Summer plans!

I want you to imagine something for me. I want you to imagine that you’re a mother or father in a remote village of Northern Thailand, barely making enough money to feed your family, when a business man from Bangkok arrives in your village, and tells you that he thinks that your son or daughter would be a perfect fit for his company. But the only thing is, is that he or she would have to move to Bangkok with him. Now, at first you’re very hesitant because this is your son and/or daughter we’re talking about right? But then he tells you about all the money that they’ll make working for him. And once you hear that, well, it’s a no brainer. You let them go with him. The only thing he didn't tell you is that yeah, he might run a business, but that “business” is a bar in the red light district. And your son’s or daughter’s job is to “entertain” the clientele, do whatever they want, to make money for this “businessman”. Sadly, by the time your son or daughter figure what’s going on, it’s too late to get out, and even if they did, you would probably disown them for tarnishing the family name. So they do the only thing they can, they stay. Now put yourself in the shoes of your child. After a few months or maybe a year of staying in this one particular for maybe few months or a year, a different “businessman” comes in and works out a deal with your current employer, and you’re on your way to Amsterdam. Now you've just been trafficked.

Human Trafficking really does begin that easily. And in some cases, the parents send their own children to Bangkok on their own. Human Trafficking is today’s “modern day slavery” with 29.8 million people in slavery today. That’s more than the number slaves when President Lincoln abolished it.

But there IS something we can do about it, and there are people doing things to change this. There are multiple organizations doing their part. To name a couple: International Justice Mission, who actually have people who go into these bars, and such to get the girls, and guys out, and Love146, who also help the girls and guys get out, as well have houses setup for recovery. I myself will be doing something this summer to do just a piece of my part to end this injustice. I will be doing a cross country bike trip to raise awareness for Human Trafficking with an organization called Venture Expeditions. They do different “tours” as they call them, to raise money, and raise awareness for different injustices in the world.

We’ll be starting in Seattle, WA on June 6^th, and ending our ride in NYC on August 1^st. Stopping at various churches and schools and such to talk to them about what we’re doing. If you did not receive a support letter from me, and would like to know a little more, or are interested in perhaps supporting me, please send me a message or email, and I’d be happy to talk to you!

With the wind,

Mark

Email: mvacc.ywam@gmail.com

Cell: 516-582-9065