Occasional musings of a Generation X Sister of St. Joseph of Peace. Read along as I live into a life of love and service as a modern day Catholic Sister (aka "nun") and continue to discern my call to "act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with God."
Showing posts with label human trafficking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human trafficking. Show all posts
My latest column was just posted on Global Sisters Report. This column focuses on the reality of human trafficking, what I've learned from journeying with trafficked persons, and some ideas on how we can resist the social sin of human trafficking (yes, essentially what I'm hoping to turn into my MA thesis).
Poverty puts people at risk of being trafficked by creating a seemingly endless supply of vulnerable people, in the midst of a culture that devalues life and human dignity. Profits fuel the multi-billion dollar human trafficking industry, in which human beings are treated as disposable commodities. We cannot stop our analysis here, however. If we are truly committed to ending trafficking, we must also look critically at our role. Consumers demand cheap products at any cost, while our sexualized culture normalizes sexual exploitation. In my presentations to community groups, parishes or schools, I have always challenged those becoming aware of the reality of human trafficking to ask themselves how they might use their own power as conscious consumers, citizens and members of society to resist and help break the cycle of demand.
Today is the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita. Pope Francis, at the request of Catholic Sisters, has designated February 8th as a day of prayer and fasting against human trafficking. The US Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking have adapted a prayer service I helped to create when I worked at IPJC in Seattle to be used on the day. You can download it here. Last year on this day, I shared an excerpt from an academic paper I wrote on the ministry of reconciliation for trafficked persons which tells the incredible story of St. Josephine Bakhita. In honor of her feast day, I thought I'd share it again on the blog:
Children raise their hands in front of a mural of St. Bakhita at St. Bakhita Parish in Jeberona displacement camp on the outskirts of Khartoum
St. Josephine Bakhita was born in 1869 to a “reasonably prosperous” family in rural Sudan. When she was five or six, her sister was kidnapped by slave raiders. Three years later, she was kidnapped herself by men who used deception to separate her from her companion. Eight or nine years old, she was so traumatized she could not speak her name. Her captors called her “Bakhita,” which means fortunate one, a common name for female slaves. Bakhita was sold numerous times and suffered extreme torture and sexual violence. Eventually, she was sold to an Italian diplomat who brought her to Italy to work as a slave servant for the daughter of a friend attending a convent school. It was in Italy that Bakhita first learned about Jesus, who she first saw depicted on the cross. Like Jesus, “she knew the pain of the lash, of beatings, of abuse.” She was baptized in 1890 in Italy as Josephine Margaret Mary Bakhita.[1]
In time, the Italian diplomat came to take her back with him, as his slave, to Sudan. She refused to go, claiming her self-agency and new found identity as a child of God. She was supported by the Canossian Sisters who ran the convent school and the Archbishop of Milan. She took her case to court and learned that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had been free since she arrived. Josephine joined the Canossian Sisters in 1896 and spent 51 years in community. Her superior asked her to write down the story of her time as a slave and she told her story at various talks. In her later years, she suffered great physical pain. It is reported that in her delirium she would cry out, “Loosen the chains … they are so heavy.” She died in 1947.[2]
St. Josephine Bakhita’s story witnesses to the long, hard journey of trafficked people to rebuild their lives. She suffered great pain and trauma, even to the point of forgetting her given name and reliving her suffering in her last days. Yet she was able to regain her self-agency, rebuild her story, and reconnect to a new community. I believe she can serve as a witness and companion to trafficked persons and ministers of reconciliation. Indeed, at her canonization in 2000, Pope John Paul II invited the whole church to invoke her intercession “upon all our persecuted and enslaved brothers and sisters …. that they may know reconciliation and peace.”[3]
[1] M. Shawn Copeland, "St. Josephine Bakhita,” in Holiness and the Feminine Spirit: the Art of Janet McKenzie, ed. Susan Perry (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2009), 113-118.
[2] Archdiocese of Juba, “Saint Bakhita,” http://www.bakhitaradio.org/ index.php?option=com_ content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=57.
