Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Naptime Abolitionist


I have always been a big fan of naps. My very favorite kind of nap is when I am the one napping. That kind is a rarity since children arrived. My second favorite kind of nap is the one my kids take.

Every afternoon around 1pm it is naptime at our house. The kids go off to rest in their rooms & I settle into work. I turn my attention from the numbers my son is learning to a different set of numbers. Numbers like these:
  • 27,000,000 - the number of slaves in the world today
  • 2 - the number of children trafficked into slavery per minute
  • $90 - the average price of a slave right now
  • 100,000 - a conservative estimate of how many American children are victims of sex trafficking   currently
  • 2,000,000 - the number of children enslaved
  • 13 the average age of entry into the sex industry in the U.S.
  • 99% - the number of slaves who will never be rescued
  • 300,000 the number of children who are being used to fight armed conflicts
  • 720 - the number of children in Texas trafficked every month
Why do these numbers matter to me?

I am a naptime abolitionist.

I don't have an FBI badge, a law degree, or a social work position. I don't have millions of dollars to donate. But, I do have naptime.

So, when 1 pm rolls around I put away the laundry & pull out my files. It doesn't feel like much, but it is what I have to give. So for that hour I do my 'other job'.

I work for an anti-trafficking organization called UnBound. We have six chapters around the United States. Our work focuses on awareness, prayer, rescue & aftercare, and public policy. We are a collection of people giving up our naptimes & Starbucks latte money, and donating the skills and resources we have to end human trafficking.

Maybe you don't have naptime. Maybe you have coffee breaks at work or an extra $15 a month you can contribute.

Giving up naptime is a sacrifice, but anything worth having always comes at a cost.

If you want to learn more about human trafficking, check out UnBound's website.

27 million people have no voice. Will you lend them yours?


3 comments:

  1. Oh, my, Elizabeth. Thank you for cutting the impossible-to-swallow pizza into bite-size pieces for us.

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  2. This reminds me of a story in Judges. Deborah was leading Israel, acting as judge and even helping lead the army. The commander of the Canaanite army was fleeing the Israelite army and went to the tent of a woman named Jael. There he took shelter, and she killed him.

    We don't have to be "out there" and "visible". We can fight and defeat the enemy from our own homes. That's what you're doing. Thanks for reminding us. And thanks for the link to Unbound. So helpful.

    Lolly

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