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February 5th, 2012
02:00 AM ET
The new Christian abolition movementBy Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor Greensboro, North Carolina (CNN) —The truck-stop hooker is no Julia Roberts, the trucker in the cab with her no Richard Gere, and this truck stop off the highway could not be any farther from Beverly Hills, the staging ground for “Pretty Woman.” The woman sports baggy shorts, a white T-shirt and frizzy hair. Her fat middle-aged pimp sits in a beat up red Honda, watching as his “lot lizard” moves from truck to truck, in broad daylight. If this pimp has a cane it is for substance, not style. She moves through the parking lot, occasionally opening a cab’s passenger-side door and climbing in. The trucker and hooker disappear in the back for 10 minutes. Danielle Mitchell watches from the other end of the parking lot and shakes her head. “We know from talking to other victims and other agencies that girls are taken to truck stops and they’re actually traded,” she says, sitting in her car, a shiny silver sport utility vehicle, keeping a healthy 50-yard distance from the pimp. CNN's Belief Blog – all the faith angles to the day's top stories Mitchell is North Carolina human trafficking manager for World Relief. World Relief is a Christian nonprofit attached to the National Association of Evangelicals and is best known for its efforts to combat global hunger and respond to disasters around the world. Mitchell is trying to tackle a disaster in her home state. And she is not alone. Motivated in large part by their religious traditions of protecting the vulnerable and serving “the least of these,” as Jesus instructed his followers to do in the Gospel of Matthew, World Relief and other Christian agencies like the Salvation Army are stepping up efforts and working with law enforcement to stem the flow of human trafficking, which includes sex trafficking and labor trafficking. “Jesus didn’t just go around telling people about himself. He also healed the blind and healed the brokenhearted, he freed captives, and I think that it would be ridiculous to walk up to someone who is hurting and tell them, ‘Let me tell you about the Gospel,’ and then walk away while they’re still hurting,” Mitchell says. In North Carolina, the result of those efforts can be seen in the number of victims of human trafficking being referred to World Relief for services, up 700% in 2011, Mitchell says. “It’s not that North Carolina is all of a sudden trafficking more people,” Mitchell says. “It’s that we know what to look for and we’re actually identifying and rescuing them.” Truck stops and sweet potatoes North Carolina’s rich soil makes it an agricultural hub. It produces more sweet potatoes than anywhere else in the country. The state acts as a crossroads for three major interstate highways. The mix of accessibility and low-paying farm jobs make a good working environment for traffickers, Mitchell says. This truck stop is the type you think twice about. It’s grimy and run down. How badly do I really have to use the bathroom? I bet I could hold out for another 12 miles. That kind of place. Mitchell walks in and politely asks the women behind the register if they have tape. “Over there, honey,” the cashier says, pointing to a dimly lit portion of the store. After paying for a roll of industrial packing tape, she tucks it in her purse and heads for the restroom. In a stall on the far end, she shuts the door behind her and pulls out the tape and a poster with words in English and Spanish. “Need help?” the poster asks. “Are you being forced to do something you don’t want to do?” There’s a toll free number, 888-373-7888, for the National Human Trafficking Hotline, run by the nonprofit Polaris Project. More on the fight against modern-day slavery at the CNN Freedom Project “A lot of times when girls are being trafficked they’re being controlled,” Mitchell says. “They’re often not allowed to get very far from their trafficker. And we’ve found one of the very few times girls are alone is when they’re in the bathroom.” She used to ask if she could hang posters in truck stop restrooms. Now she just hangs them. That toll free hot line number is plastered on combs, lip balms and nail files that Mitchell and other anti-trafficking workers can slip discreetly to men and women they suspect might be victims. Slipping a potential client an anti-trafficking business card could be dangerous, even deadly, they say.  A comb, nail file and lip balm feature the number for the National Human Trafficking Hotline. But it’s not the only way Mitchell gets in touch with victims. Law enforcement is reaching out to her more and more. When North Carolina law enforcement breaks up a trafficking ring, they call her. She helps the victims get safe places to live, food and job training, along with just being a conversation partner. Since 2010, North Carolina has had a statewide coalition to fight human trafficking. Law enforcement officers are now trained in what to look for. The program includes rapid response teams made up of representatives from law enforcement, service providers, hospitals and charities. When a potential victim comes into a hospital or is discovered through an arrest, the team springs into action. “Victims are not going to self-identify,” says Mitchell, who has since left World Relief and is considering going back to school after a lack of funding threatened to cut her hours to part time. “ They’re not going to say ‘I’m a victim of human trafficking.’ So the burden is really on the service providers and law enforcement and the community." In North Carolina, the partnerships between those groups, she says, “have helped to rescue victims.” Church and state in an unlikely coalition Christian groups working to combat trafficking are providing law enforcement with some much-needed relief. “Because of the limitations of our work, we like to partner with organizations that can provide services,” says Kory Williford, a victim specialist with the FBI based in North Carolina. “Human trafficking isn’t the only victim population we work with, so to have organizations who can provide care to our victims on a longer term basis than we are able to is huge,” she says. “A lot of sex trafficking is occurring in this state” and labor trafficking is on the upswing, Williford says. The FBI in North Carolina has been partnering with World Relief for several years. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anand P. Ramaswamy, who focuses on human trafficking cases across the state from the federal prosecutors office in Greensboro, says he has been collaborating with local law enforcement on human trafficking. “Those kind of cases have only recently been on the uptick,” he says. “As officers become more trained in what to look for, the number of cases goes up.” The nation and the state are still working to catch up with the reality of trafficking, he says. “Sometimes the victim was treated as part of the problem,” he says. “In one instance a 16-year-old girl was charged with prostitution by local authorities. So we have to go and sort of undo that. That’s also the case where the person may have done something wrong, so they’re reluctant to come forward.” Ramaswamy is keenly aware that his office and religious groups do not always have the same interests. His is in upholding and enforcing the law, while religious groups are interested in practicing their religion. But the assistant U.S. attorney still believes in the partnership between church and state. “On one hand the fact they’re a religious organization is not directly relevant,” he says. “However, if you look at the history of the abolitionist movement, it has always been religious communities and those are the people who are concerned enough to be active in it. “And today with modern-day slavery the same is the case.” The new Underground Railroad Westover Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, is imagining what fighting modern-day slavery could look like. The nondenominational suburban church is cut from an evangelical cloth and has 5,000 members and a sprawling campus. In 2011, the church started a ministry called “Abolition!” to fight human trafficking. It focuses on prayer, awareness and resources. “In truth we didn’t know what we were going to do. We just knew we had a really strong passion for it,” says Dianne Stone, an "Abolition!" member. “We didn’t want to be a group that got together and said, ‘Oh we feel so bad for this.’ We wanted to do something and we wanted to make a difference.” In a bright room off the sanctuary, Stone, Cambre Weller and Jennifer Craver, all members the group, explain why they got involved. They seem unlikely fighters against trafficking. They could easily pass for a women’s Bible study group as they casually chat about their children and church activities before turning their attention to trafficking concerns in their area. “It’s another thing to realize this is in your backyard and that’s our responsibility to address that and protect those who are being exploited,” Craver says. What's the role of faith in fighting slavery? Craver says the things they have learned about trafficking are horrible and keep her up at night. “I don’t want to know about trafficking, but I do know about it and as a Christian, I feel like I have to respond to that,” she says. “That is part of my calling.” The group screens documentaries about human trafficking at other churches and sends out speakers to the Christian circuit. They also prepare emergency bags: canvas totes with a comb, brush, journal, pajamas, clean towels and other basics they learned that most trafficked women don’t have. They keep a ready stash of bags for World Relief to distribute to victims, particularly those who are rescued during raids. Mitchell says her faith has played a large role in her work to help victims of trafficking. “I don’t think I’m any different than anyone I work with, in vulnerability or dignity,” she says. “And man, I really believe that Christ saw everyone equally.”  Danielle Mitchell views her faith as integral to her work in fighting human trafficking. “I could have been born in a brothel in India,” she says. But there is a limit to how much personal faith she shares with clients. “We’re completely client centered,” she says. “That means we’re not going to force our faith on anyone. And I don’t talk to the clients about what I believe, unless they ask me.” “If a client asks me and they want to go to a Buddhist temple, then I’m going to take them because that’s what they want.” Prostituted not prostitute Back at the truck stop, Mitchell explains that she hates the term “prostitute” and despises the phrase “lot lizard.” She says it strips people of their dignity. Instead, she refers to a “woman or man who is being prostituted.” It is a slight change in wording that reveals a starkly different viewpoint. The prostitute, or woman being prostituted, or potential human trafficking victim, gets back into the beat up red Honda with the overweight pimp, who drives off, maybe after catching a glimpse of a journalist and activist watching them from a safe distance. Mitchell calls the police to report what she just saw. A few hours later, they call back and say the alleged pimp and alleged prostitute are long gone.
