Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001470A
01:30 >>John Bradshaw: This It Is Written program
01:32 focuses on the subject of human trafficking and therefore could 01:36 be considered unsuitable for children. 01:40 ♪[Theme music]♪ 01:50 ♪[Theme music]♪ 01:59 ♪[Music]♪ 02:08 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. 02:11 Thanks for joining me. 02:13 You wonder how it can happen. 02:15 I mean, we're a long way into the 21st century now, 02:18 and yet the problem is as bad, in fact, 02:20 the problem is worse now than it's ever been before. 02:27 CNN reported that a Pakistani man worked seven days a week 02:31 in a cell-phone store in Hong Kong. 02:34 He slept on the floor of the store 02:36 and was regularly beaten by his employer. 02:39 He was sent home to Pakistan 02:41 without having been paid one cent. 02:44 When he complained about his treatment, 02:47 associates of his employer 02:49 threatened the lives of him and his family. 02:53 CNN also told the story of two Bangladeshi men 02:56 who paid six thousand dollars each 02:58 to secure work at a hotel in Scotland. 03:01 They were told they would earn $22,500 a year. 03:04 When they got there, 03:06 they found that had been changed to $125 a week, $6,500 a year. 03:12 And then they didn't even get that much. 03:16 When they complained about the treatment they were receiving, 03:19 they were told by their employer, “I am sponsoring you. 03:22 If you complain, I will withdraw my sponsorship, 03:26 you'll be here illegally, and you'll be arrested.” 03:31 And then there's the 14-year-old middle-schooler 03:33 who was picked on by her classmates. 03:37 An older girl befriended her 03:39 before introducing her to a man in his thirties. 03:42 That man treated her wonderfully, 03:46 before asking her for favors. 03:50 Before long, she was servicing forty men a day. 03:57 Forty. 03:59 She found herself trapped in a web 04:01 she simply didn't know how to get out of. 04:03 And when she talked about leaving, 04:06 a gun appeared and her life was threatened. 04:10 ♪[Music]♪ 04:20 ♪[Music]♪ 04:25 Human trafficking is the second most lucrative crime 04:28 in the world, after drug trafficking. 04:31 And 22 percent of all human trafficking victims 04:33 are forced into prostitution. 04:36 Based on the numbers we have, that would mean that right now 04:39 there are more than four and a half million women and girls 04:43 who have been forced into prostitution, 04:46 against their will. 04:48 And they're not all somewhere else. 04:51 Some of them are near you. 04:54 Human trafficking is a massive global problem. 04:56 A problem that's hidden in plain view. 05:00 And even if you can't see it from where you are, 05:01 the problem is real. 05:04 It's very real. 05:06 Girls as young as 12 or younger. 05:09 Mothers who are forced to leave their families 05:11 to find “work” far from home. 05:13 Men forced to toil as laborers without pay 05:18 and without any hope of escaping their difficult existence. 05:22 Trafficking sees people pressed into forced labor, 05:26 child labor, domestic servitude, bonded labor, 05:30 where people are forced to work to pay off debt, 05:33 even the debts of ancestors in some cases, 05:36 sex trafficking, or child sex trafficking. 05:40 The United States State Department website says this: 05:43 “Modern slavery, trafficking in persons, and human trafficking 05:50 have been used as umbrella terms for the act of recruiting, 05:54 harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person 05:58 for compelled labor or commercial sex acts 06:02 through the use of force, fraud, or coercion.” 06:06 It's estimated that one in 100 Moldovans is trafficked. 06:11 If this was the United States, 06:14 that would be the equivalent of 32 million people. 06:18 That's an enormous amount of people 06:20 from this little country who have been 06:22 forced against their will into lives of slavery. 06:26 >>Irina Arap: So imagine a 35-year-old woman with two kids, 06:32 abused by her husband, 06:33 with no prospectives for very good job opportunities, 06:38 is receiving a very good offer from a neighbor 06:42 to go abroad to earn some money for a living. 06:46 So these are the main push factors that help 06:51 the traffickers to make the citizens fall into their traps. 06:56 >>John: And the poverty and the lack of opportunities means 06:59 Moldova has become a fertile breeding ground 07:02 for human trafficking. 07:04 >>Lidia Gorceag: Yes. There are victims that are very aware 07:08 that they will be exploited. 07:10 They go back and forth again and again, 07:14 not because they want to be exploited, 07:17 but because they see no way out of their situation. 07:22 >>Irina: So it's about poverty and vulnerability. 