Moms have a heart for children at Christmastime. It inspires us to fill Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes for Samaritan’s Purse, to give Angel Tree gifts for children with parents in prison, and to stretch our days and our dollars for our own children. Mothers long for kids to feel God’s love through His manger-born Son at Christmastime. But what about the children no one is taking care of? What about the children who have been bought, sold, or traded this year?
Recent reports tell us 29.8 million people around the world are enslaved or exploited. This number includes a large percentage of children, boys and girls, caught up in human trafficking, forced labor, child marriage, inherited slavery, or organ harvesting. Many of them are children no one will look for. Others were sold intentionally by desperate family members who hoped they were doing them a favor or felt forced to find a way to help the children left behind. Anyway you wrap it, it’s hard to understand. 
Does the Jesus of Christmas, the Prince of Peace, say anything about those children? Moms want to know.
The birth of Jesus is really all about setting captives free. When the babe grew up, He said,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,” (Luke 4:18).
Exploitation, trafficking, and slavery isn’t just an international issue. Trafficking in children is an American, domestic issue, too. Most victims are between the ages of 12 and 14, often vulnerable due to risk factors such as broken families, past abuse, low self-esteem, lack of supervision, or hunger. An estimated 100,000 to 300,000 children are at risk for domestic minor sex trafficking in the US. With a demand to satisfy lust in a sex-saturated culture, perpetrators stand ready to provide a supply of young girls and boys: children. Internet sites like Craigslist and Back Page make it easy to advertise and deliver.
We may be tempted to turn aside from ugly issues like trafficking, but this is part of our world. It may be closer than you think. Just after Thanksgiving, a routine traffic stop on the highway of my hometown led to the discovery of 7 captive individuals; the youngest was 11. This happened along the roads Amy Grant sings about in “A Tender Tennessee Christmas.”
God has a lot to say about His heart for setting captives free. January 11 is the US National Day of Prayer Against Trafficking. To help us understand more and know how to pray, we invite you to look up from wrapping gifts and cutting cookies long enough to download a FREE devotional. Released 30 Days to Stand for Freedom will inform and inspire you about the need for freedom today. If you begin this week, it will take you right up to the Day of Prayer, but you can start any time. You’ll see two of our own MOM team included in the 24 writers from around the globe.
You’re like us. Thoughts of exploited children leave you angry and grieved. But you’ve already gotten involved. When you sent that shoebox, it went to a child at risk for trafficking. When you purchased that Angel Tree gift, you helped an inmate’s child have hope and be strong. When you tucked your own kids in bed and told them Christmas is about the Jesus who loves them, you took your child out of the grip of trafficking.
You’re already involved, so would you download this devotional with us? Would you read, learn, and pray?
Peace on earth, good will to men, and may many more children receive the gift of being Released!
Download your copy of Released 30 Days to Stand for Freedom.
By Julie Sanders
(If you have questions about Released, check out Julie’s information page or contact her through Come Have a Peace)
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