Biola University Abolitionists

Project Exodus Outing

2010-01-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

This is straight off of Project Exodus' website. Please check it out and spread the word. If you are in the area meet up with this great organization and begin to make a difference.

http://www.project-exodus.org/

Human trafficking is one of the greatest human rights violations of our time and it is happening right here in Los Angeles!

This year, join Project Exodus as we recognize Human Trafficking Awareness Day with an amazing anti-trafficking outreach and prayer walk in MacArthur Park in Downtown Los Angeles!

Project Exodus will be leading teams of volunteers in an effort to raise awareness about human trafficking and receive tips of possible trafficking locations right here in Los Angeles.

The day will start with a brief orientation at 11am and then volunteers will hit the streets and interact with one of the most vulnerable communities in Los Angeles, handing out information about trafficking, praying over the community, and seeking tips about possible trafficking taking place.

This is an amazing opportunity to not only let people know ways that they can report trafficking but also find trafficking right where it is happening!

The event is open to people 18+ and should last two hours so let us know if you are coming! We want to make this event HUGE so please invite your friends. If you want a pdf of the event flyer, just click on the image above or right here: Walk for Freedom Flyer

EVENT DETAILS:

What: Walk For Freedom
When: 16 January 2010 (11am to 1pm)
Where: Home Depot (MacArthur Park)
1675 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Details: We will be meeting in the Home Depot parking lot on the corner of Wilshire and Burlington. For specific details, please see click here: Walk for Freedom Map

For more information about the event, please email at freedom@project-exodus.org

Story from Fox news

2009-11-17T01:42:00.000-08:00

NEWARK, N.J. — A small-time actor and former children's entertainer who was known for playing Santa Claus was sentenced Monday to nearly 20 years in prison for his role in an international sex tourism ring that preyed on young children.

Wayne Nelson Corliss, whose 2008 arrest was the culmination of an international manhunt, had admitted traveling to Thailand three times between 2000 and 2002 to have sex with at least two boys, ages 6 and 9. He pleaded guilty last October to five counts that included distribution and possession of child pornography and traveling to foreign countries to engage in illegal sexual activity.

"You have acted beyond the bounds of human decency," U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Greenaway told Corliss on Monday.

The bearded, white-haired Corliss, who is 61 and acted under the name Casey Wayne, was described by people who knew him as witty and friendly and "the best Santa Claus anyone has ever seen." He worked as an entertainer at corporate parties, art fairs and bar mitzvahs, where his activities sometimes included painting children's faces.

That image clashed with the one presented in court Monday, in which Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Vartan called Corliss "an irredeemable sexual predator" who bragged on the Internet about fondling young boys while dressed as Santa.

Corliss, who had spoken sparingly in a handful of previous court hearings, pleaded with Greenaway for "a fair sentence, not a death sentence."

While acknowledging his crimes, he claimed that Internet chat postings in which he bragged about abusing other boys as young as 4 were the equivalent of playing a role and did not reflect his true personality.

"I'm not that person," he said. "I'm not that monster."

Corliss' trips allegedly were arranged by John Wrenshall, a Canada native who immigrated to Thailand and has been charged in an 18-count federal indictment. Two Alabama men who accompanied Corliss, Mitchell Jackson and Burgess Lee Burgess, have already pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison.

Corliss could have received a maximum prison sentence of more than 27 years under federal sentencing guidelines, but the government requested about 19 1/2 years because Corliss' cooperation aided in the cases against Wrenshall, Jackson and Burgess.

Without that constraint, Greenaway told Corliss Monday, he would "not have hesitated" to give him the full sentence. He characterized the case as the most disturbing he has come across in 25 years in the criminal justice system.

"I cannot think of something more heinous," he said. "These children are going to have to live with this for eternity, when their memory should be of a joyful, carefree time."

Corliss' arrest in May 2008 came two days after Interpol took the rare step of asking for the public's help in identifying a man shown in pornographic images. Hundreds of leads flooded in the first day, and eventually led to Corliss' arrest at his Union City home in northern New Jersey.

Vartan, the prosecutor, said investigators believe more people were involved in the ring and that the investigation was continuing.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,575350,00.html?test=latestnews

Documentaries.

