"Child Slavery with Rageh Omaar"

Yesterday, I watched this documentary on TopDocumentaries.com. The quality wasn't that good and it by far wasn't one of the best documentaries I've ever seen...but it carried a message that we all need to hear: There are still, to this day, millions of children that live enslaved in our world.

This BBC production follows Rageh Omaar a man whose parents came from Somalia to England in search of a better life. He is educated and is making a living as a journalist all over the world. He admits that he had begun to take for granted the beggars and street children that he has seen in overcrowded cities but, perhaps because he himself became a father, now wonders about their stories. What happens in a family, in a community, in a country, in a world to create a system that tolerates not hundreds...not thousands...but millions of children who are daily living out there lives as slaves.

Omaar often comes back to the definition of what exactly is slavery. He uses an agreed upon definition such as the one I found on dictionary.com: "Slavery, bondage, servitude refer to involuntary subjection to another or others. Slavery emphasizes the idea of complete ownership and control by a master: to be sold into slavery. Bondage indicates a state of subjugation or captivity often involving burdensome and degrading labor: in bondage to a cruel master. Servitude is compulsory service, often such as is required by a legal penalty: penal servitude" But Omaar returns repeatedly to the idea that we cannot know exactly how many children are enslaved...because there are so many millions more who are not controlled by a "Master"...but are in "subjugation or captivity" to the cruelest "master"...poverty.

Each year, children are sold, sent away from families or take off on their own with the hope that they will find work and can somehow provide for their families by sending money back home. This does not even account for the children that are trafficked through networks with the sole purpose of being exploited for begging, prostitution or military service. All of these except coerced child soldiers (such as the Lord's Resistance Army in Democratic Republic of Congo) are mentioned in this movie.

But as dark and overwhelming as it can be, Omaar also gives attention to the agencies and government programs that are attempting to put an end to child slavery...some even providing rehabilitation and recovery for victims. One such place in Cambodia was started by a woman who as a child was forced into prostitution.

Omaar mainly focuses on Africa and southeast Asia, but this is a global problem. Wherever there is poverty, there is greed, there is evil and there are people taking advantage of the disenfranchised.

If this all seems like too big of a problem...one for which there is no hope...then stop and remember the One who is the giver of hope. Wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (Isaiah 61:1,  Luke 4:18, and II Corinthians 3:17)

Then, there are practical, helpful steps you can take to combat slavery:

• Know where the items you buy come from. I was disgusted to find out that all of those beautiful saris I have admired for years which Indian women wear, most likely come from a "factory" where boys as young as 7 sit on a cold, concrete floor for 18-20 hours a day embroidering them by hand.
• Buy from companies that only sell Fair Trade Certified coffee, chocolate and other items where slavery is common.
• Do not shop at megastores (you know which one I'm talking about in particular!) that do not monitor the vendors and suppliers to verify that fair wages and labor practices are being observed.
• Support organizations like Hagar International, Stop Traffick Fashion and many more who help support survivors of human trafficking.
• The biggest thing we affluent Americans can do is to be aware of where our money goes...that's what being a good steward is all about. And just in case the word "affluent" trips you up, if you have food in your fridge or pantry, have running water, a warm bed to sleep in and clothes not just on your back, but also in your closet...you are affluent by the world's standards!

This post isn't meant to make anyone feel guilty, it's meant to open our eyes to the world around us. There is a world out there that is lost and dying without Jesus Christ and child slavery is just one way in which this manifests itself.  I was reminded in Radical this morning that God gives us His grace, so His glory can be shared with the world. God's heart is for the world. So when we say we're not concerned about what takes place in other countries but rather, we have a "heart for the U.S."...we're admitting that we only care about 5% of God's heart. That just doesn't seem acceptable to me anymore!

Become aware. Educate yourself.  And then, ask God what He wants you to do about it.