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April 5, 2018 by Guest

The Survivor’s Guide to Surviving the Bible

**This is the first guest blog in a series of posts by the 2018 JuST Faith Summit speakers. Check back for new posts highlighting the critical topics that will be featured at this year’s Faith Summit. Join us, June 20-22 at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, for this exciting Summit. Visit this link to see the full agenda and lineup of speakers.

When you’ve been purchased like some toy on a store shelf, hearing or reading that “you are not your own, for you were bought with a price”, is not such good news. Scriptures such as that one were a stumbling block for me in my healing journey. You might be thinking that there aren’t that many verses like that, but you would be wrong.

[easy-tweet tweet=”When you’ve been purchased like some toy on a store shelf, hearing or reading that “you are not your own, for you were bought with a price”, is not such good news.” user=”sharedhope” hashtags=”FaithSummit2018″]

Everyone likes Psalm 23, right? “He makes me lie down in green pastures”? No thank you. My pastor taught on that verse in October of 2011, comparing it to being a child going to bed at night with no worries – secure in the knowledge that mom and dad were in charge and would keep them safe. He couldn’t understand why that verse made me angry and hurt – until I told him that as a child, going to bed at night was the most dangerous part of my day.

That was Pastor Josh’s “aha” moment. He had never realized how certain scriptures looked, seen through a survivor’s eyes. Thus began a long process of my identifying problem verses to my pastors Josh Causey and Megan Kelly, and them contextualizing, discussing, explaining, rewording, and forever changing how I saw the Word. Exchanging truth for lies, that’s what it’s all about, right? I believe that juvenile sex trafficking is the enemy’s number one weapon in this world. It’s widely known that the best lie is one which contains a little truth. What better way could there be to undermine God than taking love, family, gender, and sex, twisting them into a gross caricature of the Kingdom, and using them as weapons against vulnerable children? And the crown jewel in the enemy’s arsenal? Twisting the meaning of scriptures into fiery darts.

“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind” is no joke. I believe that a deep relationship with Christ is the only path to true healing for survivors. When I first arrived at Living Hope Fellowship, I had been out of the industry and “functional” for ten years. I wasn’t healed, though, and I certainly didn’t have abundant life. The only reason I even went to church was so my daughter would grow up alongside church people and so belong and be accepted as I never could be (I thought). Like many survivors, I had a warped view of the Gospel. I thought the Father was angry at me and wanted to crush me, but as long as I believed in Jesus, then Jesus would protect me from Him and I would get to go to Heaven when I died. Working through Josh and Megan, Jesus brought the scriptures alive for me and I truly began to heal and live as a branch connected to the true vine.

Together, we wrote a guide for you to take back to your church. This guide will equip ministers and advocates to look at scripture through the lens of trafficking and apply sound, spirit-led interpretation in a way that brings life and healing to survivors.

[easy-tweet tweet=”This guide will equip ministers and advocates to look at scripture through the lens of trafficking and apply sound, spirit-led interpretation in a way that brings life and healing to survivors.” user=”sharedhope” hashtags=”FaithSummit2018″]

I didn’t ask what these verses meant because I was afraid of the answers. People at church would tell me that God loved me, but those people didn’t know the things I had done. Even as they got to know about my story, they still didn’t know all the stuff. Trust doesn’t come easy to survivors, and it certainly doesn’t come quickly. I was at Living Hope for roughly four years before I trusted Josh with my doubts and my questions. We want to put the truth into survivors’ hands in a non-threatening format. We will be giving the guide out free of charge, along with permission to copy and distribute it as long as you do so in its entirety and do not make any changes to it.

We cannot possibly identify all of the scriptures that hit survivors in a hurtful way, but we want to equip ministers and advocates to go after the hard questions. No two survivors’ stories are the same and we want church members and leaders to be able to see scripture through the lens of trafficking and apply sound, Spirit-led interpretation in a way that brings life and healing to survivors. We also want to equip survivors with the skills and resources to do their own sound, biblical research whenever a verse hits them weird. We want everyone to know that there is no scripture that is contrary to the character of God.

[easy-tweet tweet=”We want to equip ministers and advocates to go after the hard questions.” user=”sharedhope” hashtags=”FaithSummit2018″]

The Word has such power to heal and deepen relationship with Christ. Psalm 23 has become my favorite Psalm, but it took going deeper. On the surface, God allowed me to be placed in a family where I was surrounded by abuse and pain. Where was my green pasture – my “good”? I think the green pasture is not analogous to circumstance, that God is working hard to ensure that I have what is best for me, which is God working in my life to mold my character to be Christ-like. It is God using all that was meant for evil in my life to shape my passion against injustice and my love for the oppressed – to make my heart like his. And a heart like His is the ultimate good and the greenest of pastures.

It is beyond wretched that the enemy would use God’s own words to harm His children. We can take this weapon out of his hand for good.

3 Things You Can Do Right Now

PRAY! Always the first action.
Get involved with local efforts to fight trafficking .
Come to the JuST Faith Summit and get equipped!

