Those who find peace

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.". --John 14

I wrote this after yet another long period of prayer about human trafficking. This time, I was wondering about those who don't "go out" much to do work against it, the people who just find peace & contentment in their lives as they are, maybe donating to food pantries and the like, but just staying with their family, enjoying peaceful breakfasts, and living a small but nice life. This is what I ended up writing; please share your thoughts! And may the Spirit fill you all as you read this! I have doubts about my own words, but I know the Spirit can make it all better!


I wonder about those people, who find great peace in their basic daily lives. Those who just have a simple breakfast, go about their day, smiling, at peace.

These people who don't do anything "great", no big social justice missions, no great mortifications...

And I think they bring a supreme good to society.

Because they are at peace; and by their peacefulness, they inspire others to do the same.

Peacefulness brings contentment, and that will solve most of the world's problems.

Nobody who's content trafficks humans; nobody who's peaceful will indulge in the inappropriate contentography and prostitution that fuel human trafficking.

So please, put great effort into finding peace. Being at peace means being with God, and that's always a good thing.

Peace is a gift from God; ask for it. He'll grant it. We need peaceful people as much as we need people on the front lines to fight evil.

So here's a beautiful devotion to help you find peace:
Be with God. Just...be.

joshua 1 9 said:

I do not believe people are forced into human trafficking. At least not any more or less then anyone else that is a slave to drugs or sin.

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The standard method for coercing people into sex trafficking in the United States is "boyfriending", when someone poses as a hot 18-year old guy online and tricks teenage girls into thinking they've found a boyfriend, and then go to meet him, then get kidnapped, maybe after a few dates, maybe that night. ("Ring of Silence" is a movie with a vivid portrayal of this method, and here's a link to a toolkit against it for parents : Online Sex Trafficking safety kit). In less developed countries, kids can be swiped off the sidewalk in a moment's notice (my friend who's been to Thailand has watched it happen). Oftentimes there will be someone owing a debt they can't pay off, so they'll be offered to work it off, and maybe be sent to fields, maybe to brothels or strip clubs, but rarely will they see home again. In the human trafficking of a few centuries ago, African tribes would sell their opponents to European or American "merchants" as slave labor. Japan's been having issues with actresses signing contracts, and then being forced into inappropriate contentography. Parents in poverty can accept shady job offers to try to feed their family, then be shipped out to slave labor in agriculture. In the southern United States, border patrols have started opening the trunks of cars crossing into Mexico, because fit 20- or 30-year old men will be kidnapped across the border for slave labor. And should I mention the story of Joseph in Genesis? Or, in a way, Jesus at His condemnation?

Part of why I share so much about human trafficking is to raise awareness, because of how it's such a multibillion dollar industry worldwide, and yet, no one teaches people about it (although San Diego schools have started to, thank God!).

Please do look up more about it; you'll be amazed and horrified at how prevalent it really is, and how it always involves some form of exploitation.

May God bless us all!

joshua 1 9 said:

For example there are a lot of people, men and women that were investigated for abuse as a child. When they get older they may end up going into sex work. Not because they are forced into it, but because they are mixed up and confused due to what happened to them as a child.

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This does happen a lot, thank you for sharing. Sometimes, it is consensual, although even if it begins as a choice, it doesn't always last.

joshua 1 9 said:

My wife shops at the second hand store and that is fine. But they are looking for new clothing. Your stories are so removed from reality so as to be almost worthless. None of what you say would stand up in a court of law. You remind me a lot of the Mormons and how they grasp at straws trying to substantiate their beliefs.

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Later today, I'll have the time to bring up data on everything I claimed; in the meantime, I'd like to ask how you think the slave trade & Joseph's story in Genesis are removed from reality. These are examples of human trafficking, from a time period before that term was used.

And in case terminology is the confusion (as it often can be), here's the US Government's definition of human trafficking, taken from Over of Human Trafficking and NIJ's Role

• Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age.
• The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

May God bless us all & guide this conversation in a loving manner!

joshua 1 9 said:

I really wonder if there is any substance to your claims and the stories you tell.

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I just put together a thread filled with data about human trafficking; please do share the data you have that supports your view. This is an issue I'm very passionate about, and I want to understand why someone would think that trafficking isn't something people get forced into.

Data on Human Trafficking

May God bless us all!

joshua 1 9 said:

Epstein faced charges of Trafficking and he worked out a plea deal. The situation now is that these women want to sue him for money. Women that admit he paid them as much as $300. Is this what you mean by forced? Lavishing them with money?

You are claiming 40.3 million victims. Then where are your convictions? Why is it that so few people are getting arrested and charged? Why is it they want to charge Clinton even when he is signing into law protection for people that are trafficked?

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Thank you for explaining where your views come from; I'm always glad when conversations can develop understanding instead of just staying silent & angry.

What you brought up is a case I'm not familiar with. It also seems to be a rather specific situation, and while I'm sure you could find others, I'm not convinced that this is in any way the "norm" for sex trafficking.

As far as there being so few arrests, much of this has to do with how hard it is to catch someone who's always on the move, find proof against someone who's developed a very convincing cover story, and who keep their victims very securely from saying anything. In a city in Indiana, there's some very clear trafficking going on in the chain Chinese restaurants; all the workers come in at the same time, all in the same van, work 12-hour shifts every day, all leave at the same time to go home to the same building. They're never going to tell anyone what's going on, because the traffickers will kill their families if they do. In other cases, it's common for traffickers to shoot up their victims with heroin, to create an addiction, furthering the difficulty of leaving (and with heroin being illegal, they don't want to be found by law enforcement).

Circumstantial evidence may abound, but without proof, charges & arrests are very difficult.

Regarding control tactics, here's a bit of info I copied from The Victims & Traffickers :

THE TRAFFICKERS
Traffickers lure and ensnare people into forced labor and sex trafficking by manipulating and exploiting their vulnerabilities. Human traffickers recruit, transport, harbor, obtain, and exploit victims – often using force, threats, lies, or other psychological coercion. Traffickers promise a high-paying job, a loving relationship, or new and exciting opportunities. In other cases, they may kidnap victims or use physical violence or substance abuse to control them.

Traffickers employ a variety of control tactics, including physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, confiscation of identification and money, isolation from friends and family, and even renaming victims. Often, traffickers identify and leverage their victims’ vulnerabilities in order to create dependency. They make promises aimed at addressing the needs of their target in order to impose control. As a result, victims become trapped and fear leaving for myriad reasons, including psychological trauma, shame, emotional attachment, or physical threats to themselves or their children’s safety.

Often the traffickers and their victims share the same national, ethnic, or cultural background, allowing the trafficker to better understand and exploit the vulnerabilities of their victims.
Traffickers can be lone individuals or extensive criminal networks. Pimps, gangs, family members, labor brokers, employers of domestic servants, small business owners, and large factory owners have all been found guilty of human trafficking. Their common thread is a willingness to exploit other human beings for profit.



May God bless us all & let justice & understanding flourish!