[3] John Paul II, “Homily for the Canonizations of St. Katharine Drexel, 120 Chinese Martyrs, St. Josephine Bakhita and St. Maria Josefa Sancho de Guerra,” http://www.vatican. va/ holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/2000/ documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20001001_ canonization_en.html.
Today is one of my favorite Church feasts ... the Feast of the Epiphany. As a child, this was always the day when the figurines of the three kings I had carefully been moving throughout the house during the entire Christmas season finally made it to the manger in the living room where they could offer their gifts, gaze upon the infant Jesus, and finally rest (before being promptly packed up into a box and back to the attic until next Christmas!) Today, thankfully, I did not have to bundle up and trek through the windy snow storm outside to head to mass to celebrate the Feast. One of my priest classmates who also lives in the CTU residence hall offered to celebrate mass for us in the residence hall chapel. We were a cozy group, praying together in a circle as we watched the snow swirl about outside the 8th story corner window and listened to the howl of the wind. I was asked to read the first reading from Isaiah:
Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,the glory of the Lord shines upon you.See, darkness covers the earth,and thick clouds cover the peoples;but upon you the LORD shines,and over you appears his glory.Nations shall walk by your light,and kings by your shining radiance.
These words held a sort of literal meaning as we sought refuge from the elements ourselves and gazed out at thick clouds of snow covering the city. These words also hold a literal meaning for the millions upon millions of migrants, refugees, and human trafficking victims who are walking through darkness, seeking the light of life, freedom, and human dignity. It is no coincidence that the U.S. Catholic Church celebrates National Migration Week this week (January 5-11). It is also no coincidence that this year's theme is "Out of the Darkness." In the words of the U.S Bishops Conference:
It is our call as the Church to bring the light of Christ to these populations,banish the darkness, and help to bring them from the margins of society to its center. Doing so will provide vulnerable migrants with a protected space in which they can flourish as human beings. This requires prayer for those who are marginalized, alongside an active presence in the public square to demand that protections are provided to those who need them most.
As you celebrate the coming of the light of Christ into our world and pay him homage, prayerfully consider what you can do for our brothers and sisters walking in darkness.
January 11th, the last day of migration week, is also human trafficking awareness day. Visit the IPJC Website to download a prayer service you can use to pray for an end to human trafficking. The IPJC website also has many resources to learn more and take action about this very important issue.
God of all peoples and nations, you sent your son to guide us with the light of compassion, mercy, and justice. Open our hearts and inspire our actions for justice in solidarity with all immigrants, refugees, and victims of human trafficking today. May our care, commitment, and love for our neighbors across all boundaries be the gift with which we pay the Infant Jesus homage. Amen
Today is the feast of St. Josephine Bakhita. Last semester I wrote a paper on the ministry of reconciliation for trafficked persons which included a section on St. Josephine Bakhita. In honor of her feast day, I thought I'd share it on the blog:
Children raise their hands in front of a mural of St. Bakhita at St. Bakhita Parish in Jeberona displacement camp on the outskirts of Khartoum
St. Josephine Bakhita was born in 1869 to a “reasonably
prosperous” family in rural Sudan. When
she was five or six, her sister was kidnapped by slave raiders. Three years later, she was kidnapped herself
by men who used deception to separate her from her companion. Eight or nine
years old, she was so traumatized she could not speak her name. Her captors called her “Bakhita,” which means
fortunate one, a common name for female slaves. Bakhita was sold numerous times
and suffered extreme torture and sexual violence. Eventually, she was sold to
an Italian diplomat who brought her to Italy to work as a slave servant for the
daughter of a friend attending a convent school. It was in Italy that Bakhita
first learned about Jesus, who she first saw depicted on the cross. Like Jesus, “she knew the pain of the lash,
of beatings, of abuse.” She was baptized in 1890 in Italy as Josephine Margaret Mary
Bakhita.[1]
In time, the Italian diplomat came to take her back with
him, as his slave, to Sudan. She refused
to go, claiming her self-agency and new found identity as a child of God. She was supported by the Canossian Sisters
who ran the convent school and the Archbishop of Milan. She took her case to court and learned that
since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had been free since she arrived. Josephine
joined the Canossian Sisters in 1896 and spent 51 years in community. Her superior asked her to write down the
story of her time as a slave and she told her story at various talks. In her
later years, she suffered great physical pain.