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  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Wow, this is bizarre... The anti-religionists yap on day and night about how Christianity has supposedly never done anything good for the world, but have a story about something good that Christians are currently doing, and they just keep yelling louder about how evil religion is. For a group of people who claims to value reason so highly, that seems pretty illogical.
Seriously, you can't end your hateful diatribes long enough to support the end of human trafficking?
Religion IS spiritual trafficking, you fool.
I do however agree that is less hazardous for the health than human trafficking, and leads to better longevity.
Oh, we're sorry... Did you fall under the assumption that would end human trafficking...? hehe THAT seems pretty illogical.
You claim religion is spiritual trafficking, but spend so much time and effort trying to convert people to your own religion: atheism, secular humanism, the worship of science and materialism. You must be pretty angry with God to hate Him so much.
Do you seriously believe these people would be trying to rescue those victims of human trafficking if they didn't regard it as a golden opportunity to talk to those victims about their religion?! Do you really believe they're going to help those women and NOT tell them about their religion?! They're doing this primarily for their religion so they can get a few more "trophies" on their wall.
NJBob – Of course they're doing to talk about their religion. What's wrong with that? You do it all the time too. You have something you think will improve others' lives in some way, you tell them about it, whether it's a new iPad, the great restaurant you went to, or religion. But as for trophies on their wall, no, I don't believe that's their primary motivation. When an atheist helps someone, do you say "Oh, they're just doing the right thing", or do you say "They're really terrible people, they just do that to make others think they're great."?
Matthew 7:6 is so fitting these days.
Njbob. You take every opportunity on these threads to talk about athiesm and spread your word. Talk about being a hypocrite.. Jeesh
Apparently if she had been able to heal 50 people of cancer she would be accused of using her faith to eliminate Obamacare.
@TrueReality: Like I tell anyone on any blog dealing with someone too stupid to actually see what's in front of their face: When in doubt, report abuse. When they argue, report abuse. When they dig in and are prepared to hold out on stupidity, h-a-c-k their computer and fry their hard drive 😀
I wish her the best. The only problem is that if she's at all successful, the traffickers will see that she "disappears".
When one embarks on a conversion journey, there is always the chance that THEY will be converted.
I have converted my share of Jehovah's witness to agnosticism myself.
Rambo, you aren't agnostic. You can't convert someone to it. Agnosticism is when you don't care one way or another. If you "converted" someone then you cared enough to preach to them about actual beliefs. Therefore you belong to the religion of atheism.
The agnostics aren't commenting because they really couldn't care less or just aren't sure about anything religious in nature.
It's so sad how people bash religion in the comments of this story, which demonstrates something great that a religious group is doing. If you don't believe what they believe, that's fine, I don't either, but respect the fact that they are doing something good for the world.
Completely agreed. And I'm sure they do not invite these girls to their church either.
Part #2
Then the impression was gone. The music was back and the bodies continued to dance. My head spun, as I washed down my guilt with another bitter gulp.
but I knew one thing. Nothing was going to tie me to the rules of my parents, not anymore. I was done of being different, being confined. And frankly, I liked this feeling of freedom.