07:25 Social factors also determine the citizens 07:29 to accept the offers of the strangers sometimes. 07:34 It's the same as, let's take the case of so-called woman. 07:40 She has no house. 07:44 She has, for example, divorced from her husband; 07:47 she has two kids. 07:49 Sometimes it could be, one of them could be a disabled child, 07:53 so she does not see any future better opportunities 07:59 for her in Moldova. 08:02 So it means that she has no perspectives here in Moldova. 08:06 So then she is to accept this job abroad. 08:12 >>Lidia: Two sisters, 18 and 23 years old, 08:15 came from a boarding school. 08:19 They have no external support. 08:20 No parents, no siblings, no house, 08:25 nothing to their name except a child that the older one had. 08:33 Through the internet, they met a man from Albania 08:37 who offered them a job. 08:38 Knowing that they had no money, 08:42 he paid for them to fly to Albania. 08:48 So they took her six-month-old baby and left, 08:51 knowing that it was potentially dangerous. 08:54 When they arrived, the trafficker took the baby 08:57 to stay with his parents away from the girl, 09:01 and the girls were taken to Switzerland 09:04 and Germany to become prostitutes. 09:09 >>Irina: Recruitment measures used by traffickers have uh, 09:15 have uh changed a bit. 09:16 They have become, let's say kinder or mild. 09:23 But this is also not very good for us, 09:26 the professional in this field, because sometimes 09:29 it may bring to a lower level of identification 09:32 of victims themselves. 09:34 I will talk in examples. 09:35 We had a victim of human trafficking 09:38 for sexual exploitation in Spain. 09:42 Of course, she was in this house 09:46 where the exploitation was taking place. 09:50 But she had, she had a cell phone 09:53 and in the building there was also Wi-Fi. 09:57 So, uh, she was given some money, but very little money, 10:02 just to buy cigarettes, and she had the possibility to, 10:07 to go to the shop, just two minutes from the building. 10:12 But at the same time she does not know the language, 10:16 and her cell phone has not a valid uh, Spanish number. 10:22 >>Lidia: My colleagues and I sometimes feel guilty 10:25 because we cannot help enough. 10:30 Once the victims leave our center, where can they go? 10:34 We feel like we have not done enough 10:38 because there simply aren't enough long-term resources. 10:41 >>Irina: Up to 15 percent of the victims who have been identified 10:47 and assisted within our program get to be retrafficked 10:52 in several years or so. 10:54 >>John: I'll be back with more in just a moment. 10:57 ♪[Music]♪ 11:06 >>John: You want to experience personal peace in your life, 11:09 oneness with God, victory in the place of defeat. 11:13 But how can you have that? 11:14 Today's free offer will tell you how. 11:17 I want you to receive “The War is Over.” 11:20 To receive “The War is Over” free, 11:22 contact us at 800-253-3000 11:25 800-253-3000 11:28 Visit us online at itiswritten.com, 11:31 or write to the address on your screen. 11:33 “The War is Over.” 11:34 Free for you today. 11:37 This It Is Written program focuses on the subject 11:40 of human trafficking and therefore could be considered 11:43 unsuitable for children. 11:47 ♪[Music]♪ 11:55 >>John: This is It Is Written. Thanks for joining me. 11:57 There are 21 million people in the world right now 12:02 who are the victims of human trafficking. 12:04 That's almost the population of Australia. 12:08 Of that amount, 68 percent are exploited for labor, 12:12 10 percent are in state-imposed forced labor, 12:17 and 22 percent are being sexually exploited. 12:21 I'm in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. 12:24 Moldova is a landlocked country 12:26 located between Romania and Ukraine. 12:29 For more than 50 years Moldova was a part of the Soviet Union. 12:34 Over the centuries, it's been the scene of invasions 12:37 and revolutions, not uncommon for Europe. 12:41 It's estimated that 1 in 100 Moldovans is trafficked. 12:46 If this was the United States, 12:49 that would be the equivalent of 32 million people. 12:53 That's an enormous amount of people from this little country 12:57 who are being forced against their will 12:59 into lives of slavery. 13:02 Remember what the State Department says: 13:05 “...through the use of force, fraud or coercion.” 13:09 Many of them forced to work in the sex industry. 13:13 >>Irina: She would get the money from the recruiter to, 13:17 to have her passport done, most of the time they do not have, 13:20 they do not hold their passports. 13:23 Then she might get some money to travel. 13:26 It can be by bus, by train, or by plane, 13:29 recently it's not a problem; it's affordable. 