On LIFE Today we host people with wonderful testimonies concerning the transforming power of God’s grace and invite truly gifted, anointed church leaders to share what God put on their heart. This week we taped a program with Dr. Louie Giglio, founder of the Passion ministry and pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta.
Through the power of God, Louie is enjoying one of the most wonderful outreaches to college students and young adults. This 18–25 age group has proven amazing in their pursuit of God and in their desire to love their neighbor in the truest and purest sense of the word.
One of the things that Louie shared with me they are focused on this year is the “End It Movement.” He shared their vision, which includes what LIFE is doing all over the world to free young people from the bondage of sexual predation in a multi-billion dollar human-trafficking business. This is part of what they emphasize in their desire to see people in actual slavery set free.
People wear a red “X” on their t-shirt or on the back of their hand so everywhere they go it will be noticed. When people ask about it, they talk about the plight of those held captive in slavery in our modern day.
There are 27 million known to be trapped in human slavery. Through prayer and effort we want to see them set free. The viewers of LIFE Today are continuously helping us do exactly this. I wanted you to know about it. You might want to put an “X” on your hand and encourage your pastor to talk about praying for these people.
I want to share Louie’s vision with you. Let’s seek to do everything we can to set captives free. After all, one of the primary reasons Jesus came, lived, and died was so we could be free indeed.
Together We Can End It
This February 27th, join us and other Freedom Fighters from around the world as we SHINE A LIGHT ON SLAVERY. Draw a RED X on your hand. Tell your world that slavery still exists and YOU WON’T STAND FOR IT. Just use your influence any way you can to help us carry the message of FREEDOM so even more people know. Let’s make this SHINE A LIGHT ON SLAVERY DAY even brighter than ever.
Let’s be the generation to stand up for the 27 million men, women and children trapped in slavery around the world today. In brothels. In factories. In mines. On street corners. In homes. In the shadows, hidden. Yet out in broad daylight, in plain sight here in America. Stand with us. Raise your voice. Use your influence. Join the fight for FREEDOM.
Knowledge is Power – Slavery by the Numbers
When you think about slavery, if you think about slavery, you probably associate it with the sex trade. And for good reason. 8 of 10 human trafficking cases worldwide involve the sex industry in one way or another. The others involve labor trafficking, people being made to work in sub-human conditions in factories and farms and shadow businesses worldwide.
The Definition of Slavery
Slavery occurs when one person completely controls another person, using violence or the threat of violence to maintain that control, exploits them economically, pays them nothing and they cannot walk away.
Types of Slavery
Bonded Labor: Bonded labor is one of the most widely used methods of slavery. A person becomes a bonded laborer when their labor is as a means of payment for a loan. Extreme cases of bonded laborers have been recorded in Pakistan where labourers where found chained together and under armed guard. Bonded laborers can include whole families such as is the case in India and Nepal, migrant agricultural workers in Brazil or women ‘exported’ to Europe as domestic workers or into sexual slavery.[1]
Forced Labor: Forced labor is any work or services which people are forced to do, against their will under the threat of some form punishment. Forced slave labor is most frequently found in labor intensive, under-regulated industries such as agriculture, fishing, domestic work, construction, mining, quarrying, manufacturing, prostitution and sexual exploitation. There is a high incidence of forced labor used in about 29 countries to produce 50 products consumed or used on a daily basis, including garments, shoes, toys as wells as bricks, cotton, cocoa and carpets.[2]
Human Trafficking: Trafficking involves transporting people away from the communities in which they live and forcing them to work against their will using violence, deception or coercion.[3] Human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms industry as the second largest international criminal industry in the world and it is the fastest growing.[4] The majority of trafficking victims are between 18 and 24 years of age.[5]
Please pray for all of us who are working every day to free people from slavery. You can be involved by joining with our RescueLIFE initiative and Louie Giglio’s End It movement.