St. Augustine said, “It is not reason that turns the young man from God; it is the flesh. Skepticism but provides him with excuses for the new life he is leading.”
Excuses? Yep. I made almost every excuse in the book, even toying with agnosticism. The main reason for my emotional hostility toward religion lurked at the door of my childhood home, churches and schools.
I was aware of the sorrow I was causing my parents, but deep down, I wanted them to know this was their fault. Indeed, I had grown up in a home of theological conservative parents and even though I felt lucky not being tethered to parents who took lifestyle habits to the extreme, I saw them as hypocritical.
BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH
Bo,
You need to put this stuff in quotes and reference the web site that you took it from. It is not your story.
First of all, I kind of want to know the music that skips in the trailer and is pleyad in the movie. Second, this movie is based on a previous experience Bertino had along with the Manson murders, and \\\ inspired by true events\\\ can mean literally anything that happened (you going out to get cigarettes to someone terrorizing others), put together to make a movie. Anyone ever hear that Hoyt, the main character, is also the sheriff in Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Strange how fake this seems this movie did do a good job of scaring me at moments and leaving that binding image of the guy\\\'s mask in my head in the dark, but other than that, there was no plot, and this is like all other horror movies the people die, they make stupid moves, they end their own lives based on their dumb actions. Congrats to Bertino though on scaring the audience with solid effects.
Part #3
Yes, in the area of religion, my perceptions led me to disrespect my parents. I also disliked the cliquish people in my small-town church, and I boiled when anyone even seemed to imply I was going to hell if I didn’t follow the rules. I questioned church doctrines, but instead of going to the scripture for answers, I made up my own.
Thankfully my parents’s prayers never stopped on my behalf, even though I wasn’t worthy of their daily intercessions. Perhaps they heard, as St. Augustine’s mother did, “It’s not possible that the [daughter] of such tears should be lost.
Fast forward four years to my spiritual re-beginning. When I asked, God picked up the fragments of my life and tenderly held them in His hand for repair. He nudged me back into the arms of my family, and with much weeping, as the prodigal, my troubles fell on compassionate ears.
Love how the atheists are hijacking the comments to preach their religion to the masses. Atheism is a religion, otherwise you wouldn't be on here trying convert everyone to your way of thinking so vehemently.
If religion needs to die, that includes atheism. Agnosticism is the only non-religion and no one on here is agnostic because they obviously have an opinion about religion and the existence or non-existence of a higher power.
Wow... You really broke us down there, except for the part about us trying to convert people... That is rich!!
Have you considered the possibility that some agnostics want to do good by freeing their brothers and sisters from emotional slavery and self-diminishing delusions?
Oh, and you happen to be wrong about Atheism being a religion... Doesn't matter how much you spew and sputter you cant change a fact... Then again you guys don't really waste time with all those pesky things like logic, and reason etc.
Don't quite understand what you're talking about do you?! LOL
Please do the minimum amount of research before making fear based comments.
Atheism is NOT a religion. Just the opposite. It's the absence of one. And just because some of us try to combat the pernicious effects of religious mythology doesn't mean we're proselytizing. It's just that we find your religion puerile, silly, and harmful.
Atheism IS a religion. The absence of religion is when you don't care about the subject matter it pertains too. Atheists have strong beliefs that there is no higher power and therefore try to disprove its existence. It can also take the form of trying to disprove other religions by fighting against it's beliefs in favor of their own.
Atheists are that which they purport to be against. They fight to change the minds of others to align with their own. Why else would they come to a public forum and be so aggressive against ideas outside their own? They are preaching to the masses trying to covert them away from other religions to their own.
Tired of .. I know you "choose" not to understand but.. Atheists do not need to disprove anything, there is nothing to disprove. I suggest you are an Atheist from the point of a believer in Thor or Ra or countless other Gods. Not believing is NOT a belief if you should so choose to attempt to understand .. but that wouldn't make you feel better about your choice to believe.
