Human Trafficking - Put Up a Stop Sign!

I've heard that if you want to be a writer you should write daily. I guess I don't REALLY want to be a writer because the last blog was written back in September. There have been interesting (at least, to me) things that happened, thought provoking books read, challenges, etc. but I was too busy living through it to write about it at the time.

One of the more thought provoking events was hosting a jewelry show and sale to benefit WAR, International (Women at Risk). A DVD was sent along with the beautiful jewelry that told me astounding statistics and gut gripping stories of human trafficking. I was getting just a peak at the fastest growing crime in the world. So, I thought I was prepared to see another DVD last week, Nefarious. I had a box of tissues at hand and prior knowledge. I was nowhere ready to be confronted with what I saw and heard. A friend who saw it when I did remarked about her surprise that she didn't hear a collective sobbing. Of course, I can't speak for anyone else's experience that night, but I was beyond sobbing - speechless, shocked, overwhelmed, undone. The story that Nefarious told took us from eastern Europe, to Amsterdam, southeast Asia, and back to the good ol' USA. Humans are being SOLD to be used in the sex trade mostly - women, young girls and boys, children, and even BABIES! And it is happening right here in Atlanta.

I don't like to think about it. To say that it's uncomfortable is an understatement. But we MUST become AWARE to the point of ACTION. I am praying to become more passionate about what needs to be done and my small part in stopping this abomination. My small contribution is writing this blog. William Wilberforce, in trying to abolish slavery in Great Britain, knew that the first step was making people aware of the evil. After a person is made aware, he or she can never say, "I didn't DO anything because I didn't KNOW." Now, do your part. Become informed and share what you know.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)

Fresh Bread

No, I have not miraculously turned into a bread baker. This blog is the result of reading the Bible this morning. The Bible is full of bread references. Showbread in the Tabernacle symbolized that God would "show" up. Manna (a type of bread) came from heaven to feed the Israelites in the wilderness. The Bible is spoken of as bread. There are many more, but the most important is Jesus' reference to bread representing his broken body. We are told to remember by eating the bread and drinking the wine which symbolizes his blood sacrifice. That's the background, but my emphasis is on God's Word being the bread.

There's something incredibly wonderful about fresh bread. It makes me wonder why so many of us are content with stale bread. God has fresh bread for us to taste today and receive sustenance from! In reading Genesis 17 today, the fresh bread for me was verses 5 and 6. In the New King James Version it says, "5. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham: for I have made you a father of many nations. 6. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you." I made some words bold and italicized so you could see the importance. In verse 5, I have made is past tense indicating that God had already done it. He had already spoken the declaration into existence. Then in verse 6, God tells the newly named Abraham what he has already done will look like. God named it and claimed it! God named Abraham a father of many nations without his being a father of even one child. The question for you and me is this: what has God named me that I haven't seen the results of yet? I believe we can easily forget what we've been named because of our impatience to see the results. Abraham NEVER saw the nations or kings; he only saw the tiny beginning. God sees eternity.