A church group appealed recently for stronger support for ministries in TransCaucasian nations such as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, noting that these are areas of strategic advantages for evangelization.

Russian Ministries said that there is an immediate need to train young Christian leaders in these areas so that they can bring God’s message of peace and hope to this conflicted region, Continental News said.

Sergey Rakhuba, president of Russian Ministries told Continental News, “The need is tremendous in terms of supporting evangelical ministry there.” Rakhuba said this after a recent visit to the area.

According to the website of Russian Ministries, Russia has plentiful natural resources, but lives in “spiritual and social despair,” and despite the presence new wealth, most of the country’s people are impoverished.

The website noted that Russia has been referred to as an “orphan-making factory,” with high risk for drug abuse, AIDS, street children, human trafficking, the preponderance of war refugees, poverty and unemployment.

Hope however can be found in the small number of post-Soviet Christian faithful who are not afraid to evangelize even in remote areas, according to the Russian Ministries website.

Strategic strengths

Calling this a “strategic time,” the website noted that Russia has a unique position in the world and holds distinct influence on Arab nations that have no relations existing with the U.S. Its location is also strategic with regard to its nearness to Asian countries.

A strong church presence in the TransCaucasia countries can then share in these strategic advantages in spreading the gospel, the website said, especially among groups of people who have been classified as “least reached.”

Rakhuba noted however that there are difficulties and challenges in TransCaucasian countries that must be overcome, according to Continental News.

Religious minority

Rakhuba told Continental News, “In places like Azerbaijan, Christians face oppression from the Islamic community, and many obstacles to their outreach ministries. But we see the church is more creatively trying to use all the possible opportunities there and reach out to their communities spreading the gospel.”

Rakhuba also commented on the situation in Armenia telling Continental News, “Armenia is considered a Christian country, with an ancient Christian tradition and the geographical location landmark of Mount Ararat is located on the border between Turkey and Armenia. However the moral state of that country tells us the gospel is very much needed.”

In Georgia, Rakhuba said there are many U.N. refugee camps due to recent war with Russia. Nonetheless, Rakhuba told Continental News, there is a rapidly growing church one mile from the birthplace of Joseph Stalin.

Potential missionaries

Rakhuba also said it is important to train young Christians in this area because many of them are eager to become missionaries themselves, and to witness in neighboring countries, Continental News said.

Rakhuba quoted one Christian in the area who told him, “I really want to be a missionary. I want to reach out to neighboring Iran. I need resources and need to be equipped to go and reach out to do this,” Continental News reported.

Rakhuba told Continental News that there is a need for copies of the bible in the languages of countries in this area. He also said there is a need for prayer and for resources to enhance training.

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Church groups and the South African government are working together to prevent the proliferation of human trafficking at the month-long South African World Cup which starts on June 11.

It has been estimated that some 40,000 to 100,000 people may be trafficked during the football spectacular, in a sex trade industry where children can earn $45 to $600 a night for their captors, the Christian Post said.

FIFA is expected to attract up to 350,000 overseas visitors from some 53 countries.

The event will be held in 10 venues scattered around nine South African host cities, according to The Guardian.

Last May 21 South Africa’s President Zuma launched Child Protection Week and the Children’s Act.  A new law was also fast tracked against human trafficking prior to the World Cup, to give South African courts jurisdiction over human trafficking acts outside the country’s borders, the Christian Post reported.

Prior to that, from May 18 to 19, the Interregional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa met in Johannesburg, where bishops from Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe discussed the problem of human trafficking in their region, the Christian Post said.

IMBISA director Fr. Richard Menatsi said in his opening remarks that some 300 women and children are trafficked weekly from Mozambique into South Africa, the Christian Post said.

In a statement the bishops said, “It has been noted that [FIFA] has become a way of sending people to traffickers…especially girls who are told that they will be waitresses or tour guides for the visitors,” the Christian Post said.

Meanwhile Christian Brothers Investment Services, which manages $3.8 billion for Catholic institutions worldwide, sent two letters on April 12 and April 20 to CEOs and owners of eight hotel chains in South Africa, including InterContinental, Hyatt, Starwood, Accor, Carlson and Best Western. The CBIS asked hotel operators to take action to prevent sexual exploitation of children and other human trafficking crimes, the Christian Post said.

UNICEF (a secular group) is also contributing to the effort with four free FIFA Fan Fests which provide Child-Friendly Spaces.  These spaces have social workers, child and youth care workers, and trained volunteers to provide child protection services, emergency care and child-appropriate activities, according to their website.

FIFA is perceived to play a large role in helping South Africa’s nation building efforts as its young democracy enters a new chapter in its post-apartheid history, according to The Guardian.

President Zuma takes the effort seriously.  The day before he launched Child Protection Week, he attended a mass prayer meeting for women, where he prayed for a successful World Cup, according to the Christian Post.

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Human trafficking. Sex slaves. Child slavery.