Poor choice of words on my part then. Atheists try to prove the logical existence of the universe apart from a higher power, and not disprove it.
I firmly believe in science, evolution, and the big bang. But we can't prove what came before the big bang. Does that mean that there is nothing to disprove as well and we should just end our search for knowledge and understanding and the point of the big bang? That seems pretty unscientific and illogical to me. We always strive to learn more and expand our knowledge base.
To simply say there is nothing disprove implies a sudden disinterest in gaining further knowledge into that area. No one can prove the existence of a higher power at this point, just as no one can prove the absence of one. At some point you have to conduct a scientific experiment to learn the answer. And to start you need a hypothesis, an educated guess you choose on faith to start investigating. I chose the existence of God as my hypothesis, you obviously chose the non-existence of God. No one has come up with any conclusive proof yet so we press on and the debate continues.
Just don't act like you don't need a scientific experiment with a starting hypothesis, because that would be illogical and rely purely on faith.
Part #4
Lamentations 3:31-33 says, “For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.”
Praise the Lord for hard times! There is no better opportunity to find Jesus or draw closer to Him. than when we are allowed to be miserable on the wrong path.
Blinders are slowly lifted from my spiritual vision, and I began to seeing the answer to the Holy Sprit’s question years before - “What are you doing here?”
Cut it out... You aren't going to convert anyone here with your propaganda, okay?
Uh huh, Bo. So your god is a mean, vindictive ass-hole. Got it. Keep your silly religious delusions to yourself. Quietly, please.
Ask the questions. Break the chains. Be free of religion in 2012.
http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/
Prior posts by Nii Croffie contain repeated instances of both ad hominem and circu-mstantial ad hominem fallacies.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/
I love to take it up the ass.
Prior posts by Nii Croffie contain repeated instances of bothad hominem and circu-mstantial ad hominem fallacies.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/fallacy/
If only followers could do good for the sake of doing good .. but then again they wouldn't be "followers" they'd be Atheists!
Prayer changes things
Prayer is the gateway to heaven
Prayer is conversation with God
Prayer elevates all mankind
Prayer changes things
Prayer is a lot of BS.
Prayer is a joke...
Prayer is talking to the air...
Prayer is a convenient way to do nothing, while claiming you did...
Prayer is a pacifier for those who can't handle problems like adults...
Prayer is a LIE.
All prayer? Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, ancient Greek? Were all their prayers as effective as any to YHWH? My opinion, probably, because it's all just psychological and it matters not which gods you pray to you're still just talking things through in your own mind.
Yet again, we pray you will stop pasting this same comment on every page of every blog but it never stops, proving that prayer does not work. As always, thanks for that confirmation.
Bob and magoo. You guys are really showing your ignorance. You are aware that the scientific community has done research and shown prayer does indeed have an impact on bilogical matter. Theyre not sure exactly what "prayer" is, but see that whatvever it is, its real. I know you hate religion but dont compromise science just to push your agenda down our throats.
encouragement to prayer is not prayer itself proving JT doesn' t read before he posts.
"Fueled by her faith..."
As opposed by being fueled by an innate sense of compassion and human decency, in the hopes of helping someone else? Here we are again with another christian grand-stander getting some "look at my faith in action" coverage. BS... You want to save people's lives? Go get in the trenches.
You are one angry person. What happened to you?
And your work in the trenches is?????? Exactly.
Part #6
My pastor said, “If you ever doubted His love for you, take time to look at the cross.” That’s exactly what I had to do. I searched for spiritual truths at the cross and found Jesus. Finally.
I have found the law is love. The law is Jesus. I had separated the letter of the law from the spirit of the law, and in doing so, destroyed it’s power to a saving influence on my life. The 10 commandments were made for me, to keep me socially and spiritually safe and happy. and in connection with my Creator.
True, I will be judged by the law, but when I love Jesus, appearing before His judgment seat to give an account of every deed will be a joyful experience. I will be a law-keeper not because I was forced or badgered. I will be a law-keeper because it came joyfully from my heart full of thanks to the Law-giver who loved me when I cried for help.
