Empower Them

“Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” – Mark 10.14

Children have rights and as such they have the need to be empowered so that they can express and demonstrate those rights.

Empower [em-pou-er] –verb (used with object):
1. To give power or authority to; authorize, esp. by legal or official means.
2. To enable or permit.

One of the greatest needs we see in children today is their need for empowerment. While it is great to have foreign workers go into a place and do their best to work with the natives to changes lives and get children out of bad situations; unless the children are making these choices for themselves many times they will slip right back into those same patterns of life. It does not matter who the child is or what kind of situation they come from; many of these “at risk” situations do seem to have their perks for the children when they are in the midst of it. For child prostitution they are able to make more money with their lack of skill and education than they ever could otherwise. They can fulfill the pressure that is put upon them by their families to provide. Street children find security in their street buddies; they enjoy the freedom that they have found and safety from the abuse many of them experience at home. Tobias Hecht in talking about the street children of Brazil speaks of “the addictive power of street life itself” which is an important concept to keep in mind when advocating for children no matter what context they are in. Often times the risk situations they find themselves in are difficult to pull out of. They begin to think this is the best that exists for them and they get comfortable because it is familiar to them. Going in and simply telling them what to do, whether it is more beneficial for them or not, without giving them a choice is not the answer.

One of the major problems organizations face is a society that doesn’t believe these children can change; a society that has taken away what little self-esteem they once had. We must seek to give this back to them, to put the power of choice and freedom back into the hands of these boys and girls. They are worth something, they can make a change in their lives; they just need to make the decision to do it. Once that decision is made, organizations can be there for them to walk alongside them in the healing and restoration process.

In the Bible there are more than five hundred references to children, about half of which are literal. Jesus keeps children at the forefront of his mind – knowing that they are weak and vulnerable. In Deuteronomy 1.39 it says, “And as for your little ones, who you thought would become booty, your children, who today do not yet know right from wrong, they shall enter there; to them I will give it, and they shall take possession of it.” God keeps children on his mind being sure that he takes care of their needs even when those around them, who should be taking care of them, don’t. He empowers them with what they need in order to survive and thrive. God also put children in an exalted place among other adults when using them as examples. In Matthew 18.2-4 it says, “He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” The child was empowered and told they had the key to salvation and success in the kingdom of Heaven.

“Children are in need of knowledge. Ignorant of good and evil, among other things, they need to learn” but there is a correct way of going about this. Too often children are talked about or around rather than talked to. Or all too often, even if they are talked to it is in a manipulative way. Dr. Bryant Myers told listeners at a Missiology Lecture at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA, that $20 billion each year is spent on advertisements targeted toward children. This adds up to around 40,000 commercials annually. It is guessed that around $500 million annually of family spending is decided on the basis of children’s influence. They can and do have a good sense about where they have been and where they would like to be or go. It is very life-giving and empowering of a child to consult them and listen to their ideas for rehabilitation. But we must also be a wise and guiding model for them.

This topic becomes especially important when dealing with advocacy for children in difficult situations. There are times when speaking for children and attempting to relieve them of their pain we end up doing more harm when we do not consult them first on what is in their best interest. Hecht reminds us “first you must work on the child, reconstruct the universe that the child lost, you can’t forget that the child has the right to be a child.” Panther-Brick in Abandoned Children lets us know that children “find their own strategies both to provide support and to elicit it from others” Children themselves are the best resource and insight we have into their needs so need to take time to listen to them and the implement what we learn.

Glenn Miles and Josephine-Joy Wright speak of advocacy in their book Celebrating Children. According to them the important things to remember are “learning from other groups that have experience in this area” so you are not shooting in the dark and repeating mistakes that were made before. Another important aspect of advocacy is “being involved in community, national and regional activities to lobby government, police and others for better child protection laws, procedures, and so on.” If you do not get the government on your side it will be a long and hard road ahead. They also say you want to focus time and attention on training persons who will be involved in the advocacy and be intentional about networking with others. And throughout all advocacy work Miles and Wright say it is important to keep a child’s confidentiality in mind.

“Jesus placed special importance on receiving with kindness and hospitality the least important members of society: children.” This seems to be the sense underlying Mark 9.33-37. “Jesus is encountered and helped when the child, who is the least of humans, is encountered and helped.” Jesus uses the example of children saying, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me,” implying that a choice needs to be made. Children are capable, and empowered, to make this decision welcoming God and bringing about the kingdom. The mission of God is in need of children and they are vital to the message and success of Christ and his kingdom.

In order to best utilize children in the mission of God you need to start from a relational foundation. Unless there is a relationship of trust, care, and listening as the foundation of advocacy minimal fruit will ever be seen. These children need a trusted individual in their lives to listen to them, to let them know God weeps with them hating what has been done to them, and to assure them justice will be done on their behalf; if not by government officials then by the Lord.

Call + Response

I went and saw a pretty unique and sweet film last night with some people from my church. About five years ago, musician Justin Dillion stumbled upon the tragic reality of the modern day slave trade. He knew he had to do something. Using his unique gift of music he was able to bring together many gifted voices, passionate about brining an end to slavery. Thus began the project of a film of the “Concert to End Slavery.”

The film has voices such as Cornel West, Madeleine Albright, Daryl Hannah, Julia Ormond, Ashley Judd, Nicholas Kristof, and many other prominent political and cultural figures offer first hand account of this 21st century trade. Performances from Grammy-winning and critically acclaimed artists including Moby, Natasha Bedingfield, Cold War Kids, Matisyahu, Imogen Heap, Talib Kweli, Five For Fighting, Switchfoot, members of Nickel Creek and Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, and Rocco Deluca move this had to swallow and chilling information into an inspirational charge to take up the cause and stop it.

