The following article is a guest post written for The Freedom Challenge about slavery and 5 Reasons We Should Fight for the Freedom of Enslaved Women . As Christians we cannot look away at the horrifying existence of modern day slavery…which of course is not modern at all. I have 5 daughters and the thought of them being taken and brought into slavery is horrifying!
It’s easy to look away when we live in a comfy cozy home. Going to church on Sundays, with potlucks, family, cozy beds and food on the table…
I ask you not to look away but to pray about what YOU can do to make a difference.
“By 1888, all countries had officially abolished participation in the transatlantic slave trade.
But, slavery still exists.
In fact, there are 30,000,000 slaves worldwide.
80 percent of them are women.
That means there are 24,000,000 women and children that have been forced into labor or indentured servitude; or that have been trafficked and sold; or that have been forced into marriage as a child bride.
24,000,000 women like us are told their lives belong to someone else.
24,000,000 women like us live without hope.
Many, many of those 24,000,000 women and children were sold to another human for less than the cost of a new cell phone.
Imagine that for a second.
Imagine a price of less than $100 USD on your head.
It.
Just.
Doesn’t.
Compute.
The Freedom Challenge (expanded from Freedom Climb to include more women) is a movement of passionate women dedicated to freeing oppressed and enslaved women and children all around the world. We do this by participating in physical challenges that test our limits, while raising funds and awareness to combat these dark, social injustices and set women and children on the pathway to freedom.
Women were made in the image of God. “God created mankind in His own image, male and female, He created them” (Genesis 1:27). We were created to be creative, purposeful, spiritual, intelligent, relational, moral beings.
Women are the hub of family and community. Whether women are breadwinners, co-breadwinners or stay-at-home moms, their role in the family is substantial. Mothers are the emotional backbones of the family. This is more than just a nice thought. Study after study has shown that a woman has tremendous impact on her family, affecting everything from the healthcare to academic performance of her children.
The enslavement of women (and all humans) is against God’s plan. When Jesus died for us, he gave us freedom from the slavery of sin. As freed slaves, it is our job to “set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). Enslavement destroys the very humans created in God’s image. Enslavement kills human potential.
Women should not be sold. Human Trafficking is a $32 billion dollar industry. To put that in perspective for us, that is 8x more than the biggest company of the Inc. 5000 list in 2015.
Women are in crisis globally. Imagine every woman in America ages 18-24 was enslaved. Now add the entire population of New Zealand to that number… and the entire population of Jamaica…and the entire population of Fiji. That’s how many women are enslaved worldwide. Does that break your heart like it does mine?
We can do something about this. We can tackle this problem as a church. We can join movements like The Freedom Challenge to raise funds and awareness. We can free women together. We can provide restoration to women together. We can challenge ourselves in the name of sisterhood and freedom.
Our sisters need us. Let’s take up our own challenge for their freedom.”
At the very least…we need to pray!
Have a blessed day!
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