A pristine example of self-delusion.
How nice! So they save these poor woman from the human traffickers and deliver them right into the hands of religious proselytizers!! An audience doesn't get any more captive than that, does it?!! The human traffickers abuse the women physically and the proselytizers abuse them mentally! How about just helping these women because IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO!!!! Anyone ever thought of that?
Um.. They do.. Whats your point?
Religion is a business, and it will pray everywhere it can. Justice only goes after what pays or pushes a political agenda.
Oh and BTW, law enforcement and politicians ARE big consumers of that commerce.
@Toby - Can't you read?
@ NJBob – She specifically says she doesn't preach gospel to them. She is helping them because they're hurting, which I interpret as helping them because they need it, ie its the right thing to do.
Perhaps you don't believe her, but thats what it says in the article. There are GOOD people in the world and some of them even happen to be Christians.
neither NJBob nor Rambo actually has a functioning brain cell nor do they have basic reading comprehension. Makes me think they're n-i-g-g-e-r-s or something.
Yes. They DO help them because its the right thing to do. Again, whats your point?
Loved this. Everyone needs to read the debut novel A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison. Novel on human trafficking. Powerful!
Brave people – they're not just talking the talk. They're walking the walk.
Why would we even look at some countries have fixed this problem? Because WE're the best country in the world and have nothing to learn from other countries. BTW, some of them practically eliminated secks slavery, controlled the spread of related diseases and got more tax revenue by legalizing secks commerce. Unless, unless.. this is no about pushing a religious agenda, right? right?
There is no way, one underfunded activist is going to change this. I doubt her working area radius is more than 50 miles, o r aware of more than one in a hundred cases..
When is the US "christian" population going to realize that you need tax-payer dollars applied nationally to pay for properly staffed full-time detection and enforcement for crimes against humanity and unavoidable poverty. It's just like having hydrants and fire departments. You need them everywhere and fully paid for, to catch biurning houses in time. Just dumping the problem on a few "charities" to save 99 cents on the tax-payer dollars is a wicked cop-out and never works or helps.
Wow. Hard to believe you can put a negative spin on this lady's attempts to help others.
You're absoultely correct. "There is no way, one underfunded activist is going to change this. I doubt her working area radius is more than 50 miles, or aware of more than one in a hundred cases." Seems like you are a wee bit bitter towards Christians. No but seriously, who cares about the money and all that other crap, sure, they DO need it, but as long as they're saving lives, I personally find it childish to condemn/criticize them. Like she stated at the end of the video, as long as there is ONE person out there, everything is worthwhile.
Abolishing human trafficking has nothing to do with any religion .. it is the will of the person working to stop a bad thing that makes this happen. If someone needs threat of punishment or promise of reward as motivation, so be it. Whatever the reason is a successful result is a positive one.
Don't you understand that religion uses these problems to push its own agenda? That's what religion, politicians and patriotism do: exposing problems and proposing something disguised as a solution.
Rambo. Take off the tinfoil hat. These people are trying to help. Stop trying to find a way to be right all the time.
Priests F kids in the A. End of discussion. Religion is the biggest farce, and bunch of toddler talk known to mankind. Only a child would say, "It's MINE! It's ALL MINE!" – Yeah kid, the, ENTIRE universe.. was created.. for your stupid A. What a total bunch of Moronns.
spot on!
Not the end, by any means. Considering that not all pedophiles are priests by a long shot, your comment makes about as much sense as saying that no father, scout leader, coach, pastor, or teacher can be trusted with their, or anyone else's kids.
Spoken like a true 12 year old.. You should try to get the religion of the "dictionary" sometime. It might bless you with some brains.
The Bible never says the universe was made for people. It was made by God, for God, and through God. And when priests sin, they do so in direct violation of Jesus' teachings. That's on them, not Jesus, so to write Jesus off for it is tragic and dangerous.
my dad F'd me in the A. End of discussion. Family is the biggest farce. I'm such a loser, I should off myself.