It is reported that in her delirium she would cry out, “Loosen the
chains … they are so heavy.” She died in
1947.[2]
St. Josephine Bakhita’s story witnesses to the long, hard
journey of trafficked people to rebuild their lives. She suffered great pain and trauma, even to
the point of forgetting her given name and reliving her suffering in her last
days. Yet she was able to regain her self-agency, rebuild her story, and
reconnect to a new community. I believe she can serve as a witness and companion
to trafficked persons and ministers of reconciliation. Indeed, at her
canonization in 2000, Pope John Paul II invited the whole church to invoke her
intercession “upon all our persecuted and enslaved brothers and sisters …. that
they may know reconciliation and peace.”[3]
[1] M. Shawn Copeland, "St. Josephine Bakhita,” in Holiness and the Feminine Spirit: the Art of Janet McKenzie, ed. Susan Perry (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2009), 113-118.
[2] Archdiocese of Juba, “Saint Bakhita,” http://www.bakhitaradio.org/ index.php?option=com_ content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=57.
[3]
John Paul II, “Homily for the Canonizations of St.
Katharine Drexel, 120 Chinese Martyrs, St. Josephine Bakhita and St. Maria
Josefa Sancho de Guerra,” http://www.vatican. va/ holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/2000/
documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20001001_ canonization_en.html.
In the midst of preparation for my move one week from today, I'm taking a break to share a reflection on today's readings with our retired Sisters at their communion service. Here's what I'll be sharing with them:
When 8 year old Vivienne Harr starts school this year, she will have a great tale of "What she did this summer."
Like many 2nd graders, she's been running a lemonade stand with a little help from her mom and dad. But this isn't just any lemonade stand. She's been at her stand everyday, with a goal of raising $150,000 for Not for Sale, an ngo that works to stop human trafficking. She calls her lemonade "Make a Stand Lemonade: The Sweet Taste of Freedom," and she makes it from fair trade lemons. So far, she's raised $30,000!
How did she make so much money? First, through faithfulness. She spent everyday of her summer vacation at the stand, rain or shine. Second, through faith in the generosity of her neighbors. At first she charged $2 per glass. But then she thought, what if I leave it up to my customers what to pay? The average price went up to $18 when she made it free.
Vivienne was inspired to make a stand when she attended an art exhibit with her family that featured photos of child slaves. She decided to do something and started with what she knew ... lemonade.
Vivienne inspires me. If you watch her video on You Tube, you might be inspired too. "Gandhi was one person," she says. "Martin Luther King was one person. Mother Theresa was one person. Why can't you be one person who helps?"
In a way, Vivienne is the opposite of the Prince of Tyre in our first reading (Ezekiel 28: 1-10). Let's flip the words around to fit Vivienne:
By your wisdom and intelligence, you have made riches for others.
You have put gold and silver in the treasuries of enslaved people.
By your great wisdom applied to your trading, you have shared your riches.
Your heart has grown bigger from your sharing.
Vivienne seems to intuitively know what it means for the first to be last and the last to be first, like we hear in today's Gospel (Matthew 19: 23-30). This small little girl. By contrast, the camel is a very large animal. When Jesus talks about the camel and the eye of the needle, he could be speaking literally. But the "eye of the needle" could also describe the narrow and low gate of the city walls, used by travellers after dark when the main gate was locked. Vivienne might fit through this small gate. We would have to bend over. A camel would have to kneel, squeeze tight, and crawl through.
Through being her small self with a big heart, Vivienne in many ways embodies what Jesus is talking about. She's discovered valuable lessons on the way.
I'd like to finish with Vivienne's own words (typed on her blog by her father) about what she's discovered this summer sitting at her lemonade stand.
"I have discovered a lot.
I have discovered that there are a lot of kids, about my age, who do not get the life I get, who are scared, who need hope.
I have discovered that my heart feels the most full when I give.
I have discovered that even though we hear a lot about the bad, the world is mostly good, most people are kind and supportive, and want what's right.
