Argh, I wish I was a worship minister right now - I could be planning an incredible day to raise awareness for human trafficking.
Maybe next year.
Anyway, this Sunday, January 11th, is the National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness. I found out about it from Kathy at Love146, and I checked out a bunch of resources from the American Baptist Women's Ministries web page.
This website gives several ideas for songs, readings and more for Sunday morning, and my hope and prayer is that there are churches here in Ohio who are going to at least do something in their service for this. (Kyle - the church you're at is an American Baptist Church, I hope you guys are doing something!)
I really liked this prayer of justice found on that site:
Prayer for Justice
We are the church.
We offer ourselves to you, O God, our Creator.
We offer our hands.
May we use them to extend a healing touch to comfort sisters and brothers and children, youth, and elderly who are afraid.
We offer our eyes and ears.
May we see and hear the signs and stories of violence so that all may have someone with them in their pain and confusion.
We offer our hearts and our tears.
May the hurt and sorrow of the abused echo within us.
We offer our own stories of violence.
May we be healed as we embrace each other.
We offer our anger.
Make it a passion for justice.
We offer all our skills.
Use our gifts to end violence.
We offer our faith, our hope, our love.
May our encounters with violence bring us closer to you
and to each other.
All this we ask through Jesus Christ who knows the pain of violence.
Amen.
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There are also Bible Studies, a calendar to guide one through a year of learning about human trafficking, and more.
2 comments:
I don't know about Sunday but we have something on Thursday:
Heard of human trafficking?
01/15/2009 7:00 PM contact Blake Eilers blake.eilers@gmail.com
There are over 27 MILLION slaves today! Christians need to be informed and concerned. Come to Apex on Thursday the 15th at 7pm and invest 1 hour to see a documentary and hear Blake Eilers, an intern at IJM, discuss the problem and what you can do. less... The problem is a growing one, and Christians need to be informed and concerned because justice in the face of violent oppression is near to the heart of God. Come to Apex and invest one hour to see a documentary and hear Blake Eilers discuss the problem and what you can do. Refreshments will be served. Blake has just returned from an internship with International Justice Mission, a human rights agency working in twelve nations worldwide to secure justice for victims for slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression. IJM attorneys, investigators, and aftercare professionals, 90% of whom are indigenous workers, labor to rescue victims, prosecute perpetrators, and strengthen failing justice systems. Greed, corruption, and poverty hamper justice for the marginalized, but the professionals of IJM are making a difference around the world. Everyone can be a part of this work through prayer, support and advocacy. Be a part of Gods work--join us.
Yeah, I'm planning on going!
I emailed Blake but haven't heard back from him, I hope to get connected with him and maybe we can start something here in the Dayton area.
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