FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) -- In many places across the United States, a darkness that most people overlook clouds the eyes of hurting children, their stares serving as silent cries for help. They’re the glazed-over gazes of trafficked children who live enslaved, beaten down and hopeless. In someone else’s possession and under their control, victims of human trafficking silently struggle to survive in this darkness.

Despite living in and going to many of the same places other children do, they are forced into lives that most people never see -- shuttled from home to home, selling themselves on the streets as prostitutes, beaten and abused by pimps and gang members. Afraid to tell anyone of their predicament and with a public that knows little about domestic trafficking, these children silently suffer over and over again.

“You may be at the mall and one of these kids walk right past you,” said Deena Graves, director of Traffick911, the anti-human-trafficking ministry of Southside City Church in Fort Worth Texas.

“You may be sitting in McDonald's and one of these kids is sitting next to you. People don’t know this exists. And if they know it exists, they don’t know what to look for to identify victims.”

Joining a new abolitionist movement

Citing biblical passages, a growing number of Baptists are showing that light defeats darkness, exposes what is taking place and puts an end to it. Using a variety of methods, they are seeking to raise awareness about human trafficking as an issue, prevent it from taking place and aid victims of the atrocity.

Many of these “new abolitionists” will be taking part in the Freedom Sunday on Feb. 21, the first-ever day that churches worldwide have set aside to pray for human-trafficking victims.

Southside City Church has launched activities for at-risk children in its community, including a karate class, in hopes of stopping trafficking of children before it happens. The programs are held in an area where children are known to become involved in gangs, which increases the likelihood of a child being trafficked or forced into prostitution.

The activities, which Pastor Darrel Auvenshine said are helping the congregation establish a “presence” in the community, are only the beginning for the church. Traffick911 is working with law-enforcement officials to aid trafficking victims as it can and has a long-range goal of creating a ministry center for trafficking victims that includes a shelter.

“Our focus is to do all this so they find the hope of the gospel and in the end restoring them -- restoring life and hope and preparing them to live a healthy life,” he said.

Becoming 'COPs'

BGCT Director of Community and Restorative Justice Tomi Grover recently introduced an effort called Traffick Stop, which can help guide congregations in launching or enhancing a ministry for victims of human trafficking.

She helps congregations pray through understanding how God is calling them to respond to human trafficking through casting a vision for a ministry for trafficking victims and then creating that ministry.

Grover is asking Texas Baptists to become "COPs" -- citizens of purpose -- intentionally looking for ways to end modern-day slavery. The effort is part of the broader BGCT Texas Hope 2010 evangelistic initiative.

Although accurate statistics on domestic victims of trafficking are difficult to find, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services believes as many as 325,000 American children are at risk each year of being sexually exploited.

Texas is a major hub for human trafficking, and the National Human Trafficking Hotline receives more calls from Texas than any other state. Fifteen percent of the calls come from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but human trafficking takes place in large cities and small towns.

“Texas is one of the primary states through which people are trafficked,” she said. “In many ways, it serves as the gateway to the rest of the nation. This abomination is happening right under our noses, and many of us don’t even realize it. Victims of human trafficking have no hope. Many of them no longer believe they can escape their situation. We as the Body of Christ need to wrap our arms around them, care for and about them and introduce them to everlasting hope -- the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Norma and Mike Mullican, members of First Baptist Church in Palestine, Texas, are trying to bring Christians together on this issue to do the very tasks Grover noted. They regularly speak at churches and other events about human trafficking. They talk about practical ways people can make a difference, such as buying fair-trade products or supporting organizations that already are fighting trafficking.

“We would love to see the Christian community come together here in East Texas and all across the state and us take the lead in this, us say this is a crime against our children and we’re going to do something about it,” Norma Mullican said.

“God calls us to do something, not simply sit back and take care of ourselves. God calls us to take care of the children. I don’t know how people, once they become aware of it, can sit back and do nothing. I can’t.”

Southside City Church and Traffick911 are determined to do whatever they can to help these tortured children. Each day that goes by, more people are forced into trafficking.

“These children are voiceless, and they are silently crying out,” Graves said. “The question is: Are we listening? Because night after night and john after john, these kids are being brutalized in ways we can’t even imagine.”

Warning signs that point to trafficking

Graves notes these indications a child is a victim of trafficking:

• Appears to be under someone else's control; submissive or fearful behavior
• Restricted or scripted communication; inconsistencies in story
• Exhibits feelings of helplessness, shame, humiliation, shock, denial or disbelief
• Bruises, cuts, scars on wrists, ankles and legs, or other signs of battering
• Branded with a tattoo of a man’s name or “Daddy;” often on neck
• General poor health; malnutrition; extreme weight loss
• Inability or fear to make eye contact
• Chronic runaway; homeless youth
• Disappears for blocks of time
• Lying about age; false identification
• Dating much older, abusive or controlling man
• Not attending school or has numerous school absences
• Multiple people living in one house.
• Lacks knowledge about community or whereabouts
• Frequently moved from place to place

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This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   is news director for Texas Baptists. 

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