This perspective was written by Emily Landstrom, a Sophomore, Business Major at WJU. She is another student who is soon leaving for Cambodia with the mission team from Jessup. 

In my opinion, human trafficking is a well-known issue.
When people hear about it, they react in similar ways—shock, emotional grieving, anger, and desire to help. Unfortunately, these feelings rarely go beyond this. We want to help but the issue is just too overwhelming for us to grasp. We want to go into the brothels and rescue the girls ourselves, but that is just not possible. There is so much more than we can ever do, and we lose our drive and passion.

This just doesn’t sit right with me. I want to be apart of a generation that does not give up, a generation that is active and not passive about these issues involving child slavery and sexual exploitation. Whenever we think about this horrific problem, let us not be discouraged because of the immensity of the problem. Rather, let us find our encouragement in the fact that we serve a God who is even greater and more powerful than this…a God who cares deeply about the lives of His children…a God who sees our heart and stirs up within us a desire for change.

So, do not lose heart! You may be small in comparison to the issue but you believe in a God who cares for those children captured and forced in prostitution or slavery. Do not close your heart to the possibility for change. Open your heart and take heart in our Savior!

You can become a part of The S.P.E.A.K. Project by sharing YOUR perspective!

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The climate was hot, sticky, and rather unpleasant. There’s absolutely no way to be comfortable while smothered in sunscreen, bug repellent, and sweat. Regardless of temperatures in the triple digits and choking humidity, I knew that being in this country and working with such remarkable people would forever change my life. This was a long awaited day for the team. Building up to this day we had been teaching English, playing with children, working at Rahab’s House and building relationships. I knew seeing the Agape Restoration Centerwould show us what an impact Agape International Missions (AIM) was making in Cambodia.

The moment I will never forget came when I met a young girl, probably in her mid teens, sitting and observing a round of volleyball. I approached her in a traditional Cambodian greeting and became aware that something was different about her.  Immediately, I flashed back in my thoughts to when one of my team members warned us about a girl she met the previous year who had multiple sclerosis (MS). It occurred to me that this could be that girl.  She was described as angry, bitter, violent, and unapproachable. I suddenly became nervous and glanced around to be sure there was a team member nearby just for precaution. Before I had time to make a polite exit, she took hold of my hand. I could feel panic beginning to rise in me,  until she spoke. The sound of her voice was both indescribable and unforgettable.

Barely an utterance, the fractured words came from her lips and pierced my heart.

This Cambodian girl spoke just a few words to me, but they were all that either of us needed to understand each other. With all the things she could have said…       “I love you” and “God bless you” were the tender phrases that nearly caused me to erupt with emotion.

I was warmed by her, knowing her story and seeing her new hope.

Perspective expressed through poetry. Written by: Ryan Jow, senior Bible & Theology major and Intercultural Studies minor at William Jessup University.

Call for Cambodia

The children are crying,

The People are dying,

Both in body and in soul.

Horrors untold,

A past forgotten,

A present now ignored.

We are convicted,

As many could’ve of predicted,

But do we act at the end of the day?

What we are convicted of in our minds,

Burns in our hearts,

But does it move to our feet?

I ask the question that I should ask myself,

Do I put this issue back on the shelf?

I must quit this frame of mind,

For now is indeed the time,

To apathy I shall not resign.

The time to love and not cliché in the least,

He wants His children to partake in this feast.

Do we eat, sleep, and be happy in our contented selves?

Or do we stand up and reach out to where the heart of God dwells.

You can become a part of The S.P.E.A.K. Project by sharing YOUR perspective!

To submit a written piece or if you have any other questions, please email thespeakproject@yahoo.com.

Violated.

Fear breaking sweat down my forehead, I woke up suddenly. My worst fear as a girl is being violated. My worst nightmares have always consisted of kidnapped by men. I remember this one dream very clearly. I was being grabbed, and in my struggle I saw my brothers in the distance. I was yelling and screaming for help, but they could not hear me. It was like I was invisible. Growing up,  my brothers always promised to protect me. In this dream though, as much as I screamed, they could not hear me, and they did not help me.

