PDF BY MICHAEL J. METTS
More than 12.5 million children in India labor in hazardous occupations. (Photo courtesy of ICCM.)
On Feb. 26, more than 6,000 churches around the world are expected to participate in Freedom Sunday, an annual event sponsored by Not For Sale that seeks to involve churches in stopping modern slavery.
Bishop Matthew Thomas wants Free Methodist churches to become more aware of human trafficking and other forms of slavery.
“We need to be involved in dealing with human trafficking issues because it is loving our fellow man deeply,” Thomas said.
Thomas hopes the awareness raised will compel churches to become more prayerful and more engaged in efforts to stop slavery. As of this writing, 450 Free Methodist churches in the United States have registered to participate. Check here to see if your church will participate; if not, you can register at freedomsunday.org/participate.
A Vision for Churches
Kevin Austin is a former Free Methodist missionary to Thailand who transitioned to U.S. missions and now serves as the director Not For Sale‘s abolitionist faith community. Austin is also a staff pastor at LifePoint Church in Everett and Lake Stevens, Wash.
Not For Sale seeks to end modern-day slavery and to create new livelihoods for affected people.
“You can’t just end [slavery], then say to the former slaves, ‘Good luck, have fun, get a job,’” Austin said. “We need to create a new future for them so that they can move into wholeness and completeness.”
Austin and Not For Sale co-founder/President David Batstone started Freedom Sunday three years ago to involve churches in fighting slavery.
“Freedom Sunday is a catalytic event where you’ve got five or six thousand churches in 100 countries praying, worshiping, preaching and proclaiming,” said Austin, who hopes the observance will result in churches taking action to stop human trafficking in their own communities.
“People are under-aware of what’s going on in our society and how prevalent this issue is,” Austin said. “It permeates every aspect of our society.”
ICCM Stands for Children
Nearly 40,000 children in India are abducted annually. (Photo courtesy of ICCM.)
International Child Care Ministries (ICCM) is working to provide a practical way for Free Methodists to prevent enslavement through its Stand For Children initiative.
The effort focuses on India, where 12.6 million children labor in hazardous jobs, according to census data. Nearly 40,000 children are abducted every year, many of whom end up in hard labor or even sexual trafficking; 11,000 are never found again.
“A big part of what it means to love kids is that when we become aware of horrible things that are happening to kids, we have to do something,” said Linda Adams, the director of ICCM.
ICCM operates 11 hostels in India that provide residential care for 1,200 children. Donations to Stand For Children will help ICCM work with the hostels to raise awareness of trafficking, teach children their rights, empower children and adults to speak up, provide intervention resources and build an abolitionist mindset among Free Methodist churches in India.
Adams is glad churches around the world are becoming more aware of modern slavery through events like Freedom Sunday.
“The beautiful thing with a connected system like the Free Methodist Church is that we have brothers and sisters who are there who are already full of God’s passionate heart of protection for children,” she said. “All we need to do is help get the resources into their hands, and they can be on the front line of defense for kids.”
Linda Adams on Kingdom Purposes
Making an Impact
Sponsoring a child through ICCM is one of the most effective ways to prevent slavery in India. Currently all of the Indian children on the ICCM website are considered at risk and will receive care in hostels.
Additionally, the Freedom Sunday offering taken in Free Methodist churches on Feb. 26 will be used to support ICCM’s Stand For Children program, abolitionist missionaries within the Free Methodist Church – USA, Not For Sale and Free Methodist World Missions projects targeting slavery.
Resources
Learn how FM abolitionist missionary Ginger Coakley is working to fight slavery.
Read the November issue of Light & Life Magazine, which focused on slavery.
Watch a video about the history of the Free Methodist Church’s opposition to slavery.
I stand up and cheer for the FMC’s efforts to fight against and abolish slavery. We know that Jesus came to fight, and ultimately to die for the abolition of spiritual slavery. I believe that God’s heart is wounded by the plight of the oppressed and exploited.
So given our denominational passion to fight slavery, I’m struggling to understand why the FMC says little if anything about the horror of abortion. Shouldn’t we be rising up in outrage and fighting to defend the most helpless, voiceless victims of the ultimate exploitation? Jan 22 was the 39th anniversary of the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, a national day of recognition of the value of every human life. As far as I can tell, our denomination was silent, and did not even acknowledge this observance. We observed this day in our church, only because I asked to make a presentation.
Am I missing something? Is this issue maybe too political? Are we afraid to speak out? Why aren’t we talking about this year’s election in terms of this issue? Is any other issue more important? The Economy? Jobs? Come on, Christians! Can someone enlighten me? What is the policy of the FMC re abortion?
Hi Brian,
Thank you for your comment. You may want to consider submitting a question to our bishops for the April 11, 2012 Virtual Town Hall Meeting. Here’s what the FM Book of Discipline has to say about abortion in Paragraph 3222B:
The intentional abortion of a person’s life, from conception on, must be judged to be a violation of God’s command, “You shall not commit murder,” except when extreme circumstances require the termination of a pregnancy to save the life of the pregnant woman.
Induced abortion is the intentional destruction of a person after conception and before delivery by surgical or other means. Therefore, induced abortion is morally unjustifiable except when the act has been decided upon by responsible and competent persons, including Christian professional counsel, for the purpose of saving the life of a pregnant woman. Abortion, when it serves the ends of population or birth control, personal preference or convenience, and social or economic security, must be considered as selfish and malicious.
The decision to terminate a pregnancy involves religious and moral values, as well as medical and legal realities. Christian morality demands that we consider both the biblical commandment and the human situation in which the law must be applied. As Christians, we believe that human life, whether in vitro, mature or senile, is sacred because life exists in relation to God. Compassionate alternatives and long-term care should be offered to women considering abortion. We counsel physicians and parents to understand that the moral commandment and the law of love are transgressed when human life is destroyed for selfish or malicious ends.