13:32 But this is also something that they are 13:36 afterwards constrained with, 13:37 because you have a debt to me so you must work for this to, 13:44 to give me back the money. 13:47 Sometimes, the exploitation occurs immediately, 13:50 or sometimes she could be given some time 13:54 to adapt to the situation. 13:56 She will be in an apartment with other 10 ladies or so, 14:02 if we talk about sexual exploitation. 14:05 And then she will get, you know, this physical abuse sometimes, 14:09 or psychological abuse, and the exploitation can, can go on, 14:17 I mean, start immediately. 14:21 For example, the last case I dealt with, 14:24 I think in middle February, was about nine Moldavan citizens 14:32 who were exploited for labor in the Russian Federation. 14:35 They were hiding in their rooms just to, 14:38 only one of them had a cell phone. 14:40 But they somehow managed to threaten the trafficker 14:45 that they would call the police. 14:47 Nevertheless, one woman was, um, also exploited. 14:54 And because she tried to escape, she was kept in the outside 14:59 for two hours with almost no clothes on her, at minus 20. 15:05 So this was a sort of punishment. 15:07 But, nevertheless, they managed to escape. 15:09 They retrieved their passports. 15:11 So they were repatriated to Moldova. 15:15 But in regards to the criminal investigation, 15:18 I cannot tell the stage of it. 15:26 >>John: Human trafficking is simply a response 15:28 to a demand that exists. 15:30 Because prostitution is treated so blithely 15:33 by so many in society today you know, boys will be boys, 15:37 it's a victimless crime, it's the world's oldest profession, 15:42 makes it possible for trafficking to flourish. 15:44 It can operate in the shadows of an evil profession which itself 15:48 thrives in every major city in the United States and, 15:52 it's fair to say, in every major city throughout the world. 15:55 And because from a distance one prostitute looks pretty much 15:58 like another, you can't tell whether that woman 16:01 standing on the street corner is pursuing a career choice 16:05 or is being trafficked against her will. 16:08 It was reported that in Columbus, Ohio, 16:11 of the 1,000 prostitutes put behind bars every year, 16:15 92% are being trafficked. 16:18 That's almost every single one. 16:21 So what does this have to do with the Bible? 16:23 Everything. 16:26 Jesus said in John 8:36, 16:28 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, 16:30 you shall be free indeed.” 16:33 Now, consider this: 16:34 With 21 million people being trafficked 16:36 in the world right now, 16:37 between 600,000 and 800,000 people are 16:41 trafficked across international borders every year. 16:44 Eighty percent are female, and half are children. 16:48 With between 14,500 and 17,500 being trafficked 16:53 into the United States every year, 16:55 that's 50 a day, every day, do you think it's only atheists 17:00 doing the trafficking, or the using? 17:03 You see, God's desire is that people are free. 17:07 And yet there's another form of slavery 17:10 that affects even more people than human trafficking. 17:14 I'll tell you more in just a moment. 17:16 ♪[Music]♪ 17:28 >>John: The flight attendant noticed her. 17:29 She appeared to be 14 maybe 15 years of age 17:33 and she looked out of place. 17:35 She was disheveled, her hair was greasy, 17:39 she looked uncomfortable. 17:41 And she was seated next to a man 17:42 who was considerably older and very well dressed. 17:47 So the flight attendant alerted the pilot, 17:49 the pilot alerted authorities on the ground, 17:52 and when the flight from Seattle landed in San Francisco, 17:56 law enforcement officials were waiting to intercept the man, 18:00 and to release the girl and return her to a much better life 18:05 than the life moments before, she was facing. 18:09 Human trafficking happens, 18:11 and more than likely it happens near you. 18:14 If you've traveled through airports 18:16 you may have noticed signs up in airports warning 18:18 about human trafficking. 18:20 It really does take place. 18:22 It might be taking place at the mall in your neighborhood 18:25 as young people are groomed by unscrupulous men 18:28 who would turn them over to a life of misery and shame. 18:33 I'd like to encourage you if you suspect that you are witnessing 18:36 human trafficking taking place, 18:39 you go online to www.ice.gov/tips 18:46 and share the information that you have. 18:48 Something can be done. 18:51 Also be sure to pray. 18:53 Pray about what you are seeing 18:54 or pray for this awful phenomenon in general. 18:58 Also you might want to know 19:00 its best not to approach the supposed victims or perpetrators 19:05 of human trafficking. 