“Mr. Speaker, the crime of human trafficking is complex and it is destructive. It shatters the lives of its victims and their loved ones. In an effort to bring attention to this modern-day form of slavery, we recognize January 11, 2014, as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.” — Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick, January 8, 2014
The National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-3737-888
Let’s work together to End Slavery.
Greg Surratt is the founding pastor of Seacoast Church, one of the earliest adopters of the multi-site model. Located in Mt. Pleasant, SC, Seacoast has been recognized by various media as an innovative and influential thought leader in future strategies for church growth and development. Greg is also a founding board member of the Association of Related Churches.
I’ve been watching with great interest the happenings surrounding the Zimmerman trial and verdict.
Here are five important things to remember as we respond:
1. No one won – A 17-year-old is dead, a 29-year-old is sentenced to a life of watching his back, one family grieves, both families are forever changed & our nation is more polarized than it was a year ago. Everybody loses in a situation like this.
2. Only two people really know the truth – You may think you do, but you don’t. Think about what I just said. Some people are spouting off as if they have an inside scoop. They don’t. I don’t. You don’t. None of us do. Only two people know and one of them is dead.
3. Our justice system worked – Six ordinary people devoted several weeks of their lives and came up with a unanimous verdict after hearing all the evidence. Our system is based on presumed innocence, which means the prosecution will always be at the disadvantage. I’m glad they are. Personally, I’d rather see an occasional guilty person walk rather than an innocent one go to prison. I’m not making a judgement on Mr. Zimmerman’s innocence or guilt. I didn’t sit thru a trial and hear all the facts. I’m just saying the system worked, whether I agree or disagree.
4. The Trayvon Martin family were incredibly gracious and respectful in their response. I cannot imagine their disappointment and pain. I could only hope to be as courageous if I was in their shoes.
5. God can bring good out of anything. His promises are true regardless of circumstances. He could use this to draw people to him who are looking for truth, open up conversations on race relationships or do any of a number of things that my mind cannot conceive. I know that he cares and is a loving impartial judge with all knowledge and wisdom. I know that he is at work on solutions before we even recognize that there are problems.
What if we all prayed for His kingdom to come and his will to be done? What if we all acted with humility rather than hubris? What if we saw the world through lenses of “we” rather than “us versus them”?
What if?
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (The Gospel according to Matthew 5:9 TLV)
Source:
Sex trafficking
Houston has the great privilege of hosting the Super Bowl in 2017, but with that comes the great responsibility of combatting the inevitable spike in sex trafficking.
Just as during the Offshore Technology Conference in May, whenever large numbers of people gather, there is an increase in the sex trade. Why? Because there are men who want to buy sex. And because of these men, traffickers will recruit young girls into the sex trade to meet the demand.
Houston will continue to be a sex trafficking hub as long as society tolerates the buying of sex. Sex trafficking and prostitution are intrinsically linked. They are not the same, but they are very much connected.
The average age of entry into the sex trade is between 12 to 14 years old. If you see a 32-year-old woman involved in prostitution, chances are she was lured into the sex trade as a young girl.
Traffickers are seeking girls who have been sexually abused at a young age. Their targets typically have no dependable father figure; they have low self-esteem; they run away from home often and usually come from dysfunctional homes. No gun is needed to force this girl into trafficking; the trafficker can simply ply her with a few cheap trinkets and words of affection. It is important to remember, however, that if a minor is involved, this is a federal crime.
Changing societal attitudes is not a hopeless, uphill battle. We can change. And we have already started.
Continue reading at:
WARNING: The following Press Release from Patricia A. McKnight may contain content that is triggering to survivors of rape and/or various forms of abuse.
— Pastor George
It is with great honor that I am extremely happy to share the latest news and reviews for ‘My Justice’. 
You may be aware this is my own true story of a life lived in hell throughout thirty-two years of extreme violence, sadistic sexual attacks, repeated physical attacks, which were nothing less than attempted murder. The more crucial part of this novel is the emotional, neglectful, and mental conditioning which left me trapped in this life.
