Chosen, a documentary by Shared Hope International, tells the shocking true story of two ‘All-American’ teenage girls tricked into trafficking. Eighteen-year-old Brianna was an honor-roll student, cheerleader and worked at a local café. Thirteen-year-old Lacy was an active member of her youth group, and a volunteer in her community. Both were manipulated. Both were exploited. Both were chosen.

Each year in the United States, at least 100,000 children are exploited in the commercial sex industry. Because sex trafficking is an issue rarely discussed at home, in school, or in church, parents and children are unaware of the dangers that face America’s youth. Shared Hope International is reaching out with the truth — to equip and protect your child and others from being “Chosen.”

Watch the Chosen trailer below and then visit Shared Hope International’s website to learn more about this important documentary and to purchase the DVD and Training Package.

I shared this video when it was first released in April 2011, but I thought I’d share it again in case you haven’t seen it yet. Watch the video and then find something you can do to help end human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Here are a few ideas from one of my previous posts.

Caden Welles is living life as large as any 20-year-old could dream … until his eyes are opened to a world few Americans know still exists: a thriving human-trafficking trade. Spurred by a true purpose, an unlikely new friendship, and the prayers of his mother and girlfriend, Caden begins an unlikely search to rescue a young girl.

Not Today is a new movie about human trafficking that opens in theaters on April 12, 2013. Watch the trailer below and check out the Not Today website for more information.

What started with a few small groups of passionate university students has grown into a national anti-slavery movement. We’re challenging you to join us in spreading the word this spring: slavery is real, but together we can end it! Sign up to stand for 27 hours for the 27 million slaves today.

Watch the video and visit the Stand for Freedom website to learn more.

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” ~ William Wilberforce

• Educate yourself and others 
  • There are many informative books about slavery and human trafficking. Check out my list here.
  • Many films and documentaries have been made to help spread awareness about modern-day slavery, so check out some of them here.
  • There are also many excellent resources put out by various organizations. Take a look at these resources for everyone, resources for churches, and videos.
• Support organizations
  • By financially supporting organizations that are working to end slavery and human trafficking, you can help them protect the vulnerable, prevent slavery from happening, educate people, rescue and restore victims, and carry out justice.
  • Check out my “directory” of some excellent organizations and then choose one or more to support.
• Pray
  • Take a look at these prayer guides for some helpful ways to pray about modern-day slavery and human trafficking.
• Memorize the number for the National Human Trafficking Hotline
  • 1-888-3737-888
  • Call to report a tip or to request information and resources about modern-day slavery and human trafficking.
• Sponsor an orphan
  • Orphans are very vulnerable to human trafficking. By sponsoring an orphan, you can help protect him or her from slavery and other dangers.
  • Children’s HopeChest, Make Way Partners, Compassion International, and World Vision are a few organizations that work to protect orphans from human trafficking and advocate for the protection of vulnerable and exploited children.
• Stay updated
  • There are many blogs on the web that deal with the issues of slavery and human trafficking. Check out these abolition blogs and the bloggers map.
  • Every day there is something in the news about slavery and human trafficking. Take a look at what’s in the news regarding these issues.
• Stay connected
  • Join me (and others) on Twitter and Facebook to stay connected in the fight to end slavery and human trafficking.
• Spread the word
  • Tell people you know about human trafficking and modern-day slavery and what they can do to help end it. The more people who know about this, the more can be done to stop it.

I hope this will help you become more aware of the reality of modern-day slavery and human trafficking and inspire you to spread awareness and join the fight for justice!

“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say that you did not know.” ~ William Wilberforce, British abolitionist, 1789

Image credit: Ira Gelb

In the back streets of a tourist town in present-day Southeast Asia, we find a filthy cinder block room; a bed with soiled sheets; a little girl waits for the next man to use her. Alex, a human trafficking investigator, plays the role of her next customer as he negotiates with the pimp for the use of the child. Claire, Alex’s wife, is caught up in the flow of her new life in Southeast Asia and her role as a volunteer in an aftercare shelter for rescued girls. She and Alex both still are dealing with their grief of losing a child years earlier. As both of them struggle in their own way to overcome the pain of their past and realities of child exploitation where they now live and work, they find themselves being pulled together into the lives of local neighborhood girls, whose freedom and dignity are threatened. Parallel story lines intertwine, and twists unfold against the backdrop of the dangerous human trafficking world, in a story of struggle, life, hope, and redemption in the “TRADE of INNOCENTS.”

