Stepping up: Our Response to Sex Trafficking
Posted on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 by
Our Response to Sex Trafficking in Pierce County - Part 1
For an engineer who could put “Creator of the Universe” on his resume, Jesus is pretty bad at basic math.
“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?” – Matthew 18:12
Wait a second Jesus. Clearly, 99 sheep are more important than one sheep. Abandoning the 99 puts them at risk. Forget the single lost sheep, Jesus. You can’t really suggest that we should risk the majority for the sake of one lost sheep. This math makes no sense. It’s bad business.
Unless...
Unless there is something qualitatively different about 1 lost sheep. Jesus reveals to us that this sheep has gone astray. It is this single factor—being astray and lost, with no chance for redemption unless someone seeks them out—that causes “the one” to far outweigh “the many”. This isolation adds such heft to the importance of one sheep that for Jesus, in that moment, nothing else matters.
At Tacoma Area Youth For Christ, we are stepping forward and grappling with Jesus’ upside-down math problem. We see the 70,000 adolescents in Pierce County and are determined to reflect Christ’s focus by seeking out the most astray. We must, like Christ, concentrate our efforts on reaching the 1% that are in the greatest danger—those with zero chance at redemption unless they are pursued and rescued.
Through our Juvenile Justice Ministry in Pierce County’s youth detention center, we have been given the unique opportunity to befriend girls in lockup. Sadly, the vast majority of the girls we meet today have been trafficked as sex slaves, traded sex for basic needs (such as shelter and food), or are extremely high risk for entering this dangerous lifestyle.
Please take a moment to let that sink in. Teens that you may know from Jason Lee and Giaudrone, from Foss and Mount Tahoma, or teens that you see in the store every day across our county are actively being recruited to enter a lifestyle of abuse and slavery. The proposition that right now, 13 year olds from Pierce County are being used as slaves to satisfy man’s lust is both tragic and maddening.
We shouldn’t be okay with this.
As an organization, we are compelled by God’s spirit to do something more and begin creating real solutions for the young people with whom we have built relationships. Working with other agencies and renowned experts in the field, Tacoma YFC is devoting greater resources and manpower to pioneer effective ministry models that will have a sustainable impact in the lives of trafficked teens. And as we seek these lost sheep, we hear Christ’s declarative mission statement ringing in our ears…
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” – Luke 4:18
It is difficult to get a firm number on exactly how many teens are being trafficked in Pierce County. Our experience with young people tells us this number is growing, and our reading of scripture tells us that even one is too many. Jesus’ tale of 99 sheep communicates that we should not wait for a critical mass to develop before we begin a rescue mission. A single lost girl is worth our entire pursuit.
Stepping up: Why we’re getting involved to End Sex Trafficking
Throughout March, we’re talking about our response to this need throughout Pierce County. Our hope is to bring understanding of the systemic problems created by greed and lust, the risk factors posed to teens you may know, and the hope that is available through a mobilized Body of Christ.
For all of us at YFC, this is something that is difficult to examine. Knowing that there are people in our community who would commit such evil is unsettling. And knowing the faces and stories of the girls they have harmed is heartbreaking. It would certainly be easier for us to ignore this problem and stay with the 99 safe sheep. But we cannot. We must pursue the 1% who needs a Savior. Will you join us?
- Written by Myron Bernard, Director of Ministries at Tacoma Area Youth for Christ.