My friend and current roommate Ricky Beamer is an excellent photographer. He has travelled to many different parts of the world, and captured some really quality images during his journeys. The image above was taken while we were serving in Amsterdam on a short term mission trip. As I was looking at some of Ricky's photos on his site, I looked at an album of images from our Amsterdam trip and it brought back many memories.
I wore a "One Voice To End Slavery" hoodie virtually every day. About a month prior to our trip, I had met one of the cofounders of JustOne. During a presentation he gave, I learned some alarming statistics about trafficking, slavery, and how the sex industry as well as the chocolate industry were linked to both of these issues.
I think in some ways I've always been an advocate of sorts, and so I figured that a simple way I could help combat these issues involved both changing habits, and also letting others know. So I bought a hoodie as a conversation piece, and proceeded to wear it nearly everywhere I went. Among the places I went--Amsterdam.
On the day that this photo was taken, our team was working with a group from YWAM in the heart of the Red Light District. We were standing on a bridge, but in every direction on the street there are women in windows waiting for "customers". It's estimated that 90% of these women are in these windows against their will and that approximately 75% have been trafficked to Amsterdam.
As we walked from YWAM's headquarters at a place called De Cleft to spend time talking to people on the bridge we walked along a narrow street. On either side of this street (which felt more like an alley) there were windows. We probably passed by 25-30 windows with crimson lights providing a border and communicating to passersby that the people behind the windows were prostitutes.
It's one thing to hear about an issue, but it's another thing to come face to face with injustice. To my right as we walked down this street, my fiancée Jamie was an emotional wreck. She was trying to get her mind around the idea that someone would think it was ok to sell another human being for sex. Being in the middle of it all, stirs the heart and mind to think about issues of justice, if one takes the time to let the gravity of the situation sink in.
Sometimes I think we go on auto-pilot because we can't deal with the gravity of the situation, or because we don't care. As visibly stirred as Jamie was, there were other people walking along the street oblivious to the women behind the glass, or worse yet, there were people ogling and mocking these women who would work to seduce a new customer whenever eye contact could be made.
May you have eyes to see, and a heart and mind that will fully engage with the world around you. As you see injustice, may you be stirred to do something about it. And may you bring hope into this earth where we live.
Ricky is an Eagle Scout, in Order of the Arrow, and currently serves as assistant scoutmaster for his troop when he is in Wytheville. He is also a fourth year Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering major. He has been involved with our college ministry in Morgantown since his freshman year, does sound and tech work for us, and also works with one of our canvas groups. He's an amazing guy.
And earlier this summer, he had the privilege of attending the World Scout Jamboree in England. Over 40,000 scouts from several countries converged in England for 3 weeks. Everybody got along. Nobody fought. They cleaned up after themselves. They helped each other. They took care of their environment. For three weeks, Ricky and his fellow scouts gave the world a picture of what life could be like. But I wonder how many people noticed.
If ricky and his friends from all over the world can get along for three weeks, what about the rest of us. Couldn't we at least start to make a change? I know that Ricky is extremely excited about the possibilities in our world as a result of the combination of his time in England, and what God has been teaching him through scriptures.
As you read this, I want to challenge you to begin to imagine together with me how God could use ordinary people like you and I to change the world. If the scouts can do some thing like this (and they are a great group), just imagine what the church could do if we began to find our satisfaction in Him and not walk around in fear, insecurity, and isolation.