How You Can Fight Sex Traffickers – Right Now.

December 4, 2012March 4, 2013 / Erin Kirk / 5 Comments

Did you know the average cost of a human slave in 1809 (adjusted for current inflation) was $40,000? Today, it’s $90.

There are an estimated 27 million slaves in the world now, more than at any other time in human history, and every sixty seconds a child is sold for sex worldwide. I know this is freaking you out. But if you’re like me, you’re stymied by how to respond effectively.

Good News! I have a way.

Today I partnered with The Exodus Road, a Christian non-profit doing counter trafficking work in SE Asia. Last week they put out a call to bloggers to not only help them raise money in a tech-savvy way, but to keep this boiling injustice front and center, where it belongs.

Here’s why I like Exodus Road:

They believe there are three main tasks at hand. Prevention. Prosecution and Restoration. Fewer people were tackling prosecution of human traffickers, so they dug in there. They partner with teams of investigators and local law enforcement to conduct under-cover surveillance and raids on brothels, bars and theaters where children, sometimes as young as seven, are sold for sex.

“By decreasing the profitability of the trafficking industry for the criminal, we will eventually slow the mechanisms that make the exploitation of women and children so lucrative.” -Exodus Road.

Here’s The Plan:

Equipping their investigators for one raid, with cameras, GPS etc. costs Exodus Road $1400. I’m thinking three raids or more!

So, until Christmas, (22 days from now) I am going to fundraise for them and write about it. This is my way of putting my money where my mouth is on this blog. I talk about sexual slavery and justice and the love of Christ all the time, but it requires action. Will you join me? The donate box will take you to their secure, non-profit funding site (here’s their guidestar report ) where you can use a credit card. It also tracks our progress as a team. But wait….It gets better.

Exodus Road plans take two of their bloggers to SE Asia in January to see their operation firsthand. They’ll take one blogger who raises the most money and one who engages the most donors. Don’t you think that should be me? I do.

Not only that, each raid we fund will be our own. I will be able to talk to the people involved about our case (within reason) and its outcomes and report it back to you. That way you don’t feel like your donation goes into some mysterious charity maw. This is boots on the ground work, using the amazing tools available to us on the internet.

My God we live in incredible times. Will you help me? Donate. Reblog this. Post it to Facebook and Twitter. Let’s go ruin some dirtbags together!

Open your mouth for the dumb, for the cause of all who are left desolate. Proverbs 31:9

Fight Sex Trafficking With Exodus Road.

December 3, 2012March 4, 2013 / Erin Kirk / 2 Comments

Dear Exodus Road,

I’ve been following you since Laura wrote on A Deeper Story about sending her husband Matt into a Southeast Asian brothel.

Paradise?

At first, I didn’t know he was the founder and undercover investigator for a non-profit organization fighting human trafficking, or that Exodus Road has 348 prosecutions to date.

Can I help you?

I traveled through SE Asia and the Indian Subcontinent for two months in 1994 and six months in 2000 – Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India and Nepal.

One night in a red-light district, I was dying to approach a middle-aged European man, wearing a 12-year-old girl on his arm, and punch him squarely in the face. I was not following Jesus at the time, but wrong is wrong is wrong.

My fists are ineffective, my blog is not.

I’m older and wiser now, a dedicated follower of Jesus, a writer, a blogger and a women to whom much has been given. I have blogged about Chris Caine’s A21 Campaign and worked with the LA Dream Center – two other leaders in the battle against the second largest organized crime syndicate in the world.

The Dream Center taught me, it is unlikely I will solve the problem myself, but I mustn’t do nothing.

It would be an honor to serve you.

Sincerely,

Erin Kirk

It Matters to This One.

November 23, 2012April 22, 2013 / Erin Kirk / 2 Comments

Last week, standing under a bridge in Long Beach, California with a plate of food in hand, I talked to a Vietnam veteran with two Bowie knives strapped to his legs. His tirade about the Federal Government was looping, so I interrupted him and asked his name.

“People call me Diablo,” he said.

“No sh*t,” I thought looking at the madness in his brown eyes.

Then trying to communicate something extra important, Diablo reached his index finger to touch my forehead, but I dodged it. Dream Center staff told us ahead of time, personal space is a good thing and lines are clearly drawn, so they can keep serving people who live under bridges.

Now, I’ve been as guilty as anyone for thinking snarky thoughts about homeless people who beg or are super drunk or high on the street.

“Why don’t they get a job and work like the rest of us.”

“Those people are there by choice.”

And it’s true, many people are homeless because they don’t like structure and don’t want to play by society’s rules.

But it’s also true that some are so far down, it’s impossible to get up without help, and that includes many who return from our wars with obvious and not-so-obvious damage.

According to the Center for American Progress, one in every seven homeless adults is a US Veteran; and Kaiser Health News reports the number of veterans using mental health services has jumped 34 percent since 2006. So the homeless guy you see begging at the intersection has a one in seven chance of being a US Veteran. Yikes!

Global problems seem to want global solutions, but I don’t have any. What can I do? Well, I just jumped in and Diablo scaled the problem down for me – to exactly one. I can handle one. I can feed one, I can listen to one.

(Photo credit: kevinzim)

Ever hear of the kid picking up starfish and throwing them back in the water? His father pointed out hundreds more stranded by the tide, noting how little his efforts would matter. The kid shrugged and said “well, it matters to this one” and chucked it back in the water.

I kind of imagine Jesus like that. He is the good shepherd who will leave the 99 in his flock to search for the lost one. Jesus stopped on a very busy day to heal one hemorrhaging woman; He stopped to heal a demon-possessed man living among the tombs and yet another man blind from birth.

So, I think it boils down to a choice of two paths – something I talk about a lot. Are we going to live like the kid throwing starfish back or like the Dad who, concerned about his son’s expectations, explains the futility of the effort.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

BTW – Visit Operation Dignity if you want to help out some vets for Christmas.