Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men.  Psalm 71:4

Because you are part of Trinity you probably know about our involvement in Break the Chains, the Covenant's effort to end modern-day slavery.  You may know that 27 million slaves live in the world today.  But did you know that more than 300,000 American children are enslaved in forced prostitution within our borders?  These are our own children, not children from other countries who are trafficked into the United States.  They are usually girls running away from home who are abducted into sexual exploitation for commercial purposes.  The single vulnerability these girls have in common is their youth: they are most often taken when they are just 12 to 14 years old.

The federal government considers any child forced into prostitution when under the age of 18 to be a victim of human trafficking.  Even if a child has not been moved into another state, our government's 'Trafficking Victims Protection Act' makes "Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking" a federal crime.  Perpetrators can go to jail, often for decades.

If young girls are rescued from prostitution, the cruel reality these child victims face is that there are only 44 residential beds amongst four after-care facilities across the country.  These girls are not being given the specialized care they deserve and require.  Instead they are released and usually retaken by slaveholders who immediately turn them back onto the streets into lives of hopelessness and despair.

Break the Chains' mission for 2010 is to meet the need for specialized residential care. The Covenant Women Ministries is spearheading funding for 'New Day for Children' . This will be a faith based program with 24 beds in Northern California.  A place for girls to regain their stolen childhood and grow into the adults God uniquely designed them to be. 'New Day for Children' is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation established by the Covenant.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Donate to the Covenant's New Day for Children.

Read the book Renting Lacy by Linda Smith, founder of Shared Hope International.

Watch the movie "Very Young Girls", a documentary available on DVD.

Pray! Seek the Spirit's leading for what you can do to end human trafficking in our time.