion on the sports field, in the office, or behind their computer screens, they discovered their true masculinity by answering this call to arms & action.

I wondered what would happen if the church worldwide took the offensive against oppression & slavery so that such acts of rescue & restoration occurred every day? What would happen within our faith communities if we became proactive in the face of such injustice? Indeed how would our own families, our own discipleship be forever changed if we were all actively involved in some way in rescuing the oppressed & defending the orphan & advocating for the widow?

I also began to wonder what would happen if churches all over the world mobilized their congregations to proactively take the light of Christ into the dark places of sexual slavery in their own communities & cities. What could possibly affect His church more profoundly & influence the world more significantly than meeting God within the darkness & depravity of a brothel." (Emphasis mine.)

"With a mission to fearlessly expose evil & rescue those oppressed & enslaved, the church has been called to be the perfect abolitionist....

During my time investigating human trafficking, the most challenging thing for me was when I found the church to be absent from the fight. At a time when there are more people in slavery than at any other time in history, tragically I found the church in many countries to be largely silent or completely unaware of the slavery around them....

The church has always sought to communicate to a hurting world that God is a rescuer who can save them. Our message has little credibility while we remain afraid, indifferent, & inactive in the face of human slavery occurring in our own backyard.

What would happen if, in the face of the very worst forms of depravity & evil in the world, Christians walked in the knowledge that THEY are the dangerous ones & the ones to be feared?

The successful rescues & devastating failures associated with my work were stirring in me a deep desire to see the church around the world act with courage in the knowledge that light is indeed stronger than any darkness." (Emphasis mine.)

"History has shown us what happens when the church acts on behalf of the vulnerable & the oppressed. As far as the forces of evil are concerned, when Christians love with fearless resolve & obey God regardless of the outcome, they are the most dangerous people on Earth."

"This is what the Lord says:

Maintain justice & do what is right,

for My salvation is close at hand,

& My righteousness will soon be revealed."

- Isaiah 56:1

I want to come back to a point Daniel Walker had in the second quote.

Human trafficking is currently the second-largest criminal industry in the world, second only to drug trafficking (which it is expected to surpass within the next 2 years). There are estimated to be 27 million slaves worldwide (this includes forced labor). This number is TEN TIMES the number of slaves trafficked during the trans-Atlantic slave trade of the 17th, 18th, & 19th centuries. (Source.) That is just unreal to me. Abraham Lincoln must be just turning in his grave.

To read more of what Daniel Walker has to say about his time undercover, you can read an interview with him here, or buy his book here.