Become Aware . . . Begin to Care

        Welcome to "Aware to Care" ~ a blog to help inform and educate my friends, family and hopefully other readers, that slavery still exists, and that yes - there is something just one person can do to make a difference.

        To begin, let's take a quiz. (Don't be intimidated - just 2 years ago I would have "flunked" this!)

  1 - In the world today, there are . . .

        a.2 million slaves    b.16 million slaves   c.30 million slaves   d.none - slavery ended in 1865

  2 - After drugs and weapons, human trafficking is the 3rd largest and fastest growing criminal 

        enterprise the world.          True or False? 

  3 - This is such a huge issue - I could never make a difference!      True or False?

 Before I give the answers, I think some definition of terms is in order.

        SLAVERY = someone is a slave when they are forced to work under threat of violence, paid nothing  beyond sustenance, and unable to walk away.  There are many forms of slavery: forced adult and child labor, child soldiers, domestic servitude, and sex slavery

        HUMAN TRAFFICKING = the recruiting, transporting, harboring, receiving, or obtaining a person for the purpose of compelled service

        In 2007,  U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report), estimated up to 27 million people around the world lived in slavery.  In 2011 the "Not For Sale Campaign" is estimating that figure is over 30 million.  

        In a U.S. Customs & Immigration Enforcement Report from April 23, 2011, I quote, "With an estimated annual revenue of $32 billion, or about $87 million a day....human trafficking is tied with arms dealing as the world's second largest criminal enterprise, behind only drugs."

        These statistics are sobering.  And overwhelming.  There is no way we can wrap our minds around these kinds of numbers.  But in the weeks to come, I hope to change those numbers into a face....a story...a tear...a smile.  

        I want to introduce you to men and women on the front-lines rescuing  children and women from sex slavery, working for an enslaved laborer, freeing child soldiers.  You'll meet a school teacher who hosts "Freedom Parties" to help support cottage industries of rescued women; a young law student who is answering God's call to serve those who suffer injustice; an 11-year old entrepreneur who is helping fund an African orphanage that rescues child soldiers and AIDS orphans.  And I'll probably share my own story, too.   I want to help all of us know how we can care, through our prayers, how we shop, and how we serve.  And who knows?  Maybe God will call one of us to the "front lines."