I wanted to punch a guy...

Last week, Traci and I had the opportunity to take in a Mariner’s game and visit some dear friends while we were on our West Coast tour. We drove up Wednesday (about 4 hours from my family in Salem) and enjoyed a beautiful night, even though the M’s lost, while catching up with Bob and Emily, the first couple to join our youth staff when we worked in Washington. It was a great night.

The next day, we caught up with friends Tal & Joan, and then thanks to a blown appointment (I really felt like April 8th should have been a Thursday...not a Wednesday! Sorry Ritters!) we ended up with a somewhat free afternoon. The sun was shining and it was the first alone time we had experienced in a couple of weeks, so Traci and I took to downtown Seattle on a gloriously sunny day. If you can catch Seattle on warm and sunny day, it truly is one of the great American cities to enjoy.

After hanging around Pike’s Place Market for a couple of hours, we headed back up toward the Space Needle where we would find a pizza shop to eat, and hit the road to catch up with another friend before leaving for Salem. While walking among the crowds who were enjoying the weather like us, we fell in step with a man talking on his cell phone.

I totally started listening to his conversation and saw that Traci was doing the same. After just a few moments, I realized what was happening, and I wanted to intervene. I’m not, nor have I ever been, any kind of fighter or brawler, but something was rising in me that wanted to hurt this man at some level. He was a pimp, and he was preparing one of his girls for her night of work. Here’s what we heard at the end of his call:

“Hey, where are you at?”

[response]

“How much money have you made?”

[response]

“It’s only $150? You’ve gotta do better than that.”

[response]

“So here’s what I want you to do. Go get your son and spend some time with him. I’ll get you a place to rest and I’m going to buy you a coffee...”

[response]

“That’s right, I’m going to buy you a cup of coffee, get you some food, and I want you to rest up before you take more calls for tonight. So just enjoy your son, and then we’ll take more calls tonight.”

Traci is preparing for a trip to Thailand to work with women who are trafficked for sex. As a result she’s been learning a lot about the problem of human trafficking and the reality of its ugly presence in countries like Thailand, and in places like Seattle. The use and abuse of women (and men) for sexual pleasure is vile.

This guy’s call was a textbook call to “his” girl. He was gentle and kind, although very firm ($150 was not enough profit so far) but he was providing her a chance to be with her son, have a place to rest, and even a cup of coffee. In his own sick way, he was taking care of her needs, while coercing her to use her body for his own financial gain and perverse pleasure. The whole thing is sick, yet the cycle is complex and the solutions aren’t simple.

Going to Thailand this summer, my wife will get to experience a rescue work happening in one of the major human trafficking places in the world. This issue is both heart-breaking and sickening, yet there is an army of people rising up to bring true hope and healing around the world, and here in the U.S. I’m sure we both will be sharing more about this topic in the weeks to come.

What ultimately “got me” about the call in Seattle, was the thought that the person on the other line was a woman -- not a thing, not a sex toy, not an item to posses. She isn’t any man’s property, but she is a beautiful person created in the image of God, created to know Him and be known intimately by Him. That she is a prostitute doesn’t change her value as a person (any more than this guy who is pimping her, is somehow less of person). Our actions don’t determine our value to God.

A couple years back I wrote a post about this topic, reminding readers that these women were born as daughters to moms and dads. They were precious little children, perfect in their parents’ eyes, and they entered this world adored. The tragic events and choices that led to their current condition, doesn’t change their true identity. And even if they weren’t loved by an earthly family, they were -- and are -- intimately loved by their Heavenly Father!

No matter where life takes you, or where those you love choose to dwell, the truth of Psalm 139 rings through all of our circumstances and tells us that God loves us deeply, and longs for us to know Him as He knows us:

“I look behind me and you’re there,

    then up ahead and you’re there, too—

    your reassuring presence, coming and going.

This is too much, too wonderful—

    I can’t take it all in! (139:5-6)

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

    you formed me in my mother’s womb.

I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!

    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

    I worship in adoration—what a creation!

You know me inside and out,

    you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared

    before I’d even lived one day. (139:13-16)

Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!

    God, I’ll never comprehend them!

