Do you ever feel discouraged about how to enter the enormous gap between human trafficking and life in the suburbs?
Exodus Road staffer, Kelley J. Leigh, is an ordinary, middle-aged mom to four sons and recently wrote an article over at Burnside Writers Collective about the paralyzation we ‘regular’ people feel about what to do when it comes to sex trade. She describes her friendship with the founders of The Exodus Road candidly: “ … frankly, having social justice superheroes as friends comes with issues; like, the constant nagging feeling that I am in reality, a total social justice slacker — like Lois Lane standing outside the empty telephone booth wondering where Superman went.”
But she offers us an accessible way to begin our own journey into social justice: ‘I decided it doesn’t matter who gets to be Batman or who is Alfred. We are all in this together.’
My former social justice slackitude stemmed from my belief in super heroes. “Those people” do this stuff, not me. “I’ll just leave them to their supernatural business and check in on them every once in awhile.” However, I now see them simply as ordinary people who have followed God, one harrowing step at a time. They didn’t start out as superheroes. Back alley brothels and hidden cameras only entered the story after a long series of small choices stepped them toward the bat cave. It’s the same for all of us. After the smallest pause and question, “What now?” What Next?” is always an invitation. It’s a Jesus invitation. “Follow me.” Steps which obediently follow inevitably lead us to love God or love people in powerful and unimaginable ways.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. - Micah 6:8
My friends’ journey to empower rescue started out as a tangled ball of wire, unwound one turn at a time, until it stretched around the globe. I have been in a similar tangle, wondering what to do next. I don’t get to fly to the places where children are freed, but I do get to support people who unlock the prisons. And I can’t speak to US diplomats about prosecution and legislation, but I can write for change. I can redirect my weekly “skinny cinnamon dolce latte” money to the purchase of needed investigative equipment. It starts in the little things toward God’s heart.
One turn at a time. One seed of holy unrest, watered. One humble step. One choice to say “Yes” to the One true God who has a heart to rescue us all, one soul at a time.
Start small. Water the seed. Let it grow. Be a hero in this larger story. Join the rescue.”
Kelley J. Leigh lives in a quirky little mountain town in Colorado. At mid-life she decided to leave behind full-time marketing and consulting work to focus on writing. The rest of her time goes to her husband, four sons, and the recovery of lost car keys. Someday she hopes to own an old scooter and embarrass her sons by wearing the very dorky helmet around town. Read the rest of the article, HERE.
I also wanted to share with you guys this powerful video, shot covertly in a brothel in India. I cannot even begin to imagine what these women must feel on a daily basis.
May God continue to soften our hearts toward the helpless and voiceless, and may He give us the courage to do our part – not as superhumans or superheros, but as regular, everyday, ordinary people empowered by passion, compassion and great love.