That’s the synopsis of Trade of Innocents, a movie about child sex trafficking that was released this past fall, 2012. Take a look at the press kit and the movie website for more information about the movie, the cast and crew, the inspiration for the movie, and more. Also visit the Trade of Innocents resource website for study guides to go along with the movie as well as many other tools and resources for learning about human trafficking.

For those of you who enjoy books, there is also the Trade of Innocents novel, which is based on the movie but has many more details added to the story.

I have read the book and watched the movie, and I thought both were very good. The topic is sickening and heartbreaking, but it was handled well and will hopefully motivate people to do something to put an end to child sex trafficking. Take a look at the Justice Generation website for ways you can get involved and make a difference in the fight against slavery.

You can rent or buy the Trade of Innocents Amazon instant video here, or buy the DVD here, the paperback book here, and the Kindle book here.

Check out the Trade of Innocents trailer . . .

The term “human trafficking” or “trafficking in persons” (TIP) often draws raised eyebrows and skeptical expressions—until statistics are laid out to show that approximately 27 million people are enslaved today, whether for the purposes of slave labor, prostitution, or involuntary organ “donations.”

The Salvation Army has made the rescue of those enslaved around the world their number-one goal at this time, holding seminars and conferences to educate people and to garner support from various individuals and organizations.

The United Nations describes TIP in this way:

The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

In a nutshell, human trafficking is modern-day slavery, and it is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. It is currently tied with the illegal arms industry for the second largest criminal industry in existence, with the drug industry being the only one to edge it out.

Oh, I know. Most people naively believe that human trafficking happens only in faraway countries—Thailand or Cambodia, perhaps. True, it does occur there at a tragic rate. But it also takes place right here in the United States daily, to such an extent that some states are instituting task forces to try and stop it. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot promises that their new task force “will take an aggressive stand against human traffickers, who have turned Texas into a hub for international and domestic forced labor and prostitution rings.” [1]

Another myth about human trafficking is that it only involves adults. Millions of children around the world are crying out in pain and terror over the heartbreaking error of that statement. According to Wikipedia, trafficking in children may come about as an “exploitation of the parents’ extreme poverty. Parents may sell children to traffickers in order to pay off debts or gain income, or they may be deceived concerning the prospects of training and a better life for their children. They may sell their children for labor, sex trafficking, or illegal adoptions.”

Can there be anything that grieves the Father’s heart more than the forced enslaving of people made in His own image—by others bearing that same divine imprint? I believe each time anyone becomes aware of such evil and cries out against it, that cry is spurred by the Father’s own pain. If ever the Church needed to be involved in helping to right a human wrong, it’s now. Human trafficking must stop! And each of us who names the Name of Christ must ask the Father what He wants us to do to help make that happen.

In my case, that includes writing about it—every chance I get, including blogs, letters, articles, and a new fiction-based-on-real-life “Freedom” series: Deliver Me From Evil; Special Delivery; and The Deliverer. Will you pray for these books to be effective in reaching people and calling them to action? And will you also pray and ask God what you can do to answer His heart cry of “Let My people go”? Millions of enslaved human beings around the world are depending on you to respond.

***Kathi Macias (www.kathimacias.com; www.boldfiction.com; www.thetitus2women.com) is the award-winning author of nearly forty books, including the Golden Scrolls 2011 Novel of the Year and Carol Award finalist, Red Ink. She is also a popular speaker at writers’ and women’s conferences and retreats. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Al.

[1] www.humantrafficking.org, “News and Updates,” April 5, 2010.

Kathi Macias, author of The Freedom Series, has graciously and generously offered to give away her entire trilogy of novels about modern-day slavery to one winner! The three titles in the series are: Deliver Me From Evil, Special Delivery, and The Deliverer. If you love books, want to learn about modern-day slavery, or have a desire to help end slavery, this is a great giveaway for you!

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on November 10, 2012, at 12:00 PM Mountain Time.

Thank you so much, Kathi, for your kindness in offering this fabulous giveaway!