2008

Two weeks from today we leave for Japan.

Today we had several speakers come in--including an RCMP Officer--to talk about human trafficking much more in detail than any of us knew.  It was pretty horrible, and we all agreed that our gut reaction is that we just want to fix it and defend every person who is mistreated and misrepresented so horribly.

But we can't do it that way, so we're going to do it the best way we possibly can: by going over and helping out at victim recovery centers and by doing plays to raise awareness.

Here's the main issue: everyone thinks that prostitutes are there by their own will and that they, "want" to be there.  If you think like this, you need to get yourself informed ASAP.

Pretty much every person in the sex trade is there because they feel like they have to be, or because they are straight up forced to be because they are slaves.  I'm serious, get yourself informed.  Even the law is just realizing how bad this slave epidemic is.

The first person charged with human trafficking in Canada was in 2008.  TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT!! 

One thing that really struck me, however, was that everyone in the class seemed really, really overly-pissed off at the, "Johns"(men who buy children/people for sex).  I get disgusted by them, yes, but I also feel for them almost as much as the people being bought and sold and abused!  Those men are just as broken because of the fact that they are actually committing that act!  God wants them to love Him just as much, because if they loved Him they wouldn't be doing what they were doing!

God's heart breaks for both sides, and to be honest my heart breaks for them too, because they are the ones who, once this starts getting dealt with on a large scale, will be treated like garbage, and suddenly they will be no better off then the girls who they have raped and abused. 

Many people who are, "christians" have a genuine hate for these men, yet these christians profess to believe that all men are created equal and are equally broken and equally in need of a graceful, loving saviour.  My prayer is that God will help me remember this going into Japan and Thailand and confronting these people.

Catch you all tomorrow.