19:06 If you are a human trafficking victim, speak out, seek help. 19:12 Cautiously contact law enforcement officials 19:15 and know that there people that will help you. 19:20 >>Announcer: In Matthew 4:4, the Word of God says, 19:23 “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bead alone, 19:26 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” 19:30 “Every Word” is a one-minute, Bible-based 19:32 daily devotional presented by Pastor John Bradshaw, 19:35 and designed especially for busy people like you. 19:38 Look for Every Word on selected networks, 19:41 or watch it online every day on our website, 19:43 ItIsWritten.com 19:45 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 19:48 Watch “Every Word.” 19:49 You'll be glad you did. 19:51 Here's a sample. 19:54 ♪[Theme music]♪ 20:00 >>John Bradshaw: If you're old enough, 20:00 you'll remember it like it was yesterday. 20:02 In 1987, an 18-month-old little girl 20:05 somehow fell down a narrow well shaft 20:07 in her aunt's backyard in Midland, Texas. 20:09 She was stuck 22 feet under the ground for two and a half days, 20:12 and the nation and much of the rest of the world 20:14 watched around-the-clock coverage 20:16 of the rescue of Baby Jessica. 20:18 Of course, all these years later Jessica doesn't remember 20:20 what happened back then, 20:21 but every time she looks in the mirror today, 20:24 she sees a scar on her forehead, 20:26 a reminder that someone saved her 20:28 when she couldn't save herself. 20:31 I Corinthians 15:4 says, “Christ died for our sins.” 20:35 You weren't there at the time, 20:37 but whenever you open a Bible 20:39 you'll be reminded of what God did for you. 20:42 It's something that you never want to forget. 20:46 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written. 20:48 Let's live today by every word. 20:51 ♪[Music]♪ 20:55 This It Is Written program focuses on the subject of 20:58 human trafficking and therefore could be considered 21:01 unsuitable for children. 21:05 ♪[Music]♪ 21:17 >>John: Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written, 21:20 in the Republic of Moldova. 21:24 It's a country with a turbulent history littered 21:26 with conquests and invasions. 21:28 In the 1940s and ‘50s, 250,000 Moldovans 21:32 were sent to labor camps in Siberia. 21:36 During World War II, thousands of Jews perished here. 21:41 But the crime against humanity that plagues 21:43 Moldova today is the same as that which plagues 21:46 societies all over the world. 21:50 Human trafficking right now flourishes in the United States. 21:54 And what that means is, you can buy a human being, 21:59 usually a woman or a girl, 22:01 for the purpose of sexual exploitation. 22:04 And you can own her 22:06 just like you would own a pair of shoes or a dog. 22:12 Except very few dogs were ever treated as badly 22:16 as a woman who is trafficked. 22:17 There's a growing awareness in Moldova and around the world 22:21 of the problem of human trafficking, 22:24 with more light being shown on the subject, 22:26 and more and more people willing to lend their support 22:28 to the fight against it. 22:30 There's one thing, and only one thing, 22:33 that will actually fix the problem. 22:36 You can't blame the women and the girls involved. 22:39 No female chooses to be trafficked. 22:42 If you locked them all up, 22:44 all you'd be doing would be punishing the victims. 22:47 And if you locked them up, 22:48 there'd be a fresh batch of victims back out on the streets 22:51 to take their place in no time at all. 22:55 The reason human trafficking exists is economics. 22:59 It's a case of supply and demand. 23:01 If unscrupulous businessmen wouldn't exploit workers, 23:05 you wouldn't have forced labor. 23:07 And if men wouldn't pay money to exploit trafficked women, 23:11 the problem would just go away. 23:14 But the challenge is, there's a market for this. 23:17 The problem is, there are sick men who will pay money for sex, 23:22 and in many cases knowing full well that the victim involved 23:25 is trafficked, or illegal. 23:28 And who are these sick men? 23:30 You might be thinking it's the creepy guy 23:32 who lives down the street from you. 23:34 Ask the experts, and they'll tell you. 23:37 These are schoolteachers and policemen 23:40 and doctors and you-name-it. 23:44 Everyday people. 23:46 Most likely someone you know. 23:49 The problem is hidden in plain view. 23:53 Changing laws might certainly help. 23:55 But laws get broken every day. 23:58 We could take some time to talk about the climate in society 24:02 which fuels this sort of demand. 24:05 The objectification of women, 24:07 and the sexually hyper-charged society 24:10 in which we live that creates demand 24:13 and then presents this as, as some sort of option. 