Trafficking Girls

For the promise of $2000 a village’s hopes goes up in the air. That’s the truth of what is happening in Phnom Penh, throughout Cambodia and in other Asian nations. Each day at least two groups of 50+ young Khmer girls, aged 14-15, fly to Malaysia or another Asian country on the promise that after two years of work in a mill or family home they will be paid $2000.

$2000 is an astronomical amount on the face of it for the girl’s family and/or village although when calculated it equals just over $.18 an hour (average of 15 hour days). Girls are the primary target because they are largely considered throwaway – not as important as the boys to the family unit. (This holds true except for the Vietnamese community living in Cambodia where baby girls are celebrated when born. Primarily boat people, many of the poorest Vietnamese have discovered that they can sell or prostitute their girls as early as 5 years of age. That means money for the family that would not ordinarily be possible).

Never mind the cost to body, soul and spirit during those two years. Most of those who survive to return to their home village (only a fraction of those who were enticed to go) will weigh instead of 100 pounds just 65 to 70 pounds upon return. Along the way they find themselves prisoners of those who ‘employ’ them…slaves to do the bidding of those they answer to; not only underfed and overworked but raped, beaten, kept alone and separate from the only girls they ever knew when they began their trial to be.

If they do not get sick, or disobey, or break a bone - they are often let go for not being a good worker 23 months into their term. They then find themselves without a passport, which they never held themselves, and alone on the streets as illegal aliens. They find themselves lost with no way to get home, no way to call, really, no place to call. However, if they are incapacitated in any way during their two years ‘obligation’ they are merely dropped off somewhere or killed. After all, there are so many more of them available.

It all starts with ‘recruiters’ going into villages that are poor and without hope. They are told that they will be able to break the cycle of abject poverty if only the families and villages will give them their girls for a two-year period to work for the ‘Company’. The company is actually private individuals who prey on young women for profit. Once agreement is reached the recruiter earns $150 per girl. When away from their villages their hair is cut short (which is not a custom of the Cambodian girls), are bought new clothes so they blend in when being transported to their new ‘jobs’, and new backpacks and new shoes are also purchased so the pretense is maintained until away from Cambodia.

In the airport they look like any group of young girls on an excursion out of town. Led by punks in their 20s who hold all the passports they follow the lead of the leader, silently following to a future they can’t possibly imagine. Often after arriving in their destination, the girls are stripped and forced to work without clothes for a week, just to cement fear in their hearts.

If a girl lives through the two years and is not discharged she is returned to Cambodia but not with $2000. First they deduct the cost of the passport, then the fees to the staff that supervised them on the airline out of and back into Cambodia, their food and other [trumped up] ‘necessary’ charges. The average amount for those that make it back may reach $700. The math now shouts just over 6 cents per hour for 7 days a week labor, 15 hours a day. They are often given a chance to re-up with the explanation that the first two years was a trial period and they could earn more if the stayed. The pressure to save face and not disappoint their parents or village sometimes is all it takes.

If they runaway, eventually they will die from starvation, disease or at the hands of abusers, prejudice or predators.

So, this is the reality for over 700 young women a week: traded, misled, abused, underfed, controlled and kept in a state of fear. Even though the villages are often warned about this charade – covering the reality of human trafficking – the promise and allure of receiving $2000 clouds rational thinking. The poorest of poor have lost all hope – this scam, this promise is often all they have.

Peel Back The Onion...

The meretricious arguments heard in our recent election, our desire to believe what can’t possibly be true and our devouring of self benefit are what propelled the incumbent administration into office. This belief that what was seen and heard at the outset and on the surface holds true the longer and deeper observation and analysis take place is erroneous. This is so because we learn as we mature and experience life’s ups and downs/ins and outs that nothing is as it seems; that once layers of the onion are peeled all kinds of revelations and ‘aha’ moments are apt to ensue.

But, somehow, someway and in some situations it seems, we choose to not want to go there, to look further and ask penetrating questions. Perhaps it is because in the hopefulness of the moment we don’t want to have to recognize that what we might suspect will be there is.

Unfortunately (and fortunately) it only took one layer of that onion pulled away to expose what rhetoric during the campaign glossed over – that the Obama Administration is the most pro-abortion administration ever to hold high office in America and always intended to be so. From many points of view that stinks!

The phantasm we have embraced regarding a society where abortion is less and less frequent is just that. It belies truth. It is an affront to God. It kills. Unfortunately, abortion’s apogee is no where near.

