Is it possible that we as Christians just aren’t angry enough about injustices like human trafficking and slavery?  Perhaps we’ve grown too desensitized, domesticated, and docile. I’m not trying to say this for the sake of the ’shock factor’  — I really believe there are times when the church needs to have a deep[er] anger about the grave injustices of the world, particularly when it involves the exploitation of children. Have we deduced our faith to convenient and self-serving pleasantries?

Because we are informed and transformed by Christ, I wonder if we just need to say:

To Hell with [insert injustice here].  Enough is enough.

What else can you say when many sources cite as high as 27 million slaves around the world? In the sex trade industry, 80 percent are women and over half are minors (aka: children and teenagers) some younger than my three kids who are 10, 8, and even 6.

I guess Cornel West has a more eloquent way of saying the above:

Indifference to injustice is more insidious than the injustice itself.

Our church community is trying to do our small part. We are compelled to do more, but perhaps it begins with this ‘deep anger’ over the things that anger and grieve the heart  of God.  We hosted a film screening of Call+Response and gave the proceeds to Break the Chains/IJM. I found out today that this initiative through our denomination has already raised $332,000.  We then screened a Korean film, Crossing, highlighting the situation in North Korea and raised more funds.  We had a great turnout for the film and KAC media came by for a quick report and interview:

The Crossing – Movie Screening from Joseph Jang on Vimeo.

Human trafficking and its numerous painful layers are also taking place in North Korea.  Check out this brutal article from Crosswalk, ”North Korean Bride Trafficking: When Escape Becomes Bondage”:

The translator could never capture the experience behind Young-Ae Kim’s emotional words, but he tried.

“She was raised with the idea that you have one lasting marriage – never did she imagine that she would be married three times by the age of 30, and treated like an animal.”

North Korean defector Young-Ae Kim told her story publicly on April 29, along with Mi-Sun Bang, another woman whose account bears tragic resemblance to hers. Both women told reporters at the National Press Club a story that is becoming all too common among North Korean women. Both women were victims of “Bride Trafficking” – being bought and sold as wives for single Chinese men along the border between North Korea and China.

Mark Lagon, former U.S. Ambassador at Large for Combating Trafficking and now executive director of the Polaris Project on Human Trafficking, says that these women are “thrice victimized” – starved in North Korea, sexually exploited once they escape to China, and tortured if they are repatriated to their home country. …

Human trafficking is “the fastest growing criminal industry in the world,” according to the Polaris Project. In China, years of the one child policy combined with centuries of disregard for girl-children has led to a literal market for refugee women.

Check out some of the organizations that are engaging in work to combat human trafficking:

• Break the Chains – an initiative of the Evangelical Covenant Church [denomination I am part of].
• The Sold Project – focused on fighting and stopping child prostitution [visited Quest this past February].
• Free the Slaves – liberates slaves around the world, helps them rebuild their lives, and researches real world solutions to eradicate slavery forever.
• International Justice Mission – legal advocates for fustice around the world.
• JustOne – foundation for relief and development on issues of poverty, orphans, and human trafficking.
• Stop the Traffik – abolitionists coalition of over 900 organizations.
• Not For Sale – campaign to end slavery.
• Love 146 – works toward the abolition of child sex trafficking and exploitation through aftercare, prevention, and advocacy.
• Call + Response: – film and action. Show this film at your church!

Eugene Cho, a second-generation Korean-American, is the founder and lead pastor of Quest Church in Seattle and the executive director of Q Cafe, an innovative nonprofit neighborhood café and music venue. He and his wife are also launching a grassroots humanitarian organization to fight global poverty. You can stalk him at his blog or follow him on Twitter.