“Music is part of the movement against human slavery. Dr. Cornel West connects the music of the American slave fields to the popular music we listen to today, and offers this connection as a rallying cry for the modern abolitionist movement currently brewing.”

Below is the trailer for the movie. Check it out and then go here to look around the website and see how you can get involved and be sure to catch a screening when it hits theaters in major cities Fall 2008.

Tiny Stars

Tiny Stars is one of the most amazing organizations I think I have every heard of. Jake Collins is such a dreamer and visionary – it has been fun to see what God has done through his dreams and hard work. If you have not heard of this organization before, let me tell you a bit more.
Tiny Stars is a non-government agency dedicated to exposing and stopping commercial sexual exploitation of children by working with federal law enforcement to capture American child predators.
As many of you know, our law enforcement is a busy group of people. Just ask my good friends the Haub’s or my friend Kimberly who live in South Central L.A – they can tell you that even the problems and issues there don’t receive enough attention – the law enforcement is stretched so thin. So trying to get a group of people dedicated solely to following, gathering evidence, and prosecuting child predators both here and overseas is seen as a somewhat ridiculous request. That is where Tiny Stars comes in.
Through Tiny Stars you can financially support the work of a secret agent that will do the footwork of gathering evidence on child predators, which will then be turned over to the FBI for prosecution under the Protection Act of 2003.
I can’t say enough about this organization. There are several options for giving. You can “adopt” an agent as a group or even as an individual. By doing this you will receive updates monthly on the work your agent is doing and the progress that is being made as well as a report once the case is turned over to the FBI. You can also just give individual donations to help support the work agents on the field are doing.
For more information about Tiny Stars go here.

The Day My God Died

Art has a way of expressing things in ways words never could. Andrew Levine Productions presents a riveting depiction of women and children trapped in sexual exploitation. They interview some girls in the Bombay brothels about the day they were abducted, the day their God died. Below is the trailer. I encourage you to find the full length film and watch it, as hard as it is to face this reality.



For more about the film or the issue check out the website here.

Who to Trust

Sometimes it is hard to know who to trust, who can be relied upon. Unfortunately those who seek to take advantage of those who are most vulnerable tend to use any means to do so. It is becoming more and more difficult for women and children around the world to trust those offering them aid in confidence. It is essential to be sure that humanitarian and peacekeeping institutions properly screen those interested in working/serving with them. And, as always, there is the difficulty of overcoming the silence of those who are abused. How do you encourage those who are extremely fearful to report the crimes committed against them?
The following news report was put out by CNN on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008, and deals with some of these issues:
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Humanitarian aid workers and United Nation peacekeepers are sexually abusing small children in several war-ravaged and food-poor countries, a leading European charity has said.

Children as young as 6 have been forced to have sex with aid workers and peacekeepers in return for food and money, Save the Children UK said in a report released Tuesday.

After interviewing hundreds of children, the charity said it found instances of rape, child prostitution, pornography, indecent sexual assault and trafficking of children for sex.

"It is hard to imagine a more grotesque abuse of authority or flagrant violation of children's rights," said Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of Save the Children UK.

In the report, "No One To Turn To" a 15-year-old girl from Haiti told researchers: "My friends and I were walking by the National Palace one evening when we encountered a couple of humanitarian men. The men called us over and showed us their penises. They offered us 100 Haitian gourdes ($2.80) and some chocolate if we would suck them. I said, 'No,' but some of the girls did it and got the money."

Save the Children says that almost as shocking as the abuse itself is the "chronic under-reporting" of the abuses. It believes that thousands more children around the world could be suffering in silence.

According to the charity, children told researchers they were too frightened to report the abuse, fearful that the abuser would come back to hurt them and that they would stop receiving aid from agencies, or even be punished by their family or community.

"People don't report it because they are worried that the agency will stop working here, and we need them," a teenage boy in southern Sudan told Save the Children.

The charity's research was centered on Ivory Coast, southern Sudan and Haiti, but Save the Children said the perpetrators of sexual abuse of children could be found in every type of humanitarian organization at all levels.

Save the Children is calling for a global watchdog to tackle the problem and said it was working with the U.N. to establish local mechanisms that will allow victims to easily report abuse.

In 2003, U.N. Nepalese troops were accused of sexual abuse while serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Six soldiers were jailed.

A year later, two U.N. peacekeepers were repatriated after being accused of abuse in Burundi, and U.N. troops were accused of rape and sexual abuse in Sudan.

Last year, the U.N. launched an investigation into sexual abuse claims in Ivory Coast.

The vast majority of aid workers were not involved in any form of abuse or exploitation but in "life-saving essential humanitarian work," Save the Children's Whitbread said.

But humanitarian and peacekeeping agencies working in emergency situations "must own up to the fact that they are vulnerable to this problem and tackle it head on," she said.

The aid agency said it had fired three workers for breaching its codes and called on others to do the same. The three men were dismissed in the past year for having had sex with girls aged 17, which the charity said is not illegal but is cause for loss of employment.

"Oxfam takes a zero-tolerance approach to sexual misconduct by its aid workers. All our staff across the world are held accountable by a robust code of conduct," said Jane Cocking, Oxfam charity's humanitarian director.

"We support Save the Children's calls for a global watchdog. We will do all we can to stamp out this intolerable abuse."