I have discovered that the more I do this, the more I make a stand, the stronger I get.
For the next week, I will be in the great state of New Jersey. No, I'm not a Jersey Girl, although I did live there for a time during my novitiate. However, we do have oodles of CSJP community there so I head back from time to time. I leave early in the am to travel across the continent via the wonders of air travel.
I am going to be staying at east coast groovy sister hq for the week, the same property in fact where I lived during my novitiate. I'm looking forward to catching up with some of my favorite wisdom women, walking the grounds, catching sight perhaps of the turkeys and groundhogs, joking with the staff, checking out the color du jour of the lights on the empire state building (this picture is the view from a nearby park--our house is right on the Hudson across from NYC), and other assorted things.
My main reason for heading back is for our CSJP Care of Creation and Climate Change committee (I've written about the committee before). We do most of our work long distance via conference call and email, but find that it helps to actually get all the committee members, from the UK, East & West Coast of US, together in one room every once in a while!
I'll also be giving two Human Trafficking presentations while I am in New Jersey. Thursday night I will be at St. John the Baptist Parish in Hillsdale. Monday night I will be at Holy Trinity Parish in Westfield (co- hosted by St Helen's Catholic Community). I got my start working on this important issue during my novitiate in New Jersey, so it will be interesting to come back to where my own passion was ignited to end human trafficking.
I'm sure I will check in a bit over the next week, but if not you know where I am!
Most Fridays, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare. Today's installment (late in the day!):
How many girls are driven to a life which they abhor simply to get bread, the bread which is denied to them by those who squander on folly what is due to justice!
Today I traveled to Olympia, our State Capitol, to join other advocates to testify at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on 10 Anti-Trafficking Bills. I testified in support of four bills that specifically help to stop the demand for sex trafficking. Thanks to the wonders of technology, you can watch my testimony. Even though my prior life as a glorified bureaucrat has me fairly comfortable in a legislative hearing setting, I did stumble a little bit and was nervous. But was happy to have the opportunity to share the important message of focusing not only on prosecution of traffickers and protection of victims, but on stopping the demand as well.
Currently, in the State of Washington the fine for being convicted of "soliciting a prostitute" aka buying commercial sexual exploitation is ... wait for it ... $150. It's also not a sex crime and does not require registration as a sex offender. One of the bills under consideration would increase the fine substantially to $1,500 for the first offense, $2,500 for the second offense, and on the 3rd offense would be a sex crime requiring registration as a sex offender. If this passes, it would be a HUGE step forward in stopping the demand!
Please join me in praying for all victims of human trafficking, for conversion of heart for all traffickers, for inspired bold leadership by legislators, and for an end to human trafficking.
Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Here is a great video that some students from Holy Names Academy made last year for the high school justice video contest at the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center where I work.
Hey you high school teacher types .... the deadline for this year's contest is coming up in March! Help spread the word.
For the past 4 years or so, education and advocacy against human trafficking has been a major part of my ministry. Longer than that actually, because it started with one of my novitiate ministry experiences where I was privileged to get to know two women who were emerging from human trafficking situations. The resiliency of their spirit in the face of such suffering continues to inspire me in this work. Here's a press release we sent out today as part of a PR push around Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Writing press releases is another transferable skill I learned as a glorified bureaucrat that I now use in the service of justice!
Nuns Organize Against Human Trafficking
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, January 5, 2012—Catholic Sisters in the Pacific Northwest are intensifying efforts against human trafficking during January’s National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, through public witness, schools based education and corporate shareholder advocacy. January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
“We know that the Pacific Northwest is a hub for human trafficking,” said Holy Names Sister Linda Haydock, Executive Director of the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center (IPJC) in Seattle which is coordinating the effort. “This form of modern slavery is illegal in every country, and yet is thriving not only in far flung corners of the globe but right here in Seattle. We seek to stop the demand for human trafficking.”