By Deb Haltom, Survivor Advocate, Living Hope Fellowship

March 23, 2018 by Susanna Bean

Websites set up accountability measures in wake of bill passage to curb online sex trafficking

In many ways this is a continuation of a long fight against online facilitation of sex trafficking which goes back more than a decade. In 2007, Shared Hope International’s (SHI) Center for Justice & Advocacy, produced one of the first research reports documenting websites’ role in facilitating the crime of sex trafficking. After studying the sex buying markets of Jamaica, The Netherlands, United States and Japan, Shared Hope found that “Technology has become the single greatest facilitator of the commercial sex trade.” Additionally, the study found that in 2007, “In both the Netherlands and the United States, commercial sex services and the victims providing those services are advertised extensively over the Internet, with a simple search of English language websites advertising escort services yielding 2.2 million results on Google.”

This research was submitted to the Congressional Record in 2010 when Shared Hope International founder and president, former Congresswoman Linda Smith, testified alongside Ernie Allen, then President of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, about the proliferation of child sex trafficking in the United States and the internet’s role in contributing to the growth of this crime. Ten years after Shared Hope completed its 2007 research, the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations produced a groundbreaking report following 2 years of investigation and including data provided by Shared Hope and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, that found that the website Backpage.com had been knowingly facilitating child sex trafficking.

The legislation passed this week is the culmination of over a decade research and work by Congress, NGOs and survivors to reign in bad actors online. Awakening to the harmful effect of website facilitation and technological proliferation of sex trafficking, Congress has prioritized the voices of survivors calling for protection from violence. As prostitution survivor, Alisa Bernard, stated in her compelling blog, “Online prostitution is not glamorous and it is not safer than street prostitution. The violence endemic to prostitution is not somehow mitigated by the internet. One study stated that violence is perpetrated predominantly by buyers regardless of venue of solicitation. The internet has normalized the buying of sex down to a negligible transaction.”

Such normalization of exploitation must end and the historic step taken by Congress this week will help to ensure that protecting exploited individuals, not profits, becomes the new normal.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Susanna Bean | Susanna@sharedhope.org

Shared Hope International is an international anti-trafficking organization focusing on prevention, restoration and justice for victims of sex trafficking. Linda Smith, served as a state legislator and Member of Congress from Washington State (1983-1998), and is the author of Renting Lacy (2009). She founded Shared Hope in 1998. Shared Hope’s Center for Justice & Advocacy leads state and federal legal reforms to advance protections for child sex trafficking victims with specific focus on amending the Communications Decency Act to restore survivors’ access to justice, eliminating laws that criminalize child sex trafficking victims for the crimes committed against them and ensuring that child sex trafficking victims receive the treatment and services they are entitled to as victims of a violent crime.

MEDIA MATERIALS:

For media convenience, a variety of resources are available at www.sharedhope.org/press.

March 21, 2018 by Susanna Bean

Historic Anti-Sex Trafficking Bill Passes the Senate, Heads to the President’s Desk

WASHINGTON, D.C., Today the Senate passed H.R. 1865, the FOSTA-SESTA package, which provides access to justice for survivors of online sex trafficking and gives states critical tools for combatting this crime. This is a historic step by the US legislature to recognize the rights of victims by ensuring that websites who knowingly facilitate the sale of sex trafficking victims can be held responsible for their role in the crime.

This bill, now heading to the President’s desk, addresses the reality that sex trafficking is exploding online, finding haven in online classifieds that provide a platform to facilitate sex trafficking. Despite knowingly facilitating this crime these websites were permitted to hide behind an outdated and misinterpreted provision of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). Section 230 of the CDA was never intended to protect entities that facilitate sex trafficking and yet, courts repeatedly interpreted Section 230 as providing blanket immunity for online entities, including online entities that knowingly facilitate sex trafficking. In ruling against victims of sex trafficking who attempted to hold Backpage.com civilly liable for knowingly facilitating sex trafficking, courts pointed to the need for Congress to address this injustice through a legislative solution. The growing problem of online sex trafficking is not a new concern. Shared Hope International, in 2007, after researching sex trafficking markets in Jamaica, The Netherlands, United States and Japan, found that “Technology has become the single greatest facilitator of the commercial sex trade.” In the intervening 11 years, the prevalence of sex trafficking online has virtually exploded.

Linda Smith, President and Founder of Shared Hope International, commented today on the meaning of this historic vote, “This is a step many of us have been working on for years. For close to a decade, research has increasingly shown the need to focus on technology as a facilitator of the crime of sex trafficking. Today Congress recognized this fact, and put survivors first. Survivors will now have legal recourse to pursue justice against online bad actors like Backpage.com.” Shared Hope is deeply appreciative of the legislators who championed this effort, including Senators Portman and Blumenthal for their strong leadership in the Senate joined by a team of bi-partisan original co-sponsors including Senators Cornyn, McCaskill, Heitcamp, Klobuchar and McCain, and for the tireless leadership of Representatives Wagner, Beatty, Maloney, McMorris Rogers and Walters in the House. Shared Hope also thanks Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy for ensuring this critical advancement in protections for sex trafficking survivors was able to move forward to the House and Senate floor for an overwhelming vote in both chambers. We also thank the 68 Senate co-sponsors and 174 House co-sponsors who heard the voices of advocates and survivors and gave this bill the momentum that carried it to passage. Shared Hope is also immensely appreciative of the partnership of advocates and survivors whose collective voices have enabled this legislation to overcome hurdle after hurdle and reach the President’s desk.

