Forced into Marriage
Read: Genesis 16:1-16 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. (v. 6) Forced marriage is when women or young girls are forced to marry against their will or without their consent. It’s more […]
Modern Slavery: Domestic Servitude
Read: Psalm 10:17-18 You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them. (v. 18 NLT) Domestic servitude is when a person who is working in a private home is either told she has no option of leaving or is persuaded to stay by force or threats. […]
Freedom from Debt
Read: Romans 6:15-23 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now . . . you are free. (vv. 17-18 NLT) The most common form of modern slavery is bonded labor. Bonded labor victims are enslaved until they repay a debt. Here’s one example from the International Justice Mission. Five families were freed from […]
Freeing Others to Dream
Read: Genesis 41:1-16 I remember my offenses today . . . A young Hebrew was there with us [in custody] . . . When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us. (vv. 9, 12) Forced labor is when people are forced through threats of violence to work for no pay. When I first […]
God Our Healer
Read: Isaiah 40:26-31 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (v. 29 NIV) When many people think about human trafficking, they think about sex trafficking. These victims are forced into the commercial sex industry and held against their will by force, fraud, or threats. Sex trafficking is a kind […]
Modern Slavery
Read: Zechariah 7:8-12 But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. (v. 11 NIV) There is a roughly 1 in 11 million chance that you will die in a plane crash, and a 1 in 3.7 million chance you will be attacked by a shark. Though very rare, […]
September Prayer Guide 2020
IRAN — Give thanks that the book, Why Doesn’t God Act More Like God?, which was written by former Words of Hope president Rev. David Bast, is now being repurposed into content for Iranian speakers. Our team is receiving many responses from this series. Pray also for an ongoing project to create digital versions of Iranian […]
You Are Not Alone
Read: 1 Peter 5:6-11 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (v. 9) I became interested in the prevention of human trafficking my junior year of high school, just a few months after I ended an abusive relationship. I had […]
Not a List
Read: Colossians 4:7-18 Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. (v. 7) Fred Craddock once preached a sermon titled “When the Roll Is Called Down Here” on Romans 16. There at the end Paul greeted by name a very long list of people in Rome. But, Craddock said, don’t dare call those verses only […]