Beginning at the age of just five years old, I was viciously molested and probed by my then to be stepfather the night of my mother’s bridal shower while he was watching over as babysitter for me, my brother and two neighbor boys that evening. He took claim to me that night and would hold me as his property, his slave in all aspects of the word, for the next twelve years. His attacks would grow more severe and the entrapment I felt would deepen as the members of the community around me watched and some even took part in the trafficking of a child for the exploitation and satisfaction of this demon in the flesh. At the age of 11 he began exploiting and selling me out for the cost of a couple of draft beers. At the age of 12, when I reached out for my mother’s help, he viciously took my virginity with the barrel of his favorite shotgun; ripping my insides apart that would leave me scarred and torn without ever so much as a phone call to a doctor for medical care as I walked away dripping blood on the floor. My brother and sister were downstairs watching television during the attack, but I was held so silently with the fear of having him pull the trigger with the barrel inside me that I never spoke another word about his brutal evil until I was thirty-seven years old and in the middle of my second nervous breakdown.
My mother completely sacrificed me to this devil without ever saying a word about the bruises, the torture, or the selling and exploitation of her daughter. She walked in and found us in bed naked together with his erection ready to be inserted when I was just nine years old. In her words she repeatedly talked about the time when “she walked in and caught us in bed together”. Using the word “caught” would somehow imply that I had a say in the action and that I was the instigator of his sexual advances. She blamed me, yelled at me, and sent me to my room for the night. It was early on in their marriage that he began walking in and ‘teaching’ me how to bathe and what to wash, with instructions on how to wash the intimate parts of a child’s body. There were many times when I yelled out over the years for her to make him leave the room or to make him stop, but with her disregard of her child she allowed him to do with me as he pleased so that she would not have to be held to the responsibilities of their marriage. For me however, this would be an ongoing experience, much like his nightly visits to my room where he held me captive in silence with his coal black stained hand gripping tightly over my mouth. It was at the age of twelve that I then made a conscious decision to quit bathing completely in order to provide some measure of protection for myself. Sadly, although we had excellent healthcare insurance, the decision to quit bathing led to the filth, stench, and a skin eating infection that would rot my arms and legs away over the next four years; all of which were without seeing a physician for my care or providing so much as a toothbrush to prevent her daughter from completely rotting away. Also, during these years his acts of exploitation and selling, raping, beating her daughter into submission would continue to escalate in their evil nature. I clearly remember that one Friday late night party when the call came in for me to prepare the house for his after work party with another ten adult men and me as their entertainment, when my mother simply looked me straight in the eye and stated “have fun” as she went in her bedroom to watch television and closed the door behind her. I was his and she could have cared less. My existence in her house was simply to be the cook, the housekeeper, babysitter and family caretaker. This is all that she found useful or valuable in the child she had given birth and brought into this world.
The community in which I spent most of my life, Freeburg, Illinois was a small coal mining community where everyone knew each other and their business. I attended the same school system for nine consecutive years; Carl L. Barton Community School and Freeburg Community High School. We lived in the same town and as I grew I would work in two of our local restaurants. My point on this is still one that I have problems with today. The entire community, again all who knew me by sight if not by name, to include the school officials, law enforcement, local business owners where either I or my mother worked, the many adult men who attended the parties at our house or were at the bars where again I was the drunken child and entertainment; all of these and including even some school boys who were in attendance at many of the teen drug and alcohol filled parties, they were all witnesses to and some even took part in the vicious trafficking and exploitation of the child who was brutally and viciously beaten into submission and handed out like a party favor. They watched over the years as my body decayed; my arms and legs covered with deep flesh eating infected sores, my mouth filled with plaque covered black broken fangs from lack of medical or dental care, but NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON EVER SAID A WORD OR QUESTIONED MY WELL BEING.