With Congress’ passage of the FOSTA-SESTA package today, Shared Hope International looks forward to this bill being quickly signed into law, opening the door to victims’ access to justice and enabling states to utilize their laws to combat the scourge of online sex trafficking. As the only NGO working in every state to end child sex trafficking through legal reform, Shared Hope International now looks forward to working with the states to ensure the strength of their laws aligns with the critical new tools provided by this historic legislation.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Susanna Bean | Susanna@sharedhope.org

MEDIA MATERIALS:

For media convenience, a variety of resources are available at www.sharedhope.org/press.

March 9, 2018 by Susanna Bean

3 Reasons Why Every Pastor Should Attend Faith Summit 2018

A national epidemic has been ignored for too long, a dark addiction fueled by instant access to pornography, spawning a commercial sex industry that is consuming our children. And everyone pays the price—the child whose innocence is stolen, the man who can’t overcome his addiction, and the society that bears the loss of both. Our world has been helpless to stop the tide because we, the church, have remained silent. Frozen in fear, in ignorance, in disillusion. But, together in our many faiths, we have the power to push away the darkness.

It’s there, and it’s waiting for you to notice..

Children are being bought and sold for sex every night—in America. We, the church, have a mighty role in addressing and stopping this tragedy, if we are ready and willing.

On June 20-22, 2018, we invite you to join us for the JuST Faith Summit at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Here are 3 reasons why every pastor should attend the JuST Faith Summit:

1. Get Equipped – You want to help but don’t know where to start. We do. Join us to learn practical tools for getting started and finding a dynamic and sustainable way to leverage your community’s resources to tackle trafficking.

2. Get Connected – There is a committed, dedicated team across the nation making meaningful strides in the fight against sex trafficking. We want you to meet them. Learn from others and share resources to make the biggest impact possible.

3. Get Inspired – Hear amazing stories of freedom, restoration, and change. We are launching a movement within the church to face the overlooked issue of sexual exploitation and want you to be a part of it.

Please join us and together, let’s bring an end to this epidemic.

Register Here

March 8, 2018 by Guest

Celebrating International Women’s Day

Another year has passed and today, on International Women’s Day, we should ask ourselves how much progress has been made since last year? Each International Women’s Day, we’re challenged as a global community to honor, empower, and center women in our discussions and actions. And this year, like every year prior, we should ask ourselves what more we can do to advance the rights of women.

No doubt this year’s national discussion will involve the courageous movement of women standing up and speaking out against sexual assault. In today’s #MeToo culture, women are breaking the silence of injustice and making clear that their bodies are their own. We can all agree that it’s past time that abusers are held accountable for their actions and face consequences, but even with this powerful movement underway, we’re leaving behind a tremendous population of women. When we talk about breaking the silence about abuse, we’re still ignoring the issue of sex trafficking.

When we say “time’s up,” it is a demand that sexual assault be recognized as intolerable. Women are refusing to stay silent about assault, harassment, and rape; abusers are being forced to confront a shifting culture that refuses to allow them to continue their exploitation of the vulnerable. So why is it that we don’t afford that same indignation and zeal to the fight against sex trafficking?

Each day, women and girls are being sold and raped against their will. But there’s no #MeToo movement in the mainstream media for victims of sex trafficking. There’s no outcry against the abusers who traffic and buy these victims, that their time is up. Ultimately, we’ve decided that because there’s a commercial component involved in their abuse, these victims are somehow undeserving of being included in the recent dialogue surrounding sex abuse. Instead, the silence persists.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. This year’s International Women’s Day campaign theme is “Press for Progress.” If we’re going to press for progress on the subject of sex abuse, we need to also stop allowing certain subjects like trafficking to go undiscussed. While International Women’s Day should absolutely be a triumphant celebration of the strides we’ve made as a nation and a global community to secure the rights of women, it’s equally valuable to take the time to consider how to raise all women up, and identify where progress can be made. We need to recognize the ways in which trafficking victim’s voices aren’t being raised up, and work to fix this.

This year’s theme opens the door to this kind of discussion; we can’t move forward if some of the most vulnerable women and girls are continuing to be exploited in silence. So here are some ways that you can press for progress this year in an effort to include trafficking victims:

Help us end the criminalization of juvenile sex trafficking survivors in our Stop the inJuSTice Campaign. Advocate here!
Ask the Senate to move forward legislation to amend the CDA to ensure that survivors of online sex trafficking receive access to justice. Use our tools to post to twitter and facebook!
Advocate in your state for laws to strengthen your state’s legal framework to protect juvenile sex trafficking survivors and hold offenders accountable. Use our State Action campaign tools!

By Arrianna Jian-Najar

Intern for Shared Hope International