You are here

Shining God's healing light on the darkness under the glitz

Human Trafficking and Super Bowl 2014

One of the foundational aspects of the missional church is to make regular pilgrimages to unfamiliar places for the purpose of finding out where else God is working. And then to build a mission bridge between God's work in the world and God's work in the church – so that each end of the bridge can be transformed by the other.

Another foundational aspect of the missional church is to search out places of pain and darkness, and then create an opening so that God's light and God's work can bring healing and hope.

That darkness is not always easy to see. The Super Bowl is coming to the Meadowlands in February. Typically, the Super Bowl brings more light and glamor, and captures more attention than any event in our country. All of it will take place within our diocese. Nearly every community will be affected, with packed hotels and restaurants across the diocese. Many will find excitement in all this – and many more will experience the hoopla and traffic as a ten day headache.

And there will also be darkness. Beneath the glitz is a subterranean culture that has accompanied every other Super Bowl: the scourge of sex trafficking. It is estimated that $1 billion in revenue will go into the pockets of those profit from sexual slavery. According to the research done by the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking the sex workers most likely will not be brought in from abroad, but will be domestic young girls and teenagers who have run away from home and have been tricked into a life which steals their freedom.

Most of us won't see this evil. Most of us won't know if it is happening in Hackettstown or Hackensack, or places in between. The darkness of human slavery will be overshadowed by all the glare associated with the Game. We may not see it, but it will be there. And we can shine light on it.

Both the Justice Board and the Engaging the World action team of Diocesan Council will be providing resources to congregations to educate people about this grim reality. We will be partnering with faith groups and others to expose this activity. We have several months to get ready. We won’t be able to stop sex trafficking, but we can create an impact that will continue long after the half-time show and the final score. The witness we make may shut down some of the traffickers. The light we shine may provide an opportunity for some of those in slavery to escape to freedom. And the commitment we make may inspire some more people across the diocese to become spiritual warriors against human trafficking.

And we will have learned more about the world's darkness and how to minister in partnership with God's light.

Comments

Thank you sooo much for highlighting this very important topic. I understand that the NJHT Coalition ( link above) has a drive to collect critically needed personal supplies and emergency clothing, to be distributed by Law Enforcement officers to trafficking victims who have been rescued and taken to safe harbor locations for intervention services. This is a simple and straightforward effort to which most parishes could contribute. Polaris Inc. in Newark is also in need of contributions to their unique center and program for victim services, right here in our own backyard. It is so easy to feel overwhelmed and unable to imagine making a difference in such a difficult problem, but even simple acts, like reporting suspicious behavior of service workers who appear frightened and overly monitored, to the National Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 can mean life or death to a victim.

Bishop Beckwith, I wonder if you could offer a source for the estimate of 1 billion profit for sexual slavery at the Super Bowl. That figure strikes me as mythological. I doubt that much could be spent on all prostitution, let alone sexual slavery, by definition persons forced into prostitution.

Thank you, Bishop, for raising this important issue. Human Trafficking is one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world, earning, according to the UN, over $32 billion dollars annually. In the US, the Department of State estimates that traffickers earn at least $10 billion annually. One trafficker can accrue more than $500,000 a year through sexual exploitation of just three victims. With profits like this, it is no wonder that the Superbowl, one of the largest events in the US, creates a heightened demand for sex trafficking. It is estimated that more than 10,000 trafficking victims were brought in for the 2010 Superbowl in Miami. New Jersey will be no different. Human Trafficking has been identified as "one of the greatest human rights causes of our time". It is for this reason that the Church needs to take a stand against this evil. And, with the Superbowl happening in our backyard, now is the time to take a stand and take action.

Add new comment

Our comment policy requires that you use your real first and last names and provide an email address (your email will not be published). The Communications Office of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark reserves the right not to publish comments that are posted anonymously or that we deem do not foster respectful dialogue.