The CBE Scroll

I have a dear precious friend who was walking to work one morning in the rural parts of a city somewhere in eastern Europe when along came one of her co-workers in a car with two other men. He saluted her and pulled over the car to ask her if she wanted a ride to work since that’s where they were both heading anyway. Knowing him for several years now and being family friends, she decided to take him up on his offer. Little did she know that that decision would determine her fate for the next two years. After a few minutes of driving she was threatened with a gun and restrained by the men.

She was sold, and had switched hands a few times after being so easily smuggled across borders. Finally she reached her destination and was imprisoned in an apartment with fifteen other women. A few hours after her arrival it was initiation time. This meant she was beaten savagely and ganged raped by four men. She was now a modern-day sex slave, and forced to service between 10 – 20 men a day. Many of whom were NATO soldiers and police men.

Throughout the years the women were bought and sold repeatedly. They were denied basic hygiene and barely feed. They were treated worse than animals, and some were even murdered before her eyes. Many of the sexual acts committed against her were not of natural pleasures. At some points she was even defecated on! She has told me many times she is convinced that most of the clients did not have souls, and were incapable of pity. For they all knew that the women were held  against their will, yet they did nothing to help them. The mockery and jeering from the men was unreal. To them she was only a body worth 20 euros. The women were beaten twice a day even if they were obedient, as a way to reinforce control over them and keep them physically weak. They were retained with guns and were too hungry and weak to fight.

Finally after two years there was a police raid and she was arrested, treated like a criminal, and deported for being in the country illegally. And of course, since she was not a citizen of that country, she had no legal rights to prosecute her captors. The men were released after only a few hours. For kidnapping, for rape, for beatings, for starvation, and for mutilation of her body parts, she had no rights to social justice.

She is now back with her family and looked upon like a disease in her home church because of the disgrace done to her. My heart bleeds for her every day. And I know that her cries for justice reach Heaven.
The Salvation Army is very much involved in stopping the worldwide sex slave industry also. For more information on their work go to:

http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn.nsf/0/8d0b27d09bdfece685256eb5006a94f0/$FILE/TSA%20Anti-Trafficking%20Activities%20Summary.pdf.

An article describing why the Salvation Army has gotten involved in working against sexual slavery can be found at: http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/thompson200601260827.asp
And here are other resources on this subject:

http://www.equalitydepot.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=658

http://www.equalitydepot.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=837

http://www.cbeinternational.org/new/E-Journal/2007/07spring/07springwelch.html

Please pray that God will stop this horrible crime against humanity.

In Genesis we read the description of how things would be between Eve & Adam after they had both disobeyed God’s direct command. No matter what translation we read, the end result is the same – the woman’s desire would be toward her husband and he would rule over her.  The woman would have increased pain in childbirth and the man would have to work hard to make a living from the ground which now had thorns and weeds.

The reality is now that many women do not have to experience pain in childbirth and many men do not have to work the land to make a living. Only a small percentage of believers teach that women should refuse pain relief in childbirth and likewise, only a small percentage of believers teach that men should all work as farmers without any form of weed control. 

But….many believers teach that wives should show desire toward their husbands and that husbands should rule their wives (albeit lovingly) Why the strict adherance to one part of God’s judgment on the sin of Eve & Adam and the ignoring of the other statements ? 

Redemption through Christ’s reconciling work on the cross brings release from the judgment and consequences of the first sin which includes the pronouncements made by God to Adam & Eve after they had disobeyed. So, if there is a continuing to live under the judgment of their sin and our own subsequent sin, surely we are following after our sin nature and not the new life we have been given through Jesus.

Maybe there is something inherent in the sin nature that tends toward hierarchy and gender roles and that is why so many respond to this teaching which strikes a chord deep within the human heart. Praise God our hearts and minds can be transformed to see a new way of living in relationship with each other……..but it can take some time.