A Walk Across the Sun

I've been struggling for the past week,vacillating back and forth as to whether or not to do a blog post on this. When I finally made up my mind to do it, the picture wouldn't download this morning and I almost gave up the idea. I try to shy away from controversial subjects for the most part. I don't want to use this blog to discuss politics or religion, although I have strong feelings about both subjects. There are some things that must be addressed though, and even though I understand there isn't a large readership here, and I may offend some by what I write, I'm willing to take that chance in order to be a voice for the exploited and the innocent. I recently read  A Walk Across the Sun, by Corban Addison. I liked the cover and I was impressed by the fact that famous author, John Grisham,commented on the back.Over the course of twenty years he's had multiple authors request an endorsement,but he's always declined until the author of this book. He gave it a ringing endorsement which caught my eye. The book is a novel... fiction, but it's based on reality, the trafficking of human beings, which the author states is a thirty billion dollar a year criminal enterprise. I would venture to say that most of the victims are women and often young children. There are places in the far east where sex tourism is commonplace and the perverts who attend these places are in search of children. Though it is illegal, it still goes on with enough frequency to generate these huge profits. The author also states that in Eastern Europe there is a depressingly high rate of girls who were orphans being lured into prostitution by the traffickers once they are no longer in state care. Much like the illegal drug trade, people wouldn't be engaging in trafficking if it wasn't profitable. I can't think of anything much more distressing than to be forced to do something so inhumane and degrading than prostitution and to feel so helpless to stop it as these women and children are. I have five daughters and five granddaughters and I promise I would go to extremes without mercy if they were ever to suffer such abuse as I read about in this book. The author provides the web addresses of several organizations that provide data on this subject.
The U.S.Dept. of State provides a Trafficking In Persons report (www.state.gov/g/tip) He states that one of the best non-governmental sources of data on the trade is the Polaris Project in Washington D.C. (http://www.polarisproject.org/) . He goes on to list others as well as other books that delve into the subject deeper, one of which is titled Disposable People by Kevin Bales. The title is telling; are certain people disposable? Are there less desirable members of society who we could care less about, who don't really matter? Is it ok to let them fall through the cracks to be used and later discarded like a dirty tissue? I'll tell you frankly, I'm going out on a limb here, I'm out of my league on this one, but just because I've never been exposed directly to this problem doesn't mean it doesn't impact me. If we are silent on this issue then when will we speak? The world is in dire need of hero's. I hope that if this is an issue that bothers you, you'll investigate it more and let your voice be heard.Thanks

Comments

  1. Good blog dad, I think if anyone is upset by this, that's their problem! It's something that happens every day, and I think it's a lot bigger than people realize. There is a good movie with Liam Neison, I think it's called Taken...

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  2. Hi Autumn- like many things,if you aren't aware of a problem, you can't do anything about it. After I read the book I felt that I had to at least get it out there and let people know. When people are doing things that are evil they like to keep it in darkness- exposure is one way to combat this problem. Like the word says- We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principles, against powers and against spiritual wickedness in high places. I hope this little bit of exposure will encourage people to act.

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  3. Yep, very well said dad! I may have to check out that book as well!

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  4. It's sickening to think these things happen on a daily basis and not just across seas. It is happening under our noses...if we don't speak up who will? I am a firm believer in exposing the darkness...way to go dad! Liz

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  5. Hi Liz- I agree, it is exceptionally disturbing. There are so many things going on in the world that a person could go nuts trying to deal with them all. However, we can't just pretend that it doesn't exist either, that's what happened in pre-world war two Germany.

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  6. Wow...I would almost hesitate to check the book out and read it simply because it would turn my stomach to read and because I would be picturing Kaiden and Kennedy with every horrific story. I do, however, agree that this does go on, not just overseas, but right here in our own country and it's beyond disturbing. There are some people that I sometimes wish it was legal to dispose of...sexual predators of children would be on the top of my list! Thanks for the blog and for making your voice heard when so many would shove the issue under the carpet and just return the book to the library with nothing more than inward disgust at the nature of humans.

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  7. There is an amazing Australian woman who is actively working to do the impossible for young girls caught in this horrific scenario. Her name is Christine Cain. Google her name and anyone can find ways to support and hear how she is doing all she can to rescue young girls. There are some amazing testimonies from girls she has worked hard to rescue from the hell they have known AND lived in.

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  8. http://www.thea21campaign.org/ This is the website for Christine Caine and the A21 Campaign. Amazing miracles in a very dark world!

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  9. HI Jenn- thanks for posting this web site, I'll check it out.

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