Stand between the predator and its prey – The Vineyard

I work on the streets and in the bars, rescuing precious girls from exploitation in one of the most concentrated sex trafficking plots in the world — Angeles City, Philippines. We have fully staffed safe houses where these precious girls come to experience the fullness of life that the Lord intends for all of us. Jesus calls it “The Abundant Life,” and it is what the Kingdom of God looks like here on earth.

The girls receive love, counseling, food, and clothing. They can enroll to finish high school and earn a full college degree. (In the Philippines, a college degree is required to work in the fast food industry.) We help care for any children they have, and to instill in them a tangible sense of responsibility and dignity, they receive a weekly allowance to spend as they wish.

But most importantly, these saved ladies are discipled in the Scriptures, connected to local church communities, and spend time each day worshiping the Lord who saved them. After years of living in the safety of heavenly transformation, they are trained for a job and released on the wings of glorious salvation. And they never have to pay a cent.

I have served in rural areas in the developing world, but I have never seen anything quite as enchanting. Imagine a frightened, traumatized little girl entering the safety of her home on her first day with tears streaming down her fearful and distrustful face. Then imagine a few years later, standing proudly before her sisters in faith with tears streaming down her radiant face—joyfully wearing her robe and beret.

The Kingdom of God is like…

The supply and demand model aptly illustrates the hellish economics of sex trafficking. The supply side of the equation is amply supplied by the endless stream of beautiful young island girls who are kidnapped, tricked or captured by the traffickers. The demand side is fed by broken, depraved men — who look like me.

That’s because Filipino men aren’t allowed in the bars on this gleaming, brightly lit strip. No, these bars are reserved for foreigners, traveling exploiters, and sex-vacation criminals. There are few things more infuriating than the sight of an overweight, unkempt, middle-aged man escorting a tiny, barely teenage Filipino girl to his hotel room.

The kingdom of Satan is like…

I often say that I understand human trafficking in the third world, but I know less about human trafficking in the first world. I often get asked, why would you go to the Philippines when America is the largest producer and consumer of child pornography, and there is most likely some form of exploitation taking place within walking distance of where you live?

It’s a sobering point.

In Angeles City, evil walks brazenly through the crowded streets in plain sight, and everyone knows exactly what’s happening. But here at home, evil is forced to hide in the shadows, and few have any idea what’s happening. For better or worse, this dynamic is quickly changing, as more people wake up as Satan recklessly overplays his hand because he knows his chips are running out.

How? Take a deep breath as we look under the poker table.

There are over 50 million people in modern slavery worldwide, 12 million of whom are children. Incredibly, child sex trafficking has been reported in all 50 states. While many of these children are trafficked for labor and some for organ harvesting, the majority are held for sexual exploitation. Multiple organizations estimate that there are over 500,000 predators online targeting children every day. It is estimated that one in 13 children will have an unwanted sexual experience online before the age of 18, and 43% of children exposed to inappropriate sexual content online were under the age of 13. One in 10 children in the U.S. will experience sexual assault before the age of 18, and 50% of these survivors will be abused before the age of 12. It is unthinkable that many of these precious souls are being forced into rape porn, torture, and satanic rituals.

As we exhale from reading the previous paragraph, let us pause for a moment, turn our affections to the God who created each of these children, and consider the most soul-wrenching, heart-wrenching question. And I don’t mean, “God, how could you allow this to happen?” That’s the easy question.

The difficult question is to hear what the Lord is asking us: “How would You “Allow this?”

When the disturbing evidence of Pizzagate slipped through the censorship filters of mainstream news, I thought our nation would wake up and protect our children. It didn’t.

When Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were finally jailed for their demonic dealings on Caligula Island, I thought our nation would wake up and protect our children. It didn’t.

When the blood-curdling movie Sound of Freedom came out in theaters, I thought our nation would finally wake up and start protecting our children. It didn’t happen.

The mere thought of a single child being held against his will to satisfy the deviant desires of a predator should send each of us into action. The fact that our American and European representatives at the UN disagree should wake each of us up right now.

United Nations, choose your gravestone

The shameful politics surrounding a new Treaty by the United Nations Office on Drugs, Terrorism and Crime (UNODC) is another reason why the UN should read its Final Rights Treaty with a DNR order. The treaty contains clear and appropriate language prohibiting all forms of online child pornography that depicts, describes or represents a person under the age of 18.

As expected, delegations from the US, EU and Australia are demanding that exceptions be added to soften the rules. In other words, they want to weaken protections for children and strengthen protections for criminals, deviants and pedophiles.

Articles 14 and 16 clearly state that consent cannot be given by anyone under the age of 18. This consent applies to intimate images, illegal photographs or sexual videos stored in private, public or online media. In outrageous protest, the Australian delegate, representing the US, EU and many Western delegates, rushed to block this common sense provision:

Children over 14 have the right to develop sexual relationships and choose to have sexual relationships with adults. They can produce images during sexual engagement and share them with each other without any criminalization.

The most vehement criticism I have received over the years for my writing has come from people who insist that our children are not at risk and that child exploitation is more myth than reality. Through it all, I have learned this: those who shout the loudest are often the ones who hide the most. No healthy, virtuous, emotionally stable adult would ever fight to promote sex with a 14-year-old.

The UN should be outraged at the thought of an overweight, unkempt middle-aged man escorting a small teenage boy to his hotel room.

Fifty-one countries, including Syria, Iran, Russia, Congo and China, all strongly opposed the proposed exceptions. Incredibly, a contingent of ninety-one countries, led by the US and the EU, outvoted the opposition, and so far the exceptions remain. For now, notice: Iran is on the right side of a moral issue, and America is on the wrong side.

Whenever I am confronted with a political, ethical or cultural issue like this UN treaty, I always ask myself: Who cheers for this more, heaven or hell? You will soon realize how valuable this question is in trying to distinguish between polarizing topics.

Millstones don’t float

Jesus doesn’t beat around the bush, and the best example is when He describes what He thinks about adults who allow little children to suffer or stumble:

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him that a great millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.

~ Jesus in the Gospel of Mark

Look at how much Jesus values ​​children and notice; He does not threaten to drown the perpetrators. No, it is worse than that. He describes how a gruesome death by drowning in the sea would be better than suffering the inevitable consequences of endangering young children in any way.

While the culture screams at us to worship evil, Scripture tells us to worship evil. to detest The apostle Paul gives this command in Romans 12, the only time this word is used in the entire New Testament. In its context, we are told not only to hate, despise, and be shocked by evil, but also to distance ourselves from it.

May we have eyes to see our children with the same fierce love that Christ has for them. May we protect our children’s innocence with everything we have and have the discernment to know when not to entrust them to the broken systems around us. May we come between our children and the predators, keeping them separated from evil and never giving up our God-given calling to put our children’s well-being above our own.

But we pray, Arise, Lord! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the oppressed! Break the arm of the wicked and evil man. Search out his wickedness, until You find it no more.

~ Psalms 10:12, 15

This piece was commissioned by The Stream.

To learn more about our work in the Philippines, please visit: www.wipeeverytear.org. The work we do is made possible by your generous donations, so please consider donating through the website. Thank you!