Lately I have been spending a lot of time reading the book of Jeremiah, and contemplating what God truly asks of us who are disciples of Jesus the Christ. Because I have been incredibly burdened by my lack of service to God. And one common thing that God keeps saying all throughout His word, is that the believer is to fight on behalf of the oppressed. To oppose injustice, and help the poor.
January 1st marked the launch of the Passion Conference. A meeting together of young believers to encourage them to be young leaders. And at this conference they addressed the issue that there are OVER 27 MILLION slaves worldwide today. More slaves on earth than there has EVER been in History.
"She was only eight when they threw her in the trade
Abused in her youth now a slave of this rape
Uncle prostitutes the niece before she got through puberty
And its hard for her to pray 'cause she's dropping to her knees for a priest
Geez, the cross that he wears is the cross that she bears
Pedophiles is what Im mad about."--Swoope On High Society's "Mad About"
Many of the other slaves work in some of your favorite companies factories.
It ain't our problem unless it's an easy solve,
The hands and feet of Christ, is it lies?
Or do our busy lives tell us not to sympathize
The social ears of the world should make us sick inside
The big supply of evil should not desensitize
If they hungry and we don't feed em',
Closet full of clothes, when they cold, need em'
What we do for the least of, we do the same thing to Jesus
I know you see Him in your vision, but for intervention,
You too busy with your genders and religion,
Is it pride, racism, or arrogance,
That let's em' die waitin' for a good american?..."
"Blood in the streets, we turn blind eyes
Is it murder, if we watch them die?
Blood on our hands, and we don't care why
We turn blind eyes, 'till we in the fight."--Swoope & Christon Gray, Blind Eyes (The Good American).
Now, if you are like me, you are probably at this point wondering, what can we do to help?
First, the biggest issue is that people are ignorant! They don't know about these issues, and when they do, they don't want to. Why? Because hearing this means when you buy those dope kicks, you are supporting a company that exploits humans. We have got to stop making excuses about these issues like "there's hardly a company out there that DOESN'T use slaves..."
We have got to realize that this is injustice, and we MUST do something about it.
We can not say that this is an unbeatable enemy. As soon as we say that, it becomes true.
Second, get educated about these issues! Find out about this injustice. You can not fight an enemy you don't know exists. Study up, and let your heart be broken.
Third, drop your pride! Big deal if you can't eat your favorite candy, or rock your favorite threads! Stand against injustice! Life is not about you!
I have been thinking lately, about the luxury I live in. I will be honest, sometimes I hate going to the grocery store, because I see people, and I can see poverty in their eyes. It's embarrassing.
So, I got to think about my life, and I asked myself why God chose to place me in America, in a well off home, rather then in the hood with an absent or dead father and wasted mom. Or in a third world country, working in one of these factories myself.
My conclusion? God did not give me this life and excess so that I could flaunt what I have and live like a king. But rather that I could give away all my excess and help hope those in need, fighting for the oppressed, and to live like a King.
Don't over look this issue. Fight. If you want a certain type of clothing, learn how to make it if you have to! Live like Royalty did.
Thanks for reading,
John Mark,
January 1st marked the launch of the Passion Conference. A meeting together of young believers to encourage them to be young leaders. And at this conference they addressed the issue that there are OVER 27 MILLION slaves worldwide today. More slaves on earth than there has EVER been in History.
Many of these slaves are women being trafficked as sex slaves, exploited for money and pleasure. Treated like rags, as if they are not even human, as if they have NO value. And if they try to fight their captures, they are raped repeatedly. They are paid very little, and then are forced TO PAY their slave "owners," which then makes them debtors to these slave drivers! They are in a constant trap that is impossible to get out of, unless an outer force intervenes!
But many of the local governments are being paid by these brothels, and when a slave escapes and runs to the local police to help, they unknowingly are running straight to the men that PROTECT the sex trade!! They are forced to have sex with clients and to act as if they enjoy it, or else they are raped and beaten, many either die or kill themselves due to such abuse.
But many of the local governments are being paid by these brothels, and when a slave escapes and runs to the local police to help, they unknowingly are running straight to the men that PROTECT the sex trade!! They are forced to have sex with clients and to act as if they enjoy it, or else they are raped and beaten, many either die or kill themselves due to such abuse.
"She was only eight when they threw her in the trade
Abused in her youth now a slave of this rape
Uncle prostitutes the niece before she got through puberty
And its hard for her to pray 'cause she's dropping to her knees for a priest
Geez, the cross that he wears is the cross that she bears
Pedophiles is what Im mad about."--Swoope On High Society's "Mad About"
Many of the other slaves work in some of your favorite companies factories.
Hershey's Chocolate, Forever 21, Victoria's Secret, Nike, Aeropostale, Toys R' Us, Urban Outfitters, Nokia, KYE (A manufacturer for Xbox, and HP) and Macintosh, among many, many others.
These companies give people jobs paying them around 30-50 cents a day, barely enough for food, and a small hut. Some companies force their employees to pay a months worth of pay as a deposit, and if they quit before having worked a full year, they don't get that deposit back.
They are forced to meet a certain quota, and if they do not they are physically punished. Many of these slaves are women, and they are sexually harassed at the work place by their supervisors.
There was one case where at a Nike factory some women came in to work on National Women's day, and they did not have shoes on that met the dress code, and they were forced to stand out in the hot sun for 2 hours.
Many instances have been recorded where women have fainted on site, some have even died because they are not given medical attention.
These factories many times have employees working around highly toxic chemicals with no protection. And there is normally only one doctor, and few nurses to service any where around 60,000 employees.
