By Kelly Carr 

My Bible study small group was studying Micah 6:8 recently. A friend said this verse was her favorite because it encapsulates the values that all Christians should live out.

But sometimes we hear words such as justice and mercy, and they sound like nice church words, but we don’t always fully grasp what they mean or how they apply to our lives. So the ladies in my group got into a conversation about what we think when we hear the word justice.

Problems Too Large?

We agreed that we acted in rather just ways when it came to our everyday interactions with family, neighbors, coworkers, etc. However we didn’t always think about our role in enacting justice outside of our community or outside of our country. Those problems felt too large for us to contribute toward a solution. Each of us felt, I’m just one person. What can I do? 

In recent years, another church member had begun to open our eyes toward the atrocities of human trafficking and how our actions could make a difference. She had traveled overseas and saw firsthand the widespread pain caused by trafficking. But she also witnessed the hope that Christians were taking to suffering people, offering the message of salvation as well as solutions and skills to provide a new life path.

Our group learned that even our everyday purchases can help. We can choose to support companies that have safe labor practices for their workers rather than companies that use labor trafficked individuals to create their products. We can purchase items made by survivors of trafficking so that they can earn a living.

Becoming Aware

The articles in this issue offer other practical steps we can take to have an impact on the devastation of human trafficking. Joyce Long wrote about several organizations that are reaching out far to Cambodia and near to their own community’s strip clubs.

Before we began working on this topic, I honestly had never heard that boys are also sexually trafficked. It never dawned on me that such tragedy occurs. Read more from Brian Jennings about an organization specifically focused on rescuing these boys.

While trafficking used to seem like some remote concerns overseas, Kathleen Bruins opens our eyes to the ways this travesty is happening in our own backyards.

Supporting organizations mentioned this week in The Lookout and the many others that exist is one way that we can be a part of the solution to a global problem.

Though it may seem like an overwhelming issue, one person can make a difference. When each of us decides to take steps toward justice, together our actions will create a movement forward to offer hope for victims around the world.