Almost twenty-one years old, I am proud to say that I have only kissed one guy. My heart’s desire is that my next kiss will be with my husband. Purity is like gold to me. It is like treasure to me, and I guard it with all of my heart. It is a beautiful thing that God created. When purity is broken though, there is a strong bond that occurs.God created sex in order to bond a marriage for life. It is a beautiful connection between you and the person that you will be spending a life time with.

But what if you don’t spend a life time with that person? What happens if it gets forcefully taken from you? Is that bond still there between you and your unwanted other? Unfortunately, yes. When this happens to a girl, it ruptures her heart. There is a heart wrenching feeling of guilt, and dirtiness that she cannot scrub away.

Knowing the beauty of purity and understanding the pain of violation, my heart goes out to the girls who are victims of sex trafficking.

Like my dream, they are screaming for help.

Anguish quivers down their bones when they realize… no one can hear them.

I pray to God that someone hears them.

I pray that you hear them.

You can become a part of The S.P.E.A.K. Project by sharing YOUR perspective!

To submit a written piece or if you have any other questions, please email thespeakproject@yahoo.com.

Written and Recorded by Sophie Parrott, Sophomore Music Major at WJU.

Click here to Listen: “For Those Without a Voice”

She’s wounded, and her heart breaks

She’s cryin, save me!

She knows more of the world

Then any little girl should ever know

She’s treated like a slave

Held down by chains

God set her free!

Chorus

God, set the captives free

Oh, God set the captives free

May we be your voice

For the souls without a choice

You can become a part of The S.P.E.A.K. Project by sharing YOUR perspective!

To submit a written piece or if you have any other questions, please email thespeakproject@yahoo.com. 

She Cries Out

She cries out for a rescuer,

Scripture: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

Reflection: During this season of Lent, let’s seek Christ’s heart for the vulnerable, and respond with love-empowered justice. James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” In biblical times, widows and orphans were the most defenseless members of society.

So then, who are the most vulnerable in our society today? Due to weakening families around the world, many children are exposed to early abuse and left vulnerable to become victims of human trafficking.

In Cambodia and Thailand, increasing numbers of parents are selling their daughters to afford

So ask yourself, in this season of Lent, how can you commit to praying for broken families and child victims of human trafficking? What is the Lord asking you to do for the most defenseless in your community today?

Prayer for the day:
Jesus, as I become more aware of the pain of families and the vulnerability of their children, please move me to the specific response You desire of me. Please use Your church to intervene, to go and to surround hurting families with Your love and compassion. Father, make us a good home for the Fatherless, and show these little ones the safety of Your love and the capacity of Your healing. Amen.

You can become a part of The S.P.E.A.K. Project by sharing YOUR perspective!

To submit a written piece or if you have any other questions, please email thespeakproject@yahoo.com. 

My ideas of sex trafficking….I mean, when I was first asked this question I thought, “Well this should be easy, doesn’t everyone believe it is wrong?”. I didn’t hear that it was still going on until I came up to Sacramento. When I think of human trafficking I am filled with anger, sadness, and ultimately, the feeling to go and do something about it…so I did. As you have probably heard over the last couple of days, Joseph Kony, the number one criminal in all of the world, and his group the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) are kidnapping people, no not just people, but children out of

their beds. The boys are forced to fight while the girls are trafficked out. A friend of mine was also moved moved by the video that seems to be filling up twitter and facebook. I was impressed to see our generation rise up and make a difference. Together, Hannah and I are coming up with practical ways to make people aware and actually helping invisible children STOP KONY. I would recommend watching the video and contributing in some way. Keep changing the world.

You can become a part of The S.P.E.A.K. Project by sharing YOUR perspective!  

To submit a written piece or if you have any other questions, please email thespeakproject@yahoo.com.