By Ruth Maddela
WEA’s Senior Advisor for Social Justice and Chair of the Global Human Trafficking Task Force, Commissioner Christine MacMillan took a trip to Australia for the majority of July to speak at various Social Justice meetings and seminars. They were conducted primarily to help the local church engage in the injustice of human trafficking and to raise awareness. From radio shows to conferences to more intimate settings, Christine made it her goal to press on the issue of injustice in the society.
As she led a workshop for social service ministries, a deeper question was introduced: “why do people need our service in the first place?” This question led to a vision where people are not trafficked to begin with. Rather than rescuing people from the life of human trafficking, Christine expressed that the best we can do is to prevent people from experiencing it.
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Commissioner Christine MacMillan addresses an audience at Booth College |
She also shared about a discussion she had with a group of High School students during her time in Australia. She asked them “What makes you mad?” She explained that by asking this question, it revealed what their values are.
The students answered saying that the social injustice of human trafficking makes them mad. It not only makes them mad but they want to actually do something about their anger. They desire to live lives that count for something.
But how do we, the church and society, partner with this vision to see the end of the Social Injustice of human trafficking? Firstly, we must be angry about the social injustice. Secondly, we must want our lives to count for something. Having these two components allows us to actively engage in combatting human trafficking.
As the Church, we need to have the ability to speak into injustice with a spiritual mindset. It is our duty to be like Jesus in our societies. Where we see injustice, let our hearts break. Let injustice drive us to our knees which will empower us to be Jesus’ hands and feet here on earth. Christine says that the evangelical church needs to have a voice to speak into injustice.
As a society, we need to raise awareness of the existence of human trafficking. She believes that raising awareness in creative ways is very successful. She mentioned a gentleman who combats trafficking by creating awareness through Ping-Pong tournaments. Who would have thought that Ping-Pong could help fight human trafficking?
Christine also shared about her experience of touring a safe house in an Eastern nation. She saw young girls who were conditioned to thinking that their sole purpose of life was to please people with their bodies. Can you imagine if these girls never had to experience being trafficked? What if they saw a purpose in their lives that didn’t include giving their bodies for service?
On one of the days in Australia, Christine noticed a turquoise butterfly against all the greenery. She would not have noticed this butterfly if it was not this turquoise blue color against a mass of green. No one is going to take notice of or care about human trafficking unless we, the church, raise up to speak out against it.
When we are reluctant to be complacent with human trafficking is when people will notice us just as Christine noticed that butterfly. Once we are noticed, we can effectively combat injustice and work towards a world in which people never have to experience being trafficking.
May we, the Church, stand up against human trafficking and fight for the freedom of many.
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