I couldn’t even begin to count them—

    any more than I could count the sand of the sea. (139:17-18) The Message

As my pastor says at the conclusion of every message, “You are dearly loved.” Indeed, you are dearly loved, and I trust today you will know God and His love more, and share it with the world that so desperately needs to hear the message. The woman on the street, her son and even her pimp, need to hear the message of hope that God loves them, He has provided hope and salvation and He answers anyone who calls on His name.

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!

Do something!

There is something cool about how “small” technology has made our world. A few years back I had the privilege of performing a marriage ceremony for a great couple, but prior to their wedding, they lived in different countries and their pre-marital counseling was going to be a challenge. Thanks to technology we could Skype our weekly sessions while one of them lived in Israel, one lived in Pennsylvania and I was living in Oregon at the time. Technology shrunk the distance instantly. This morning I pulled up global information on my morning news feed. I watched a video from the Middle East, saw pictures from a friend in Amsterdam and read an article from a friend in the Ukraine. 15 years ago, that info was not a mouse click away, but today it’s instantaneous. In a moment we can be caught up in the beauty of this world, in the happenings of friends and family and in the special events that connect our lives.

And in the next instant we can be made aware of the broken world in which we live.

The smallness of our world has also brought to light some of the horrors of the global community. Everyday we read of the spread of terror across the globe. Everyday we read about the plight of people living without healthy food or clean drinking water. Everyday we are bombarded with political scandals, partisan half-truths and stories of the tragic loss of life. Every day we can see the best and the worst this world has to offer.

Prior to the explosion of social media, I honestly think ignorance was welcomed by many of us when it came to matters of global crisis. In one sense, it was just harder to get information. Unless you read about African poverty in a magazine or newspaper article, or saw a news special on TV about deplorable drinking water in Central America, the issue just wasn’t front and center. I remember in the early 90s when “We are the World” was a popular song, trying to bring awareness to some global issues that most of us were happily ignorant about!

Today, the access to knowledge about these problems forces a choice on us: We can choose to respond and do something, or we can choose to actively do nothing. But now we know, and pleading ignorance is no longer an option.

* Our friends Andy and Jodie were so moved by the problem of poor drinking water, they organized their church’s annual Christmas gift-drive to help villages dig fresh water wells. Two (or three?) times Andy led trips to the villages where they helped dig the wells and then celebrate with the villagers who had fresh water in their village for the first time, ever!

* My friend Justin was appalled by the human slavery issue, so he set out to learn more. Not only is it problematic in other countries, it’s disgusting reach is present here in the U.S., too. He reached out to civic leaders, has been invited to meetings and is making a difference.

* Two young ladies in Portland, Oregon, got passionate about helping the homeless in their community. What started as a few gift bags for homeless sign-holders on the corner, turned into a global movement called, “H2O: Help to Others.”

* In my home town, Salem, Oregon, a high school student was so moved by a study that revealed that homeless teenagers perform significantly better in school when they have new clothes they’re not embarrassed to wear, so this teenager decided to launch a campaign to raise awareness. They sold shirts that had a simple motto printed on them: “Give a Shirt”. Following the Tom’s shoe model, for every “Give a Shirt” purchased, a free shirt was given to a homeless teen.

The examples could go on and on, but the point is simple: when you know what could be done, and when your heart has been moved to do something, are you willing to get involved? The book of James reminds us that it’s not enough to be aware and simply do nothing. And while we can’t help in all the problem areas we become aware of, we can certainly get involved in one...or two!

My wife had her heart touched by the issue of sex trafficking, and so in June, she will be taking a 10-day trip to Thailand to help the women, young girls and children that are caught up in this perverse slavery. Learn more about her trip here, where you can also offer to support her in prayer and in finances.

Living the Overboard life requires an active response to the movement of God in our lives. Is there an area of your life where you feel compelled by God to act, but you haven’t taken the first step yet? Are you looking at the massive nature of a problem and unsure of where to start? Let me assure you, most issues can’t be solved by one person taking action, but a big dent can be made when many of us link arms and choose to move the same direction. Take the first step (learn more, attend a meeting, send an email, donate time/money to an organization already doing the work, take an exploration trip, contact a local civic leader, etc...) and see where the adventure ends!

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!