2009-08-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a documentary about Human Trafficking. It is really powerful and does an excellent job in sharing the personal stories of the victims, middle men and those involved in international trafficking in third world countries Human Trafficking:

http://www.joost.com/3128xej/t/Trafficking-demand-and-supply#id=3128xej

Here is another documentary about Human Trafficking, except it is based within the United States, a documentary about Trafficking in Tampa Bay.

http://vimeo.com/groups/highdefinition/videos/5813680

Here is a short five minute film about Human Trafficking of American Children. 300,000 American Children are trafficked around the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ05nDgpNgE&feature=player_embedded

Other Human Trafficking Research Resources

2009-06-20T21:49:00.000-07:00

Two More Additional Resources

The Day my God Died

http://www.hulu.com/watch/69769/global-voices-the-day-my-god-died

This is a PBS documentary about trafficking in Bombay India. It is online for free and it opened my eyes to a new view of this slavery. It was extremely powerful, down to earth and touching.

Trafficking in Persons Report 2009

http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2009/index.htm

Report about national and international slavery released by the US government.

"The ninth annual Trafficking in Persons Report sheds light on the faces of modern-day slavery and on new facets of this global problem. The human trafficking phenomenon affects virtually every country, including the United States. In acknowledging America’s own struggle with modern-day slavery and slavery-related practices, we offer partnership. We call on every government to join us in working to build consensus and leverage resources to eliminate all forms of human trafficking."
--Secretary Clinton, June 16, 2009

Heather

Summer Anti-Slavery Events

2009-06-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

For those in Southern California:

Talent 1 Media is hosting an event on June 13th.

The event is a film festival, hosting a showing of Call and Response and other independent films. During the event there will be break out sessions educating people on how to take action on Slavery.

Click here for more information.
Location:
Japanese American Cultural and Community Center
244 South San Pedro Street
(between 2nd and 3rd Streets)
Los Angeles (Little Tokyo), CA 90012

For those in Northern California:

Promised Land Fellowship
Saturday, June 13th

"The Outpouring" is a network of youth and young adults who are hungry and desperate to encounter God and effect change in their generation. On June 13, The Outpouring will host a day long conference on the churches role to ending human trafficking and slavery, with special guests Justin Dillon (call + response) and David Batstone (Not For Sale Campaign).

In our first session we will worship and pray, then hear Justin Dillon give a challenging message on the ending of slavery in our generation. That will be followed by a viewing of the movie Call + Response.
In our second session, we will spend some more time in worship and prayer around the issue of human trafficking, followed by an empowering message from David Batstone.

We are asking every christian to be a part of this monumental event on June 13th. The church is the answer to the problem of human trafficking.
There is no cost to this event, we just ask that you would come ready to give financially towards empowering these organizations to better be able to make the world aware of the issue of modern day slavery.

For more information click here
Location:
1663 Market St. San Francisco, CA

Heather.

Ways to be an Activist on the Road to Freedom.

2009-06-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

Summer is upon us, and Summer is the perfect opportunity to take action. To live a life of freedom.

3 Simple Ways to Be an Activist during the Summer:

1. Pray.

Research a Country or even a state in the United States and find key ways to pray for that nation/state. A good resource for this is Exodus Cry, a nonprofit Christian network of Intercessors interceding before our LORD against Slavery. http://www.exoduscry.com/ Join it!

If you feel so inclined open a Exodus Cry Chapter (basically an intercessory prayer group) For information about this click here.

2. Research.

Inform yourself about the issue. Read some books. I highly recommend Disposable People by Kevin Bales. Not for Sale by David Batstone is also a really good resource. If you want other books about Human Trafficking here is a list of books about Modern Day Slavery. (Disclaimer: I haven't read all of these)

Also another resource is the Trafficking in Persons report released by the United States Federal Government in 2008. If you want another resource close to home one that I suggest is Human Trafficking in California Final Report released in 2007 by the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking and Slavery Task Force.

Two other good websites are:
Humantrafficking.org
Rescue and Restore

3. Talk about it/Keep your eyes open/Raise Awareness

Talk with your neighbors, your friends, your family about Human Trafficking and signs of it. (for a review of the signs of Human Trafficking click here).

Here are some tools also that might be helpful in spreading the word. Print up these posters, ask the manager put them in the stores that you frequent during break, gas stations, the gym you go to, ect.

Hope your Summers are restful and productive and a time where the Kingdom is forcefully advancing.

Heather.

