MUMBAI – Picture Time, a unique mobile Digiplex theater startup company, begins a new venture on November 14. The company has produced a film, Jhalki, about a nine-year-old girl from rural India who sets out on a journey to find her younger brother. Seeking financial help, but being illiterate, their parents unwittingly sold her brother…
NEW YORK – When Americans contemplate the abolition of slavery (which is not often), we immediately think of President Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. That document made slavery illegal in the United States effective January 1, 1863. Likewise, the United Nations abolished slavery worldwide on December 2, 1949, when the General Assembly adopted the…
Freedom should belong to the victim, not the abuser. But, unfortunately across the globe — and right here in America — that fact isn’t always the reality.Prostitution is jokingly labeled the oldest profession. But, working in the sex industry has rarely made a prostitute wealthy or given her financial freedom. Instead, girls who are paid…
AUSTIN, TX – In January 2018, we introduced our readers to The Refuge Ranch, which was being constructed in Bastrop County, Texas. The purpose of The Refuge was, and is, to “provide long-term, holistic care in a pastoral and peaceful setting for girls, through age 19, who have been rescued out of domestic minor sex…
BHUBANESWAR – With 46 million residents, Odisha is the 11th most populous state in India. The eighth-largest Indian state by area, Odisha has a density of more than 760 people per square mile. Odisha also has one of the highest migration rates in the country. Approximately 500,000 people relocate every year, primarily due to escape…
WILLS POINT, TX — Labor Day has been celebrated by Americans on the first Monday in September since 1894. Labor Day has become the unofficial last day of summer. Picnics, hot dogs, parades, and fireworks. Only a few continue to observe the day in recognition of the rights of laborers and to remember those who…
BUCHAREST – Twenty kilometers outside of Bucharest, in the locality of Balotesti, is a place where young ladies find help to rebuild their lives and to live free from drugs. The center for girls “House of Joy” functions under the umbrella of Teen Challenge Romania. The need to provide a home just for girls became…
WILLS POINT, TX – Only as the scourge of human trafficking is infesting the North American continent, we are at long last becoming aware of its sinister realities. Human trafficking cases are making local news headlines in places like Fayetteville, NC; Tuscaloosa, AL; and Milwaukee. Our blissful ignorance of the 16 million victims of human…
WILLS POINT, TX – Several years ago, a friend of mine invited me to lunch. He wanted to talk to me about the opportunity of a lifetime. Essentially, the idea boiled down to working alongside him in a sure-fire, money-making business. We would be mentored by two others who had already become independently wealthy. They…
This week America was rocked by the news that multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for running a sex-trafficking ring of minors. Noel Yeatts, president of World Help, a Christian humanitarian organization, examines the situation: The details, revealed by a federal indictment recently unsealed, are still emerging, but what we know so far paints a grim…
GREENWOOD, IN – The goal of One Mission Society is “to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout the world, with the greatest number of disciples made, and to see God glorified in all that [they] do.” To accomplish that one mission, they have found “the most effective way to share Christ is by…
PAMPLONA, Columbia – Operation Blessing has provided relief to millions of people in 90 different countries and all 50 of the United States over the past 41 years. Founded in 1978 by Pat Robertson, the faith-based NGO provides aid in areas where people’s lives are threatened by poverty, disasters, and persecution. Like similar faith-based organizations…
FOREST, VA — Every night, thousands of girls in the beach resort town of Pattaya, Thailand, go to work in the city’s red-light districts. Some of them have been taken there from their rural homes and sold into the sex industry against their will. Most of them have no other choice — poverty has prevented them…
Word and Deed: Serving God, Bridging Communities, Renewing LivesTHOMAS, ONTARIO – Word and Deed is a registered non-profit organization whose mission is based on the Bible directive found in Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father…
WILLS POINT – The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was ratified in 1948, seventy years ago. Article 4 of the Declaration says, “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” A large number of people in the United States – perhaps most…
slaveGospel for Asia (GFA World) Special Report on Slavery & Human Trafficking Written By Palmer Holt of InChrist Communications Around 10 million people are currently behind bars somewhere in the world. Some have yet to face trial, a few have been wrongly convicted, but most are prisoners for a crime they have committed. Meanwhile, four…
