Calling all (modern-day) abolitionists

At our staff meeting yesterday God really put more pieces in place for what is an emerging ministry of the Hollywood Church. It's an interesting thing to study the anatomy of conviction. This post is an attempt to describe how my wife and I, and my congregation, are coming to understand God's calling on our life regarding the issue of modern-day slavery and human trafficking.

We often say, God has laid this on my heart. It is a nebulous expression, but I understand it to mean that God's Spirit brings awareness, understanding and sensitivity to a person or group of people about something deeply important that affects His creation. Our journey into the issues of slavery and human trafficking began with my wife, who turned me on to some documentaries and stories.

This happened about the same time we moved to Hollywood, where our church is immediately adjacent to Thai Town. You may know that young Thai girls are particularly at risk for modern day slavery and prostitution. Then I met Chancee Martorell, who is the Executive Director of Thai Community Development Center and a board member of CAST (Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking). My associate pastor is Somchai Piromgraipakd who understand this issue better than I do. He introduced me to Dr. Siroj Sorajjakool, who leads an ministry to help provide education for Thai girls. His program is called "Child Prostitution Prevention Project" which he runs out of the Redlands Thai Adventist Church and in partnership with ADRA Thailand. Oh, and Dr. Siroj has also written a book called, Child Prostitution in Thailand: Listening to Rahab.

In the meantime, Michael Peabody, Esq., Executive Director of the North American Religious Liberty Association - West, is being led by God's Spirit in the same direction. I had the privilege of having lunch with Mike just after Christmas and we began talking about how the Adventist Church can and should be involved in this fight for justice. I'm also going to be meeting with Alan Reinach, Esq., Michael's partner at NARLA-West, in about a week. These two gentlemen are extremely intelligent and passionately committed to being a witness to the justice of God in our world. I am hopeful we can partner on many projects in the near future.

So, the long and the short of it (as this is getting quiet long) is that the Hollywood Adventist Church will, in a very short time, start a ministry as a branch of our Peace & Justice Ministry, focusing on this issues of slavery and human trafficking. We plan to enter into a sister church relationship with a congregation in Thailand and Laos (possibly), so that we can have a direct impact on the lives of these girls who are at such great risk.

For more resources on this issues, please follow the links in the body of this post. Here are some other amazing links to check out.

Short articles by Roy Branson about Ellen White as an Abolitionist (thanks to Oakwood College for posting these)
Article about famous black Adventists - note especially the paragraph about Sojourner Truth at the bottom of page 1 and top of page 2 (thanks again, Oakwood College)
More on Sojourner Truth - from Wikipedia
Not For Sale, by David Batstone, in stores Feb 1, 2007
Amazing Grace film - opening Feb 23, 2007
Foreign Affairs article
"Red-Light Rescue" - Christianity Today, Jan 2007
Subscribe to The Underground email newsletter

Comments

[Johnny]

2007 is going to be a great year Ryan. Cheers!

[Tompaul]

Nations like Thailand, still very rooted in their longstanding culture (Thailand aka Siam was never colonized, and when America was freeing its slaves, Siam's king still had a huge harem--a legacy obviously with them still), have proven quite resistant to Christianity. Might such a ministry demonstrate Christianity like few others could? Just a thought.

[Michael Peabody]

Hi Ryan - thanks for your hard work and willingness to bring light to this issue. It's not going to be easy, but it is a privilege to be on the front lines.