Public Witness - Sisters and other advocates will gather at Westlake Park in downtown Seattle on Sunday, January 8th from 1:30 to 2:00 PM for a Public Vigil against human trafficking. “This is our 37th monthly public vigil,” said Saint Joseph of Peace Sister Susan Francois, Anti-Human Trafficking coordinator at IPJC. The Sisters began holding monthly vigils at Westlake Park in January 2009. “Westlake Park is a known recruitment spot for traffickers seeking to exploit young women in the sex industry. We come here each month to take a public stand in solidarity with all children, women and men held in slavery like conditions. We invite others to stand with us.”
President Obama has declared January National Human Trafficking Awareness month and called upon all Americans to “recognize the vital role we can play in ending modern slavery.”
Education - IPJC uses a variety of vehicles to engage the larger community. The Sisters have run advertisements on buses in Seattle and Tacoma, educate middle school students across the country via an online webinar, and provide resources for action on their website—www.ipjc.org. “In the last six months alone, more than 10,000 copies of our anti-human trafficking resources have been downloaded from our website,” said Sister Linda. Online resources are available in English and Spanish, including action ideas, education handouts, and prayer services. The website also offers a special prayer service that Christian and Interfaith groups can use to mark Human Trafficking Awareness Day on January 11th.
Corporate Advocacy - “We also engage in dialogue with major corporations to help stop the demand for human trafficking,” said Adrian Dominican Sister Judy Byron, Program Director of IPJC’s Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment. Collaborating with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, the Sisters recently won significant victories against human trafficking through shareholder resolutions and corporate dialogue with Delta Airlines, Hilton Worldwide, and Wyndham Worldwide. In 2011, the airline and two hotel chains each agreed to sign the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. The Code requires signatories to educate their employees on ways of identifying and reporting suspected incidents of human trafficking. Delta Airlines is the first U.S. carrier to sign the Code.
In my ministry role today at the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center, I have been invited to make a presentation to our Associates & Sisters at a community education day on human trafficking. Since I feel like I've presented plenty to our community lately, I've invited one of my anti-trafficking colleagues from the Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network to give the nitty gritty, "What does trafficking look like" presentation.
This freed me up to look into what our founder, Margaret Anna Cusack, might have to say to us about human trafficking. This, my friends, was a very fun and enlightening experience. You see, she was very attuned to the social realities and situation of oppressed people in her day. In reflecting, I realized that she had a very keen eye and must have used an action/reflection process similar to what we today call the "Pastoral Circle"--experience, social analysis, reflection and action.
Her contemporary experience was the Irish famine. The common folks were starving, and the young and able bodied (men and women) were being forced to emigrate to make money to keep their family alive back home. Margaret Anna, then Sister Francis Clare Cusack of the Poor Clare Convent in Kenmare, County Kerry, experienced this first hand. Her Sisters fed the poor in the area district, and she funded a famine relief fund for the people of Ireland through the sale of her books. As an example of her impact, here's a tidbit from a letter to the editor of the Dublin Free Press by a Mr. J. Sullivan:
The poor, starving people have to depend almost entirely on the funds obtained by that lady for relief. She has disbursed within a very short period, very little short of $10,000, to the poor of that district ...
Serving the poor in need was not enough for her. She asked questions as to why they were poor, and looked at the social structures that perpetuated (and created) the problem. In terms of trafficking, she also looked at the situation where young women especially were made vulnerable to victimization. She saw that they were being forced to emigrate to seek work, in factories or most often as domestic servants, and she was worried for their safety--spiritually as well as physically.
“How many girls are driven to a life which they abhor simply to get bread, the bread which is denied to them by those who squander on folly what is due to justice!”
“I knew that the only way out of their victimization was to help them become economically and intellectually independent.”
She reflected on what her faith taught her, and was motivated to do as much as she could for those who Jesus had loved so well ... poor and starving people.
And she acted.
I wish with all my heart that our girls were not obliged to leave their own country; but since they will do so, it is a most urgent duty of charity, and it would undoubtedly be a public benefit both to America and Ireland, to help them prepare for their future lives.
She founded St Joseph's Sisters of Peace in 1884. She hoped to prepare young Irish women before they emigrated, giving them skills that would help them both to survive and support their families. She also opened homes for "working girls"--in her day meaning simple girls that worked, as supposed to our current meeting. These homes were places of safety, rest, and renewal. Really, if you look at it through the lens of what we know about human trafficking, she was seeking to support vulnerable women and prevent them from being trafficked.