NEDLANDS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA – Slavery is not a thing of the past. Despite the efforts of William Wilberforce, Abraham Lincoln, and others, slavery did not end in the 19th century. In fact, according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index, over 70 million people are caught in the throes of 21st century slavery. More than 70…
Al Jazeera, a Middle East news station, reports 350 people in the Caribbean and Latin America have been set free from human trafficking between April 3–9, and 22 people affiliated with the human trafficking, such as the ringleaders were arrested by Interpol, an international police organization. The operation was funded by Canada’s government and a…
WILLS POINT, TX – Most people would agree that life is not easy. I know the homeless lady we took to church this week does. I’m sure those who have lost a job or suffered divorce or the death of a loved one do. Because of our own circumstances, it is difficult for us to…
ATLANTA — Free Chapel continues to expand throughout the Southeast and will open a new location in Midtown Atlanta on Sunday, April 8th. The services will be held in a unique setting, at Center Stage Theater, 1374 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA. Pastor Jentezen Franklin will be preaching live from the Midtown campus. Surrounded by…
CHENNAI – President Ram Kath Kovind announced that India will begin soon offer vocational training services to more than 500,000 survivors of human trafficking. The program follows an anti-trafficking bill approved by the cabinet on February 28, 2018. Observers expect the bill to be easily passed by parliament. That bill includes measures that deal with…
March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. It’s really an odd holiday because very few people understand that man whose name the day is supposed to commemorate. In fact, the day is, for many, a celebration more than a commemoration. Ask the average person on the street what St. Patrick did, and they will likely tell…
ETHIOPIA – The Consortium of Christian Relief & Development Associations (CCRDA) has awarded Bethany Christian Services for submitting the top “Best Practices” idea for NGO work in Ethiopia. Bethany Christian Services has been operating in the U.S. and around the globe since 1944, “Striving to be the hands and feet of Jesus for children and…
AUSTIN, Texas – Where exactly is the mission field? It’s wherever there is a need. It may be in India, or it may be in Indiana. It might be in Thailand or it might be in Texas. It could be in Asia, or it could be in Austin. According to a study from the University…
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2017 /The White House / — President Donald Trump issued a proclamation designating January 2018 as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The proclamation calls upon “industry associations, law enforcement, private businesses, faith-based and other organizations of civil society, schools, families, and all Americans to recognize our vital roles in ending…
Photo by Firdaus Latif The children of the Rohingya are disappearing off the street. The Rohingya are one of the most oppressed people, who have no homeland. Voice of America reports, “A spate of disappearances among the children of displaced Rohingya in Bangladesh is raising fears the children have been abducted into the region’s human…
The Kentucky Derby is known for the horse racing and gambling. Yet, something more sinister looms around the time of the Kentucky Derby. It is human trafficking. Fox News reports, “Authorities are seeking help in cracking down on sex traffickers trying to cash in on the huge crowds converging for the world’s most famous horse…
As the world focused on Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Olympics, prostitutes as young as nine years old poured into the city in hopes of cashing in on the influx of tourists and money. Prostitution is legal in Brazil, and so rampant that child prostitutes regularly work the 262 truck stops on the 2,800-mile…
Myanmar called an annual report issued by the U.S. State Department “sad and regrettable” after being named among the worst human trafficking offenders. Along with Iran, North Korea and Syria, the report cited Myanmar’s negligence to meet “the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking.” Reuters reported that Myanmar’s ranking, which got downgraded from the previous year,…
The egregious act of slavery, particularly for sexual exploitation, has grown at alarming rates globally. However, governments, non-government organizations and Christian ministries like the Dalit Freedom Network and Passion Conferences are now actively challenging the offenders and offering hope to victims. Everlyn Chumbow, in her contribution to CNN says this: Should you feel compassion? Yes….