Sex Trafficking Stories

2009-03-30T22:41:00.000-07:00

Karin’s Story:

SINGAPORE: Karin, a young mother of two, was looking for a job in Sri Lanka when a man befriended her and convinced her that she could land a better job in Singapore as a waitress. He arranged and paid for her travel. A Sri Lankan woman met Karin upon arrival in Singapore, confiscated her passport, and took her to a hotel. The woman made it clear that Karin had to submit to prostitution to pay back the money it cost for her to be flown into Singapore. Karin was taken to an open space for sale in the sex market where she joined women from Indonesia, Thailand, India, and China to be inspected and purchased by men from Pakistan, India, China, Indonesia, and Africa. The men would take the women to nearby hotels and rape them. Karin was forced to have sex with an average of 15 men a day. She developed a serious illness and three months after her arrival was arrested by the Singaporean police during a raid on the brothel. She was deported to Sri Lanka.
Source: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/c16482.htm

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• Pray for Karin’s illness and that through the Lord’s grace he heals her from this sickness.
• Pray that Karin knows she is beautiful and that the Lord loves her.
• Pray that Karin’s memories of the nights spent with various men are removed from her memory so she can move past this injustice.

Anitchka’s Story:

Anitchka managed to escape from a horrific cycle of abuse which involved being beaten and raped up to 25 times a day after she climbed through the window of a Peterborough brothel while another girl was asleep. The 30 year old Czech mother- of-two who was forced into prostitution following her arrival in the UK in August 2006. [She] was persuaded to travel to Britain by a man who promised a lucrative job as a waitress and a better lifestyle.
Anitchka entered the UK via a regional airport at which time she was taken to a Gloucester brothel, where her ID documents were taken away.
She was subjected to beatings and was forced to work as a prostitute, but did not receive any money for this work.
She escaped in 2007.
Source: http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news?articleid=3090109&articlepage=2

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• Pray that victims like Acquilina are rescued from this institution of slavery
• Pray that Czech leaders will become advocates to end sex slavery
• Pray for God to be present in the lives of those involved in cases similar to Acquilina’s

Neary’s Story:

CAMBODIA: Neary grew up in rural Cambodia. Her parents died when she was a child, and, in an effort to give her a better life, her sister married her off when she was 17. Three months later she and her husband went to visit a fishing village. Her husband rented a room in what Neary thought was a guest house. But when she woke the next morning, her husband was gone. The owner of the house told her she had been sold by her husband for $300 and that she was actually in a brothel.

For five years, Neary was raped by five to seven men every day. In addition to brutal physical abuse, Neary was infected with HIV and contracted AIDS. The brothel threw her out when she became sick, and she eventually found her way to a local shelter. She died of HIV/AIDS at the age of 23.
Source: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/c16482.htm

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• Pray for those women who are thrown out on the street with no resources after they become pregnant or contract HIV/AIDS.
• Pray for Neary’s husband that he realizes his sin and asks for forgiveness.
• Pray for others who have been betrayed by their families as Neary was. Pray they are able to recover mentally from their abuse.

FREEDOM WEEK!

2009-03-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

This is the week. We will be having extensive activism and awareness campaign on the campus. Be sure to make it out to all of the events. It is guaranteed shake up your life a little bit.

Check out the facebook event for a schedule of events.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=61005488927&ref=ts

First day advocating in Anaheim

2009-03-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the first day starting our advocacy campaign in Anaheim. I was very happy with how the day went. We were able to put up 4 "look beneath the surface" posters (The posters have a 800 Trafficking hotline number on it and information about what trafficking is). These are the first posters on display on this street. I consider that a 400% increase in trafficking awareness on the street. Definitely a success.

Conversations were not as productive as i was hoping. It was difficult developing significant dialogues into places of business because of customers. So we are going to change up some of the initial vision we have had for the advocacy groups. We still want to post as many signs as we can, but in addition to that we are going to start doing door to door awareness. We're hoping that this will create opportunity for deeper dialogue. Stay posted for more stories from other groups' experience.

Rich

Biola Abolitionists blog up and running

2009-02-24T15:21:00.000-08:00

Hey guys and girls the blog has finally been created. We want to be able to document the happenings of our ministry and hear stories from our Advocacy groups. Add this to the list of blogs you read and feel free to post comments at anytime.

Live outside the box

Rich