These employees are not allowed sick days, and if they file a complaint about the conditions or abuse, they are fired!
Nike has ADMITTED to being aware of such abuse, and their "solution" was to post a list of rights that each employee gets on to a wall in the factory. But most times these rules are rewritten by the factories so as to give the employees a false idea of what they deserve.
Companies (Nike in particular) claim to be helping the local economy, by moving in until the local businesses can support itself. When in fact, they move to a new area as soon as the employees start asking for better and more reasonable pay.
There is also another type of slave trade, that is not brought up often. And that is the trade that is often called "The Trap." It is the hood, the use and selling of drugs in the inner city.
How it starts for the individual, is that he grows up without his father around, and he sees his mother struggling to provide for himself and his younger siblings. Or worse, his mother is always drunk and high off of drugs. So he goes out, and ends up getting discipled by a drug dealer that grew up just like him, in how to hit the streets with a 9 millimeter and to sell drugs. So he uses that money to pay for his families expenses. But he makes enemies, and he eventually gets shot, and if he has children, the cycle starts all over again! Literally, life expectancy in some neighborhoods is 15 years old for males. But they don't know any better! School teachers teach them that their only options are to get famous, or to go to jail, or to die. They tell them that they are worthless and will be a failure in life. It's an endless cycle. It's ironic that they call it the trap!
"The blood, the murder, the carnage, we see it all
From afar, on our DVR's, Simply too busy to be involved,These companies give people jobs paying them around 30-50 cents a day, barely enough for food, and a small hut. Some companies force their employees to pay a months worth of pay as a deposit, and if they quit before having worked a full year, they don't get that deposit back.
They are forced to meet a certain quota, and if they do not they are physically punished. Many of these slaves are women, and they are sexually harassed at the work place by their supervisors.
There was one case where at a Nike factory some women came in to work on National Women's day, and they did not have shoes on that met the dress code, and they were forced to stand out in the hot sun for 2 hours.
Many instances have been recorded where women have fainted on site, some have even died because they are not given medical attention.
These factories many times have employees working around highly toxic chemicals with no protection. And there is normally only one doctor, and few nurses to service any where around 60,000 employees.
These employees are not allowed sick days, and if they file a complaint about the conditions or abuse, they are fired!
Nike has ADMITTED to being aware of such abuse, and their "solution" was to post a list of rights that each employee gets on to a wall in the factory. But most times these rules are rewritten by the factories so as to give the employees a false idea of what they deserve.
Companies (Nike in particular) claim to be helping the local economy, by moving in until the local businesses can support itself. When in fact, they move to a new area as soon as the employees start asking for better and more reasonable pay.
There is also another type of slave trade, that is not brought up often. And that is the trade that is often called "The Trap." It is the hood, the use and selling of drugs in the inner city.
How it starts for the individual, is that he grows up without his father around, and he sees his mother struggling to provide for himself and his younger siblings. Or worse, his mother is always drunk and high off of drugs. So he goes out, and ends up getting discipled by a drug dealer that grew up just like him, in how to hit the streets with a 9 millimeter and to sell drugs. So he uses that money to pay for his families expenses. But he makes enemies, and he eventually gets shot, and if he has children, the cycle starts all over again! Literally, life expectancy in some neighborhoods is 15 years old for males. But they don't know any better! School teachers teach them that their only options are to get famous, or to go to jail, or to die. They tell them that they are worthless and will be a failure in life. It's an endless cycle. It's ironic that they call it the trap!
"The blood, the murder, the carnage, we see it all
It ain't our problem unless it's an easy solve,
The hands and feet of Christ, is it lies?
Or do our busy lives tell us not to sympathize
The social ears of the world should make us sick inside
The big supply of evil should not desensitize
If they hungry and we don't feed em',
Closet full of clothes, when they cold, need em'
What we do for the least of, we do the same thing to Jesus
I know you see Him in your vision, but for intervention,
You too busy with your genders and religion,
Is it pride, racism, or arrogance,
That let's em' die waitin' for a good american?..."
"Blood in the streets, we turn blind eyes
Blood on our hands, and we don't care why
We turn blind eyes, 'till we in the fight."--Swoope & Christon Gray, Blind Eyes (The Good American).
Now, if you are like me, you are probably at this point wondering, what can we do to help?
First, the biggest issue is that people are ignorant! They don't know about these issues, and when they do, they don't want to. Why? Because hearing this means when you buy those dope kicks, you are supporting a company that exploits humans. We have got to stop making excuses about these issues like "there's hardly a company out there that DOESN'T use slaves..."
We have got to realize that this is injustice, and we MUST do something about it.
We can not say that this is an unbeatable enemy. As soon as we say that, it becomes true.
Second, get educated about these issues! Find out about this injustice. You can not fight an enemy you don't know exists. Study up, and let your heart be broken.
Third, drop your pride! Big deal if you can't eat your favorite candy, or rock your favorite threads! Stand against injustice! Life is not about you!
I have been thinking lately, about the luxury I live in. I will be honest, sometimes I hate going to the grocery store, because I see people, and I can see poverty in their eyes. It's embarrassing.
So, I got to think about my life, and I asked myself why God chose to place me in America, in a well off home, rather then in the hood with an absent or dead father and wasted mom. Or in a third world country, working in one of these factories myself.
My conclusion? God did not give me this life and excess so that I could flaunt what I have and live like a king. But rather that I could give away all my excess and help hope those in need, fighting for the oppressed, and to live like a King.
Don't over look this issue. Fight. If you want a certain type of clothing, learn how to make it if you have to! Live like Royalty did.
Thanks for reading,
John Mark,