So, what does she have to say to us today about human trafficking? Based on her own response in her day, I think she would encourage us today :
As a little girl, I never wanted to become a nun. To be honest the notion was probably back there somewhere in my subconscious. Instead, weird as it may seem, I always wanted to be a bureaucrat, a civil servant, a public employee. Honestly.
It might help to explain this odd vocational desire to know that I grew up in a political family. My father was a local elected official. My mother worked on Capitol Hill. I grew up going to campaign events and understanding how a bill became a law long before I saw it illustrated in cartoon form on Schoolhouse Rock. Political office wasn't my thing, but making the world a better place as a part of the government seemed like my calling.
So I went to summer camps with names like "Critical Thinking" and "Leadership Development" in middle and high school. I went away to college and majored in political science. I interned in the Mayor's Office. After college, I took the civil service test and got a job as a street level bureaucrat with the City Auditor's Office.
Eight years later I was a glorified bureaucrat in charge of our municipal elections, aka regulations and red tape, with the occasional law suit and scandal thrown in. I had a government pension and if I stayed on the path I was on, I was sure to rise in the bureaucratic ranks until I was able to retire at the young age of 53. Everything I'd always wanted was right there waiting for me ... or was it?
You see, while my government job was becoming the career I thought I'd always wanted, I also started to connect my faith life with my desire to make the world a better place. I became the ultimate peace and justice church geek and through a complicated process that only made sense through the grace of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit, I realized that I wasn't called to be a bureaucrat after all. Instead this wonderfully crazy thing called religious life started to make more and more sense.
Flash forward five years. I'm a vowed member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. I'm realizing more and more that we bring our stories with us. All of those things I learned on my path to becoming a bureaucrat come in handy in my current ministry at a peace and justice center. Today was a case in point. I was asked to testify in support of some human trafficking legislation at the State Capitol today. It was fun to tap back into my bureaucratic past in my religious life present, advocating for legislation on behalf of the poor and marginalized.
God's ways are certainly mysterious ... my job it seems is to trust and go along for the ride.
Every Friday, I’m going to share a quote from the founder of my groovy sisters, Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare. This week’s installment …
How many girls are driven to a life which they abhor simply to get bread, the bread which is denied to them by those who squander on folly what is due to justice!
I'm headed out of town this morning to give a presentation on human trafficking over the weekend. This quote from Margaret Anna is right on. We didn't call it human trafficking in her day, but she was concerned for the poor. She especially wanted to equip immigrant women with education and skills so that they would not be taken advantage of. Today of course we know that it is women, men and children who are trafficked into modern day slavery. But there is also a sea change of awareness taking place, and that is a very good thing.
January 11th is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. A big chunk of my ministry at the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center is advocacy and education around the issue of human trafficking. We created this prayer service for folks to use on January 11th for Human Trafficking Awareness Day and/or on February 8th, St. Josephine Bakhita's Feast Day.
Leader: Let us begin by observing a moment of silence in solidarity with the more than 27 million women, men and children who suffer each day from modern day slavery. [Moment of Silence]
Leader: We hold all those impacted by human trafficking in our hearts as we pray Psalm 126 together.
Psalm Prayer (Read Antiphonally)
Side One
When God brought the exiles back to Zion
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouths were filled with laughter,
and our tongues with shouts of joy.
Side Two
Among the nations it was said,
“God has done great things for them.”
God has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
Side One
Bring back our exiles, O God,
like fresh streams in the desert.
May those who sow in tears
reap with songs and shouts of joy.
Side Two
Those that go forth weeping,
bearing the seeds for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
All: Glory to you, God of life and freedom, praise and thanksgiving now and forever. Amen
Leader: Each person forced into slavery has a unique story—a story of struggles, hopes and dreams. Let us listen now to the story of one survivor of human trafficking.
