More than Just Statistics

Taken from David Platt's Secret Church entitled "Family, Marriage, Sex, and the Gospel" from Nov 2011:


40 million prostitutes at work in the world today
1 in 10 men have purchased a prostitute
1 in 4 Chinese men have purchased a prostitute
27 million adults have been trafficked, mostly for sex
30 million children over the last 30 years have been trafficked for sex
46 million abortions occur per year in the world

In order to protect ourselves, we tend to turn these numbers into statistics.

But they are NOT statistics.

They are PEOPLE.

Children.

With families. Without families.

Manipulated. Broken. Ripped apart in deeper and greater ways than we could ever begin to fathom.

What are we doing about it? What are we going to do about it?

God has been breaking my heart more and more for these people-- for prostitutes and their children who grow up in brothels. To think of the horrors that those women face and that those kids witness as well as face themselves sickens me. It makes me want to take them in my arms and let them cry on my shoulder. It makes me want to show them what real love is. What hope is. What freedom feels like. I want them to know there is light, that they can escape the darkness they live in and feel trapped in. That Love and Hope and Freedom and Light is Christ. We must take Christ to these people.

What will it take to take Christ to them?

I don't know. But I know they need the gospel just as much as the rest of us.

Am I willing to go?

The answer is yes. It was yes when I said, "Yes," to Christ's calling, "Follow Me," so many years ago.

I know I don't have all the answers. I don't have any, actually. And I can't pretend to even scratch the surface of knowing how to effectively love and relate to and pour into these women and children for the sake of the gospel, but God, I'm yours. I desire to be your clay vessel. Mold me and shape me how you want, and take me where you want to use me. Keep making my heart beat like yours does. In far greater ways than it does now. Rescue these women and children. Meet them where each of them are at, even tonight. Let them feel your presence in overwhelming ways. Draw them into your arms. Bring them to repentance and faith in you. Lift them out of the pit. Transfer them from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of your beloved Son. Have mercy on them. Bring justice to each situation and each life. Convict the pimps and the purchasers of these precious lives. Show them their sin and their need for you as well. Shatter the trafficking and prostitution industries. Remove them from the face of the earth. Jesus, you are the Healer, and I ask you to heal these women and children for the sake of your name and for your glory, that they may be counted among the worshippers around your throne for all eternity. In your powerful name, AMEN-- SO BE IT!