Have you ever lay in your bed at night, unable to sleep because your mind can't stop? Have you ever heard a song and it stopped you dead in your tracks because the words took your breath away? Have you ever heard of something happening and you can't imagine that there are people who would really do those things? Yeah, me too!
I heard the song, “27 Million” by Matt Redman & LZ7, the other day for the first time and it literally rocked me to my core. I had to stop what I was doing and take a deep breath. I shed some tears and then I did all I knew to do…I prayed for the lost and the hurting. I was reminded that there are much worse things in the world than my floors being dirty, or my laundry piling up. I was reminded that there are lost and hurting souls who need to be rescued and I can’t back down or lose my focus. Just like the song says, "Sometimes you gotta stand for something. Let this be the stand that gets your blood running."
I can remember being a young girl and hearing about the Holocaust in school and my mind could not comprehend how such a thing could have happened. How could someone have so much hatred for another human being? I would read every book about the Holocaust that I could find in the library just trying to make sense of it. I used to wish that I could have been alive back then to hide the Jews and keep them safe, even just 1! My mom had a lady she worked with who had the tattoo on her arm from being in a camp and even as a young girl when I met her I had such compassion for her and was so thankful she had survived. During a work trip to Poland a few years ago, we went to visit Aushwitz and Birkenau and I still can't get some of the memories out of my head. To see it in person put a whole new perspective on it for me. And, after all those years, you can still smell the "death" in the gas chambers. The smell takes your breath away. It has been estimated that during the period of the Holocaust there were 6 million Jews killed. An estimated 1.1 million were children. And while that number is huge, it is only a fraction of 27 million….
Remember how I wanted to be alive to save the Jews during the Holocaust? Guess what, I also used to wish I was alive to help Harriet Tubman free slaves. I would imagine myself having a secret compartment in my house that would hide them and then I would help bring them so safety. Slavery in America reported that in the 1800’s there were 893,602 slaves in America. In the 1820’s there were 1.5 million slaves in America. In the 1860’s there were 3.9 million slaves in America. That number is shocking to me. But still, it is only a fraction of 27 million….
I will never understand it, but I can do something about it now!
Let’s take a quick look at 27 million….
If I told you that according to TechCrunch, in March of 2012 Instagram reported they had 27 million users you would probably say that's a lot of users they must be doing a good job! Or how about the fact that according to the CDC, an estimated 27 million people were reported to have osteoarthritis in 2005. That's a whole lot of people who are suffering, but thank God for Doctors and medicine that can help them relieve the pain. In our nation today, the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention reported there are approximately 27 million shoplifters. That’s about 1 in 11 people! That's horrible! Each of these makes you look at the number 27 million differently.
Now, what if I told you that there are more than 27 million slaves in the world today, more than any other time in our history! Would you believe me? Did you know that? Have you heard it before and thought it couldn’t be true? Unfortunately, I have to tell you that it's true. The unthinkable act of human trafficking has become the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. The only illegal industry to be more profitable is drug trafficking.
Did you even know this existed? Did you know that people were being traded and sold to work illegally, with the promise of a better future? Did you know that children are being sold, sometimes by their own parents, and forced to work in the sex industry? Did you know that it is happening all over the world, and even here in the US? A few years ago, I had no idea this was going on. But, now that I do, I can't stop thinking about it. It keeps me up at night and keeps me on my knees in prayer.
Last September I had the privilege of going on my first mission trip to Thailand, where we got to be a part of what ZOE International is doing there. The mission of ZOE Children’s Homes is to rescue and care for orphans in danger and children who are sold or at-risk of being sold into human trafficking—worldwide (www.gozoe.org). The staff and missionaries at ZOE are the most amazing and selfless people that I have ever had the privilege of working with.
There are 27 million people out there that are counting on me to pray for them and to do what I can to help stop this. I don’t know if I will see the end of it in my lifetime, but I do know that I will do something about it. I don't know how to completely stop it, but I know that I can do my part. I can make people aware of this problem.