24:16 Ultimately, this is a problem of the human heart. 24:21 You see, there's another kind of slavery. 24:24 Let the Apostle Paul explain in Romans 6:16. 24:28 “Do you not know that to whom you present 24:30 yourselves slaves to obey, 24:32 you are that one's slaves whom you obey, 24:36 whether of sin leading to death, 24:38 or of obedience leading to righteousness?” 24:42 Thankfully, there's a way out. 24:44 Verses 17 and 18: 24:46 “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, 24:50 yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine 24:53 to which you were delivered. 24:55 And having been set free from sin, 24:58 you became slaves of righteousness.” 25:01 Now, notice: The Bible says that those who are the slaves of sin 25:05 the King James uses the word “servants” 25:08 those who are slaves of sin are slaves of the one they 25:13 have chosen to serve. 25:15 See, ultimately, sin is a choice. 25:20 It might not always feel like that. 25:22 It might feel that it's less of a choice 25:24 if you've become accustomed to living a life of sin, 25:27 and more a matter of being on autopilot. 25:30 But the Bible is clear. 25:32 You can choose to be either the slave of sin 25:36 or the slave of righteousness. 25:39 Romans 6, verse 20. 25:40 “For when you were slaves of sin, 25:43 you were free in regard to righteousness.” 25:45 And verse 22. “But now having been set free from sin, 25:50 and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, 25:55 and the end, everlasting life.” 25:58 So a person who is the slave of sin 26:01 can become instead the slave of righteousness. 26:05 The servant of righteousness. 26:07 A person can learn to love doing right as much as he or she 26:11 ever loved committing sin. 26:14 In 1 Corinthians, chapter 6, Paul speaks to a group of people 26:17 who were adulterers and fornicators and idolators 26:20 and thieves and drunkards and so forth 26:23 and he says this to them in verse 11, 26:26 “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, 26:30 but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified 26:33 in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 26:37 That's what God can do for you. 26:40 If you let Him. 26:42 And so it's right to hope and pray and work 26:45 that those who are caught in the grip of human trafficking 26:47 find liberation, freedom, find hope in their lives. 26:52 And if you're caught in spiritual slavery, 26:56 you can find that same hope and liberation and freedom 27:01 through Jesus Christ. 27:02 Because “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” 27:09 ♪[Music]♪ 27:18 You want to experience personal peace in your life, 27:20 oneness with God, victory in the place of defeat. 27:24 But how can you have that? 27:26 Today's free offer will tell you how. 27:28 I want you to receive 27:30 “The War is Over.” 27:31 To receive “The War is Over” free, 27:34 contact us at 800-253-3000 27:36 800-253-3000 27:40 Visit us online at itiswritten.com 27:42 or write to the address on your screen. 27:44 “The War is Over.” 27:45 Free for you today. 27:47 Thank you for remembering that It Is Written 27:50 is a faith-based ministry, 27:52 and it's your support that makes it possible for us to 27:54 share God's good news with the entire world. 27:58 Your tax-deductible gift can be sent 28:00 to the address on your screen, or through our website, 28:04 itiswritten.com 28:06 Thank you for your continued prayerful support. 28:08 Our toll-free number is 800-253-3000 28:12 800-253-3000 28:14 Our web address is itiswritten.com 28:18 Let me pray for you. 28:20 Our Father in Heaven, 28:22 we are thankful today that there is freedom in Jesus Christ. 28:28 And I want to pray, 28:29 Lord for the so many in this world 28:31 that are caught in the grip of human trafficking. 28:34 There are so many major problems besetting our world today. 28:38 But we know that you are great enough to turn back 28:42 the tide of evil and sin. 28:44 And I pray that you would do so. 28:47 Father, I know there is someone today 28:49 who is reaching out to you. 28:51 They're saying, “I'm stuck in sin. 28:53 I'm a slave to sin and I want to be free.” 28:56 Lord, set that man, that woman, free in Jesus right now. 29:01 And let that day be soon when Jesus returns to this earth 29:05 to take us home to be with you forever, 29:08 in a world where there is no sin. 29:10 We thank you for that hope. 29:11 We hold onto it. 29:13 And we pray in Jesus' name. 29:15 Amen. 29:17 Thanks so much for joining me today. 29:19 I'm looking forward to seeing you again next time. 29:22 Until then, remember: 29:25 It Is Written. 29:26 Man shall not live by bread alone, 29:29 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 29:33 ♪[Theme music]♪ |
Revised 2017-07-06