Reader 1: St. Josephine Bakhita was born in southern Sudan in 1869. As a young girl, she was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Sold and resold in the markets of El Obeid and Karthoum, she was treated brutally by her captors. She did not remember the name she was given by her parents. Bakhita, which means “fortunate one,” was the name given to her by her kidnappers.
Reader 2: In 1883, she was bought by an Italian diplomat who sent her to Italy to work as a maid for the daughter of a family friend studying with the Canossian Daughters of Charity. It was there that Bakhita came to know about God whom “she had experienced in her heart without knowing” who God was. In 1890, she was baptized and received the name Josephine.
Reader 1: Later, the Italian family came to take their “property” back to Africa. Josephine expressed her desire to stay. When the family insisted she go, she remained firm, later writing: “I am sure the Lord gave me strength at that moment.” With the support of the superior of the Canossian Sisters and the Cardinal of Venice, she won her freedom and later entered the novitiate. For the next 50 years she lived a life of prayer and service as a Canossian Sister before her death in 1947.
Reader 2: St. Josephine was canonized in 2000, and there is currently a grassroots movement to designate her as the patron saint for human trafficking victims. “In St. Josephine Bakhita we find a shining advocate of genuine emancipation. The history of her life inspires not passive acceptance but the firm resolve to work effectively to free girls and women from oppression and violence, and to return them to their dignity in the full exercise of their rights.” ~Pope John Paul II, homily at her canonization
Quiet Reflection/Sharing
Response Prayer: In the weeks before her death, St. Josephine Bakhita re‐lived the terrible days of her captivity. More than once, she cried out: “Please, loosen the chains … they are heavy!” We ask for the intercession of St. Josephine as we pray …
For the estimated 27 million women, men and children currently held in slavery‐like conditions.
R. Loosen the chains … they are heavy!
For young girls and women exploited and objectified in the commercial sex industry. R.
For those forced to become soldiers, especially children who are made into tools for violence.
R.
For those in bonded labor in agricultural fields, mines and factories. R.
For conversion of heart for the perpetrators and organizers of human trafficking. R
For governments, corporations, and consumers, that we will address the systems that make human trafficking possible. R.
For the success of efforts to stop the demand for human trafficking. R.
Closing Prayer: God of hope and freedom, inspire us in our work to loosen the chains of human trafficking in our world. Strengthen us so that like St. Josephine Bakhita, we may stand firm in our resolve to create a slave‐free world. Amen
One of my roles in my ministry at the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center is as a community educator on the issue of human trafficking. Another of my roles is as editor of our quarterly justice journal. This quarter those two roles merged, as I helped to create our latest edition of our journal focused on human trafficking. You can download a PDF on our website.
If you don't know much about human trafficking, this is a great resource to dig deeper and begin to understand the root causes and opportunities for action. The back page also has a prayer, part of it is adapted and included below. Please join me in praying for an end to human trafficking:
Human Trafficking: Prayer for Conversion of Heart
Leader: Human trafficking can be an overwhelming reality, but we must not forget that our God is bigger.
Reader: “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36)
Leader: Let us pray that God will convert the hearts of all human traffickers.
For those who have become so hardened that human suffering no longer tugs on their hearts. R. “Give them hearts of flesh.”
For those so long consumed with greed that they no longer recognize the inherent value of the human person. R
For those so caught up in seeking pleasure that they buy sex or exploit other human beings. R
Leader: Let us pray for all of us who participate in systems that continue the demand for human trafficking.
That we will change our consumer choices and habits to promote fairly traded products. R. “Give us hearts of flesh.”
That we will demand corporate responsibility and slave-free products and services. R
That we will challenge others when they use language that demeans or objectifies women and girls. R
Loving God, we ask for conversion of heart for all human traffickers, and for courage to recognize and respond to our own role in society’s demand for human trafficking. We pray this in solidarity with all victims of human trafficking. Amen.
I'll admit that I haven't yet done this week's reading for my Theology in an Ecumenical Context class (which is Monday so reading must happen tomorrow!).
But tonight, I had an amazing experience of the Church united ... the first Seattle Freedom Prayer Gathering. People from a variety of Christian Churches--mostly evangelical and nondenominational, but also Catholics and mainline protestants--gathering to pray for and end to human trafficking.