Perhaps the meretriciousness of Planned Parenthood ought to be looked at a little more deeply as well.

Seed of Procreation

It struck me this morning how good our God is to us and how favored we are as His sons and daughters. The very fact that He created us and gave us life through the gift of His very breath is absolutely amazing. The fact that He gave us so many of His characteristics and abilities are beyond understanding.isaHis The fact that His Spirit is with us to guide us, teach us, protect us and empower us is more amazing still. I am so thankful.

It also struck me this morning how important it is that ‘men behaving well’ is central to living heaven on earth lives; lives that are lived for and by God through us and not contrarily, ourselves. Somehow, though, most certainly the result of selfish sin, men, and I do mean the gender, have lost this drive to live set apart lives of righteousness and have settled for what society says of them. We are anywhere from buffoons to machismo brutes to pretenders and posers to self absorbed pontificators without substance – a mile wide and only an inch deep. We live lives of relative no eternal importance or responsibility and when the issue of obedience to God’s commands is raised we most often demure or equivocate with nonsensical excuses which only serve to cement opinions on our Neanderthal tendencies. The shame is that we often revel in these descriptions of our lives.

It’s time that there is a reversal of these opinions about the manner in which we men live. We must change. Key to this transformation is the realization that men are supposed to bring life and not death to this world – particularly as it relates to conception, abortion and adoption and also by living out John 10:10. But, it also relates to our infecundity, our anti-natal tendencies and our preference for silence in the face of consequential life decisions. Our ambivalence to God’s gift of procreation and design to raise and lead families in the way of the Lord, has led us down a selfish path disguised often as a politically correct societal belief that in reality espouses the philosophy of ‘me first.’ This downward spiral from God’s will for us will never abate if men do not take the lead.

So, how does this change? It can only change when men realize that life cannot begin without them and that the responsibilities that quickly ensue must be met. Stepping up is hard to do as we take our positions on the couch. We as a gender give life. Without the penetration of life giving sperm, an egg, as wondrous as it is, will not implant but will be expelled and die. The giving or life is not only a huge gift but a huge responsibility that we have not fully understood. It is a peculiar gift from God to each of us. It is a sobering gift which should drive us to our knees in prayer.

Understanding of the unique role God has given each of us men should be the foundation for the way we live in His Kingdom – Heaven on earth. We are to honor Him with our lives, honor life itself and honor those He created to receive our life giving seed; those beautiful, delicate, mysterious and intricate women who give nurturance and love and unselfish sacrifice in the births of our children. This is where it should begin. jt

“The greatest loss of life is the loss of human potential.”

“The greatest loss of life is the loss of human potential.”

I recently attended the Memorial service for a dear brother in the Lord, Richard L. Luebke, Sr. His son, Dick, Jr. is my connection to the family and a dear friend. It was a wonderful service. One statement attributed to his father struck me then and has continued to impress me since that late Saturday morning of November 21st.

Richard, Sr. had said before he passed away, “The greatest loss of life is the loss of human potential.” That insight is profound. Because God, in His sovereignty created each of us to magnify Him in all ways. We do that by marshaling the gifts that He has bestowed upon us for the betterment of everyone else; sacrificially often, with each opportunity to serve making more and more use of the potential God placed in us. Such was the legacy of Dick’s father.

And his legacy continues for each of us as we grasp and hold that truth – as we serve others, as we exemplify God’s own Son’s character in our own lives, as we treat others with respect, love and charity for God’s glory.

Dick, Jr. was fortunate to be raised by such a man, not a perfect man, but wise in his understanding of what is truly important. The most important perhaps.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life…whoever lives by [this] truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what He has done has been done through God.” John 3:16, 21 NIV

How sweet ‘potential’.

VOTE LIFE

This is John Tabor with a message from my heart.

Never before is your vote for LIFE so important as this Nov. 4th - as those whose testimonies are exemplified by our lives we will be seen as false if we do not stand for the sanctity of human life.

I encourage you to embrace the preciousness of life as the very foundation for all we are and do. Everything that matters to us springs from this belief and reality. Choose LIFE this election-day.

John 10:10’s promise can only be realized if we receive it and live it. Let’s be life givers in all we do.

One of the most important ways we can do that on Nov 4th is to vote for LIFE.

Let people know that’s what you are doing and ask for their vote.

Deut 30:19-20 says: “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.”

Thanks and may God bless you mightily and give you much favor.