It’s something Americans associate with a few European or third world countries. But the U.S. State Department’s 2009 “Trafficking in Humans” Report documents problems in 175 nations.

Girls, women, children and even teen boys are being deceived, kidnapped, trapped and shipped everywhere from America to Africa.

And it could be happening at our neighborhood mini-market.

The wholesale trafficking of humans

From California to New England, the problem is spreading within the United States. It’s becoming as uncontrollable as the drug war that has raged for decades, despite the government’s best efforts.

The estimated FBI numbers from sources as varied as ABC Primetime in 2006 to Christianity Today in 2010 show 100,000-300,000 teens and children under the age of 18 have been trafficked within the states per year.

It is harder to obtain statistics for adult victims, because of a finer line between “voluntary” and forced prostitution or sexual slavery.

In April 2010, the U.S. Attorney’s office brought sex trafficking charges against the Gambino family, notoriously reputed to be part of the elusive “mob” in America.

With the arrest of 14 people, the charges include trapping girls to sell for sex at high stakes poker games in the middle of busy Manhattan.

Engaging in human trafficking is a new low even for the mob, U.S. Attorney’s office representatives stated in a press conference covered by MSNBC.

Also in April, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported that human trafficking has become the biggest “invisible” crime in the state. Florida House Bill 633 and Senate Bill 966 are currently being proposed to help law enforcement push back against the sex slavery trade.

How can this happen in America?
The massive amounts of money to be made through human trafficking is a powerful aphrodisiac that has enticed more people, even women, to deal in such crimes. In the Gambino case, one of the people arrested was a woman known to be involved in luring the victims.

The process of obtaining victims for human trafficking:
For most teen girls and women, if they are not outright kidnapped, they’re being enticed by the possibility of modeling or acting jobs. The Hollywood dream of obtaining fame and fortune at a young age through television and movies has become an obsession.

When they get to their destination, they are thrown into vehicles or locked in back bedrooms and sold to countless customers for sex acts, sexual abuse, and to appear in pornographic movies against their will.

They may be starved, drugged, verbally abused to the point of having no self-esteem, and threatened with death if they attempt to escape.

For girls and boys who do run away from home, criminals recognize their vulnerability, hunger and brokenness and are able to entice them into prostitution and porn films with the promise of money. The victim may receive tiny payments to keep them involved.

For children, it often starts with simple nabbing from neighborhoods.

A U.S. Government grant helped reveal the child trafficking problem:
In 2008, an organization called Shared Hope International (SHI) applied for and received a government grant to study the suspected nationwide crisis of child trafficking between states. Their resulting survey revealed that many of the children were often being misidentified as delinquents, and  punished for crimes when they were actually victims.

Since then, the FBI and agencies such as the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children & Families have started training personnel to recognize when a person is a human trafficking victim instead of a runaway or criminal themselves (HHS Fact Sheet here).

See the Underground’s previous report, “Sex + Money,” about the ongoing production of a new movie aimed at exposing the U.S. sex slave industry.

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Human trafficking claims 100,000 girls annually in the U.S. alone. Photo credit: iStockphoto.

Human trafficking: it’s not a fictional plot device created by talented scriptwriters for Hollywood action flicks like Taken and TV dramas like 24.

It is a real, modern-day form of slavery in which individuals (women and young girls in particular) are taken hostage and forced and coerced into performing sexual acts for commercial profit, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

And it’s something more and more filmmakers are addressing.

Since September 2009, the five young directors, writers and producers behind “Sex and Money: A National Search for Human Worth” have traveled across the U.S. to investigate and expose one of the most illegal underground industries in the world.

While the group’s last television series primarily focused on human trafficking in other parts of the world, their new documentary will strictly investigate the U.S. sex slave trade.

Besides conducting research in Washington D.C., they have interviewed porn stars, former prostitutes, political leaders and authors in an effort to raise awareness and encourage social awakening.

Photojournalist Tim Dyk told Christianity Today’s Elissa Cooper that as Christians, “We need to be willing to go to these areas, be willing to have conversations about sex, about prostitution, about helping people who are coming out of prostitution, because even Jesus wants to [reach out to] prostitutes. He recognized that they are needy people just like anyone else, just like we are.”

Although producers are not marketing the documentary as a “Christian” film, many people who working on the project are outspoken believers. In conjunction with photogenX, a ministry of Youth With A Mission, they are striving to expose the hard truths about prostitution in America, including the “the sexual exploitation of children,” according to the film’s official web site.

“There are so many different ways that we can work [against trafficking],” said Dyk. “I just think a lot of this requires the church, as followers of Christ, to walk out in what he’s calling us to do, [and] it can look different for each person. I think people just need to see how the Spirit leads and see how they can use their gifts.”

You can find out more about “Sex + Money: A National Search for Human Worth” at their official web site: www.sexandmoneyfilm.com. You can also watch trailers and webisodes on the group’s YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/sexandmoneyglobal.

The documentary is tentatively scheduled for a fall 2010 release date.

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