It was powerful to experience so many different expressions of prayer and relationships to our creator God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I was on the program to pray for conversion of heart for human traffickers. I followed a former US Congresswoman and two amazing charismatic woman preachers ... a hard act to follow. But it wasn't about me, it was about God's dream of freedom and liberation for all God's children. And the Spirit was very present.
There's the old joke that Catholics tend to sit in the back pew. For the most part, at least in our American culture, we're not particularly expressive pray-ers. It was so interesting to be with people praying out loud, shouting Amen or Yes God, arms stretched out to their Father God. Not my usual church experience. But even though it was a stretching experience, it was also definitely a God experience. We also had moments of quiet prayer and more liturgical prayer which I'm more inclined to. A great mix and experience of what the church united might be like.
In my Ecumenical Theology class, one thing that I've picked up on is that the movement is founded on the belief that we are one church. We are unified in Christ, and I felt that tonight. Our different flavors if you will don't need to divide us, but can be an opportunity for strength. Unity in diversity.
The movement to end human trafficking is such a bridge building opportunity, bringing together people of all faiths and political beliefs, united by the belief that we are all created in the image and likeness of God, have inherent dignity, and are meant to be free. Even if I haven't done my homework for my ecumenical theology class, tonight we were doing theology ecumenically. And God I think was very pleased.
We all know St. Patrick as the patron Saint of Ireland—the legendary missionary who drove the snakes from the emerald isle. But Patrick was also a slave, kidnapped and sold into slavery at the age of 16. For four years, he worked as a slave, tending his master’s sheep. In modern terms, Patrick was a victim of human trafficking. Patrick is said to have sought comfort and strength through prayer during his captivity. Prayer brought him closer to God, helped him to escape, and led him to dedicate himself to Jesus and the missionary life.
We ask St. Patrick, survivor of human trafficking, to join us as we pray:
For the estimated 27 million women, men and children currently held in slavery-like conditions … Response: Saint Patrick pray for us
For young girls and women exploited on the streets … R For child laborers, child soldiers and children exploited in pornography … R For those in bonded labor—in agricultural fields, mines and factories … R For conversion of heart for the perpetrators and organizers of human trafficking … R For government policies and corporate responsibility that will address the systems that make human trafficking possible … R For the success of efforts to stop the demand for human trafficking … R
God of hope, awaken our hearts and guide our actions as we work for a world where every person is able to live their lives in freedom. Amen.
Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. If you don't know much about human trafficking--modern day slavery--I recommend watching this short video from Free the Slaves.
If you'd like to learn more or see how you might take action against human trafficking, visit the human trafficking resources page at the Intercommuniy Peace & Justice Center (where I minister)
Please join me in prayer this day:
God of all peoples, awaken our hearts and deepen our commitment to work for a world where every person is free and able to live their lives fully and joyfully. We ask for conversion of heart for traffickers and for strong laws that protect victims. Help us to grow in our awareness that we are all connected. Give us wisdom, inspiration, and courage to stand in solidarity, so that together we will find ways to the freedom that is your gift to all your people. Amen
If you answered yes to the first and no to the second (which I hope you did) I have a fun summer justice activity you can share with your family and friends ... making s'mores with fair trade (and therefore slave free) chocolate).
The folks at Global Exchange are hoping they can get people to make 1,500 Fair Trade S'Mores by Labor Day. The purpose of this gooey chocolatey project is to call on Hershey (the folks whose chocolate is found in your average s'more) and other US Chocolate companies to start buying fair trade cocoa.
I've written before about child labor and slavery on the cocoa plantations in West Africa, the source of 70% of the world's cocoa. It's a very real thing - in fact, Interpol just rescued more than 50 children from cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast just last week. Chances are, some of the chocolate you've eaten was made by child slaves. Which in retrospect, most likely makes it not taste so good.
So, if you like s'mores and if you like justice, why not make some Fair Trade s'mores before Labor Day? Be sure to visit the Global Exchange website to register your s'mores making and print out a petition to send to Hersheys.
Who said social justice work couldn't be fun and tasty?
