Last week, there were celebrants (perhaps reality TV extras is a more apropos term) sleeping in the streets of London, anxiously waiting to witness the glamour and pageantry of the Royal Wedding of Prince William and the former Catherine Middleton. Also last week, in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama, there were hundreds sleeping in shelters as the result of a monster tornado that had chewed up their homes and spit them out over many miles. (I sadly and prayerfully watched this event happen on live TV, unlike the Royal Wedding). In Japan, there are still thousands sleeping far from their normal beds as a result of the tragic earthquake-tsunami-nuclear meltdown triple disaster.

And last week, there were an estimated 27 million men, women, and children around the world who went to sleep, at some point, in some form of modern slavery. Whether kept in a cage brothel in India; kidnapped to soldier as a young boy; or forced to work long, cruel hours in a sweatshop against her will, these people made in God’s image are being scarred and used and tortured. In some cases they have been betrayed by the very people—their mother and father—who should be protecting them but have sold them into a life of unspeakable degradation.

This month’s featured theme on NewHopeDigital.com (NHD) is Human Exploitation, specifically focused on human trafficking. Human exploitation can be defined as the unethical, selfish use of human beings for the satisfaction of personal desires and/or profitable advantage. The issue is so broad and so deep—with tentacles extending into corrupt business, illegal immigration, pornography, bullying, sexually charged advertising, and more—that is hard to get a handle on it. But don’t worry, we’ll be revisiting this topic many times here on NHD.

In May, we’ll be focusing on human trafficking, the two primary types being sex trafficking and labor trafficking. Not in My Town: Exposing and Ending Human Trafficking and Modern-Day Slavery is the newest release from New Hope Publishers, and includes a special 8-segment DVD. Coauthors Dillon Burroughs and Charles Powell focus on sex trafficking both in the US and abroad and will write four featured columns for NHD this month. They’ll also be our podcast guests. In addition, we’ll focus on fair trade as a means to ending human exploitation by offering an income with dignity. With the offer of a decent wage in a decent environment, women are less likely to fall victim to a sex trafficker’s poison promises, parents are less likely to sell their children on the black market, and men are less likely to be trapped in exploitative labor.

Ultimately, the gospel alone deals decisively with human exploitation. All of us are guilty in some way of using and abusing others for our gain, seeing them as pawns in our quest to build our own kingdoms. That realization should drive us to our knees before the holy God who created us all. From there, we can clearly see the Cross is the only way to deal with our sin. Then, forgiven and raised to new life, we walk in a new way, free to free others—both the exploited and the exploiters.

In Christ’s strength, we can do something about human trafficking. We cannot be silent.

Coming this month:

      And much more.