I asked my mom what she wanted for Christmas.
Her response wrecked me.
She wanted hope for the holidays.
Fuel for the fight against the human trafficking that rages full-force around the world today. Freedom for the staggering number of women and children, some as young as 6, bound up in the sex-trafficking industry.
She handed me a magazine and said no more.
Here’s what I learned…
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$12 billion a year goes to organized crime from trafficking women
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1.4 million victims are in servitude in the commercial sex industry.
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90% of victims trafficked into Europe go to the sex industry
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25% of sex-trafficked victims are from eastern and southern Europe
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20,000 girls and women are in the Greek sex industry
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2% of all victims are rescued
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1 in 100,000 traffickers in Europe are convicted in court
I. had. no. idea.
None.
Hope for the holidays.
A simple donation to a ministry that is committed to combating this injustice by rescuing one precious life at a time…rather than buying mom the new CD Player she “needs”.
A simple request.
A profound gesture.
And quite easily the most life-changing gift that has ever graced the space beneath our artificial tree.
I am so shaken by this discovery, stirred by the stories I have read, charged by the mission of this ministry.
As I type, I glance over at the new f/1.8 II camera lens that arrived in the mail yesterday, sitting unopened on my desk. My much-anticipated, frequently-hinted-about Christmas gift from my hubby.
I swallow hard, and my heart sinks a little lower in my chest.
Why is it that a self-centered existence comes so naturally to me?
Hope for the holidays.
The A21 Campaign {stands for “Abolishing Injustice in the 21st Century”} is the organization my sweet momma pointed me towards.
We, as a family, have so much!
We, as a nation, have so much!
We are undeniably blessed.
What an amazing opportunity we have to change a life. And there are so many more organizations out there pursuing freedom and hope for the broken among us, if only we will open our eyes…and our hearts…long enough to recognize the incredible need outside the bubble of our comfortable little worlds.
I’ll be the first to admit…I don’t need more “stuff” this Christmas, or any day of the year. And yet I consistently manage to acquire it. I make frequent trips to Goodwill to purge the excess that surrounds me…and then snag a bargain or two while I’m out.
I needed my eyes opened to these world-rocking, heart-breaking statistics.
Hope for the holidays.
What a powerful statement we can make to our children this year. And next. And the year after that.
While I know my selfishness will subtly swell, and it too often motivates my daily routine…I pray that Christmas will never again occur in the same {inward-focused, numb-to-the-need} fashion it has in this home, in the past.
Don’t misunderstand my heart in this. Of course the magic will remain; I would never dream of placing a “heaviness” on such a beautiful celebration and robbing my children of the delicious whimsy of the season – the ultimate celebration of life…
But, we would be remiss to ignore the profound need and brokenness all around us by not choosing to intertwine into our celebration the beauty of our family getting to play a part in the meeting of that need.
It is, after all, more of a blessing to give than to receive…even if their little minds aren’t able to fully grasp that principle yet. It starts with us modeling it now.
Fleshing it out, so to speak.
And in doing this…a small act of sacrifice, a significant gift of hope…we will more closely resemble the One we gather to celebrate in the first place.
“This will be a sign to you:
you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger”
Luke 2:12
