Josiah Road

Genuine Item or Fake?

posted by Andrew Hebert 30Apr

I go to a college full of pranksters. You have to be constantly on guard around my friends. In the words of a cowboy friend, we’ve all “been had” at some point or another. There have been some pretty good pranks since I’ve been at college, but this week a prank was pulled that beat the rest – I mean, this was the practical joke of the century!

A friend of mine, Zach, had been pranked by another friend, David. So Zach decided to exact revenge. He created a Facebook account for a fake girl. Her name was “Kelly.” He created all of her personal information, posted pictures of one of his friends (a girl David wouldn’t recognize) and made her appear perfect. Among other things, her email address was proverbs31girl04@____.com.

“Kelly” contacted David and began conversing with him for a couple of days. David totally took the bait – hook, line, and sinker – and fell hard and fast for this girl. He was so excited that a girl this amazing and this beautiful would pursue him! He told all of his friends (including me) about Kelly and how he thought she was “the one” for him… all of the things that usually accompany a high school or college crush. The problem was that this girl did not exist, a fact which he would soon realize. “Kelly” asked David to coffee at Starbucks and the poor victim went like a lamb to slaughter. David waited eagerly at Starbucks, but at the appointed time Zach appeared, handed him some flowers, and introduced himself as “Kelly!” David was so disappointed. This fantasy girl with whom he had nearly fallen in love turned about to be absolutely fake and he admitted that it was the best revenge prank he’d ever seen.

This made me think about my walk with the Lord. How many times do I fall for a fake when the genuine item, Jesus, desires a true relationship with me? Sometimes a sin, or a relationship, or a particular venture seems so right, but then it turns out to be completely wrong. It might appear pleasurable, but Hebrews 11 reminds Christians that sin is only for a season, and then reality hits – it is a fake, a fraud. Romans 1:24-25 says that God judged humanity because we exchanged the truth of God for lie. I am challenged greatly by these verses and hope that I will recognize a fake when one presents itself. What about you? Have you fallen in love with a lie, or do you love the one true God?

Freedom’s Promise

posted by Kaylan Christopher 29Apr

In 1999, 33-year-old Marina answered an ad to leave the Ukraine and study abroad in Israel. When she arrived, she was taken to an apartment in Ashkelon where she was introduced to other women who explained that she was now a prostitute.

Imagine her surprise! Marina became hysterical. As a result, she was beaten, raped, sold off, and finally locked in a windowless basement for a month, drinking water from the toilet and going without food.

She finally managed to escape. But now, she rarely leaves her two-bedroom home in northern Israel because she fears the government will deport her or the criminal gangs will force her back into prostitution.

This story came from the blog of Amber Barron, a 28-year-old freedom fighter for humans being trafficked all over the world.

Exactly one year ago, Amber (who was working in commercial real estate) read a CNN article about Somaly Mam, a Cambodian woman sold into sexual slavery as a child. Now, a free woman, she works to free other girls in the same situation. Almost instantly, Amber said she heard God saying,”This is the work I want you to do.”

In June 2007, Amber resigned her job and joined Dan Trippie, to form and become president of Freedom’s Promise—an organization created to rescue women and children affected by the human trafficking trade, raise awareness in our communities and abroad, aid in the rehabilitation process of victims, and address the root causes of trafficking.

Human trafficking, a modern-day form of slavery, is the second largest organized crime industry in the world. Each year, 600,000 to 800,000 victims are trafficked across international borders. And 14,500 to 17,500 national foreigners are trafficked annually in the United States.

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: “Many victims of human trafficking are forced to work in prostitution or the sex entertainment industry. … Traffickers use various techniques to instill fear in victims and to keep them enslaved.”

Amber said, “Women and girls are given promises of good jobs in other countries such as cleaning houses, being a nanny, or modeling. Once they arrive in the country, their passports and visas are confiscated and they are taken to a brothel where they are beaten and raped, and begin work as sex slaves.”

Today in Cambodia, Amber said, “There are whole village areas that are filled with brothels. It’s common for mothers to sell their daughters to feed the rest of the family. [The village girls] start off at five or six years old participating in oral sex. By the time they are nine and ten, they are participating in intercourse.”

Mainly working in the Nashville area, Brazil, and Cambodia, Freedom’s Promise hopes to facilitate relationships with other organizations and build a large community of awareness locally, nationally, and worldwide about human trafficking.

Sadly, this issue is closer to home in our own American cities than most of us realize.

Amber challenges you to do something right where you are by raising awareness among your friends, family, and co-workers. She said, “This is an opportunity to wake America up to modern-day slavery and fight to free these people.”

For ways to help stop human trafficking or support Freedom’s Promise, go online to http://www.freedomspromise.orgfreedomspromise.org.