The Blessing of Simple Graces

They are moments I take for granted; common routines that are really not common at all. It’s just that they are so much a part of me – like breathing – that I forget how profound and miraculous they are.

However, a few days ago, I was reminded again of the blessing of simple graces. One of my children called… just to chat. As we visited, I realized anew the blessing of family. It wasn’t the substance of the conversation; rather, it was the familiarity and comfort found in sharing nothing more than the news of the day and plans for the weekend.

As I hung up the phone, I found myself thanking God for the gift of the ordinary – and realizing how often I take these daily graces for granted. I thought also of a woman I have recently come to know.

Eileen would give anything she has to experience once again these everyday miracles. Unlike me, Eileen will never again hear the voice of her college-aged daughter, Laura. She no longer has the blessing of making plans with her for the weekend.

Laura died eight months ago while having an abortion. With her death came a mother’s loss of simple graces… a daughter coming home for the summer from college… a phone call to share the news of the day and make plans for the weekend. Common routines to be sure, but everyday moments Eileen mourns along with the death of her daughter.

Like breathing, we only realize the life found in these moments when they stop. And when they are gone, they are gone forever. It’s why I believe so passionately in the ministry of The Crisis Pregnancy Centers. I want every parent to have the blessing of simple graces – and the luxury of taking them for granted.

I’m going to go call my kids now… just because I can. And I’m going to tell them I love them – because it’s a blessing I’m trying not to take for granted. I encourage you to do the same. After all, everyday graces are too precious to be overlooked.

Do Blessings Deafen?

In prayer time this morning with our small cadre of faithful men a thought arose for me more cogently than ever before. Hence the revelatory feel I have had since our prayer time ended. Perhaps God has already spoken to you about this, but for me it has been an ‘aha’ moment. One that has compelled me to share it with you.

It is simply this. Today, in ‘Christian America’s Church’, we don’t witness a lot of James’ putting action to our faith. In fact we often seem to be more like the church at Sardis – in need of a wake up call to roust us from our slumber…our happy, warm, safe ‘Christian’ repose that makes us proud to be counted His and then to turn over in search of that particularly safe warm spot on the mattress. It’s almost like one large Christian slumber party that does not hear or see or act on behalf of the Master beyond anticipation of “well done, good and faithful servant” after one accomplishment on His behalf - a slumber party that seems not to have enough gumption even for a pillow fight on matters close to His heart.

Back up with me here. As His sons and daughters, I believe God blesses us (list not inclusive) for honoring Him through our faithfulness, our work, the stewardship we give to matters of His heart, our obedience and our love for Him and one another. Unfortunately though, after a very short while, we, but not all, seem to tire and become distracted. We are often lured into ‘vain imaginations’ that rise above His will because of the praise we receive for being exemplary Christian men and women. We don’t seem to rest well in His blessing, patient to hear from Him so that we can move out in greater and more profound ways. Rather, we become ‘euthanized’ with the honors given to us by men rather than the praise and victory we can have from Him. We close our ears to His whispers and shut our eyes to what more He calls us to do.

I’m not angry here – just trying to figure out why it is that we seem to be losing the war for babies in the womb, our youth, and our communities…living out our Christian worldview. It seems blessings do deafen and often take us out of the battle.

God does not purpose us to ‘bury’ the blessings He has given us but to multiply them, to build them into bigger blessings for those around us; to magnify those blessings, stewarding them in ways that increases His glory and accomplishes His will. Man’s honors pale in the presence of His rewards but how easily we succumb to their sweetness and the calling our pillows, sheets and blankets siren. Sleep, so soundly we sleep.

Do we do good works, because of our gratitude for what Christ did for us on the cross? If so why then do we then stop afterward to revel in what good people we are; revel in what we have just done? A stupor of revelry seems to come over us and mask what else God has for us to do. I believe that is how it is, myself included. It is so tempting. It is just too easy to rest in our past work without the passion or initiative to step up our work in His name. We seem not only to be deaf to things the Lord puts before us but blind as well – overlooking the obvious, overlooking the needed – sometimes even overlooking His direct call on our lives.

This is a plea to not let His blessings be blanketed almost smothered by man’s…to instead accept His blessings to raise our game as His voice and hands and feet in ways unfathomed by us before…to redirect glory from ourselves to Him…to build and protect our families and communities in His name as a sweet aroma for all to experience, investigate and accept. This is a plea to finish strong.

Blessings all.

I welcome any thoughts you may have on this. Thanks to Mike Alameda for his wisdom on ‘vain imaginations.’ jt