Not For Sale

I listened to this book in my car, so I wasn't able to take any notes. (Not that I haven't been known to jot down a note or two while driving, but I'm trying to cut back.) This book contains lots and lots of numbers regarding human trafficking. Maybe I've been living in a hole, but I found the statistics surprising and shocking.  I simply had no idea of the extent of human trafficking. The number of children enslaved in factories and the sex trade all over this world is disgusting and heartbreaking.  And by "all over" I mean everywhere, from Asia to the United States.  At times I found myself crying as I drove.  Other times I found myself wanting to strangle a pimp or evil factory owner.  It took me a while to finish listening to this book because I had to take breaks.  It was just that hard to hear.

This book gave me new insight into what the Bible means when it talks about "the world" (Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 5:18-21). We live in an evil age that is under the sway of the evil one.  There is a corrupt, unjust world system under the control of Satan and his forces, and it is more multilayered and multifaceted than we realize.  As John Piper puts it, "This is what we are up against. Not to be aware of it, not to be stunned by it, is to be very vulnerable to it."  As I listened to Not For Sale, it hit me time and again just how evil this world can be.  People trying to free slaves constantly run into layer after layer of corruption and injustice at so many levels of society: corrupt police, mayors, governors and on and on.  Officials at every level have sold themselves for money and power, and the fact that lives are ruined means nothing to them.  This truth gave me greater appreciation for agencies like International Justice Mission, whose work "secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression."  The barriers to justice they face on a daily basis seem insurmountable, but their diligence and faithfulness are truly inspiring.