This is why I share my story, why I published ‘My Justice’, why I give voice to the horrific child maltreatment and the community ignorance which left me believing I deserved nothing better and no one would ever find value in my existence. This is the ignorance that teaches our children that these acts are to be expected or seen as normal in their relationships. This is the continued ignorance that I will battle against trying to educate and build a strong front of vigilance to protect the life and well being of all living creatures, but more specifically our children and their value as our next generation. If we do not become involved with the prevention and help rescue the children who live in this hell today, our society will continue on the escalating downslide of human disregard of decency, respect, concern and mental dysfunction. This abuse and violence within our homes has become our own man-made cancer that we have allowed to silently flourish and destroy all that is good in the creation of mankind. We have stood idly by listening and witnessing repeated child brutality by their parents and caregivers. We’ve allowed them to be bought and sold as property to live a life of hell in sex slavery or tortured labor without ever giving a second thought to their purpose and value as children building the basis for our next generation.
Will you continue to watch and allow this madness to rule our existence or will you decide to become a protector of others and allow the opportunity for them to live in what is deserved, simply to live SAFE IN THEIR HOMES?
Having shared these thoughts with you, allow me to provide you with the latest update in the continued success of ‘My Justice’.
Dr. Brenda Joyce Orozco Markert-Green whose highly skilled reputation as a Family & Marriage Counselor, Owner & CEO at Afterglow Counseling, Mediation & Family Services, Trainer for American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy, Educator and Adjunct Faculty Board Member of La Sierra University, located in Riverside, California is now using this incredible novel as REQUIRED READING for her students in the field of therapy and family counseling. Along with the REQUIRED READING she also presents them with an exam and classroom discussion about the many silent warning signs of abuse and violence in our homes and the wounds it leaves on the victims. She uses this novel to educate her students about the many mental and emotional impacts of these horrific crimes, which they then maintain in their skills and awareness for their future in family and childhood therapy, social services and other arenas of education and support. It is a huge honor to have this story be shared in such a manner to leave a lasting impression on these students. There is no higher gift which can make such a an impact on our society tomorrow and how we handle the many lifelong mental, physical, and emotional wounds inflicted by these heinous crimes which we so easily disregard.
Dr. Brenda Joyce Orozco Markert-Green, there is no way that I can share with you the amazing depth of appreciation for what you are doing and for your support in my voice, my activities, and most importantly ‘My Justice’. I so sincerely hope that one day I have the opportunity to meet you and speak with you so that I can somehow at least share my sincere gratitude. You are using ‘My Justice’ to make a definite impact on how our society will handle these issues for years to come. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Friends please share this and pass it forward in however you are able. It is crucial for all of us to come together as one strong stand in our society and bring an end and hope for rescue in the lives of our children and the positive influence we hope to leave on the next generation.
Respectfully,
Patricia A. McKnight
Author: ‘My Justice’
Advocate/Speaker/Blogger/Talk Radio Prod. & Host/Survivor
Founder: Butterfly Dreams Abuse Recovery & Blog Talk Radio Programming
http://www.butterflydreamsabuserecovery.com
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/butterflydreamsabuserecovery
References:
Dr. Brenda Joyce Orozco Markert-Green
Educator & Adjunct Faculty Member, La Sierra University
Mental Health Expert & Trainer for Family & Marriage Counseling
For more information or to connect with Patricia ‘Trish’ McKnight
please email: trish.mcknight@live.com
“Beth” answers questions about her life as a victim of bullying and her struggles as a survivor.
Please click the link and read this very important Blog entry.
The Life: TV show reveals the brutal cost of sex trafficking of women and minors.
Very few images and videos regarding the topic of sex trafficking are able to stir my emotions. They are often too violent, too overdramatized, too sensationalized, or just too innocent. When I watched, Ballerina, a promotional clip for George Perez’s and Mohammad Maaty’s brainchild television series project, The Life, I was honestly moved…
Pastor George: a view from the chair, collar optional 