They are all being used by ordinary people to join the fight against sex trafficking.

We serve a God who is infinitely greater and more powerful than the evils of human trafficking all over the globe. He specializes in using us–his ordinary, everyday followers–to use the unique tools, gifts, and interests he’s given us as a way to fight injustice and show love to the world around us.

The problem is, most of us read that paragraph and think, “Sure, I”d love to do something to fight against the evils of sex trafficking.” It really does bother us that hundreds of children are being sold for sex every night in our own cities. But how many of us feel like we have the time to add one more thing to our already busy lives?

I think we need to take a look at this question from a different perspective today. Instead of asking, “How can I fit one more thing into my life?,” what if we asked ourselves, “how can I take what I”m already doing and harness it to change lives?”

What if the answer wasn’t doing more, but doing differently?

Abigail Robinson is a student at Ecola Bible College in Cannon Beach, OR. She and other classmates chose human trafficking as the subject of a semester-long outreach assignment. Together they have been collecting change from business, hosting educational opportunities and a fundraising movie night, as well as gathering to pray. Most recently, they used some of the money they raised to create beautiful journals to give to survivors (pictured above). Their story is a great example of what a group of people can do with limited time, resources, money, and location.

Matt Grubbs is the leader of a high school Bible study from Good Shepherd Community Church in Boring. He was interested in finding a service project that his high school students could be involved in, but felt the student’s busy schedules would keep them from investing any more time than they already were. He just so happened to have some experience in building furniture, and wondered if his students would be interested in a long-term building project that would become part of their weekly Bible study at his home.

Meanwhile, a local non-profit who assists sex-trafficked victims was receiving plenty of clothing donations–the problem was where to put them all. Women receiving help through their programs had to paw through bags and boxes to find clothing in their size.  Abolition Now recognized their need for storage, which prompted a “want ad” posted on the bulletin board of Good Shepherd Community Church. When Matt saw the posting that Sunday, he immediately considered it “an answer to prayer.”

“There is a lot of freedom in this project to just be able to give from what we’ve been blessed with,” Matt said, “and be able to put something of ourselves into this. This ticked just about every box that I was looking for, and the group was and is really excited to be involved.”

Students gather at his house every Thursday evening to work on the project together. “It’s been really cool to see students (even those who have no prior shop experience) come together to get something done. I am really excited to see how this affects them when it all comes together and they get to see what they have contributed,” Matt commented. His vision is not simply to teach these students woodworking skills, but to show them that they can truly use their gifts to make a difference. “My end goal is to get students excited about using their gifts, talents, resources, and church community to reach out in Jesus’ name. I would love to see students take the spirit of this project in their own direction in the future. Maybe that will mean more woodworking projects, maybe not.”

Both of these abolitionists chose to take parts of their already-existing lives and use them to make a difference. They harnessed their responsibilities, relationships, and resources to take action in the face of injustice. As an individual, getting involved can seem overwhelming, even isolating. One of the core values that drives the work of Abolition Now is strength and wisdom in collaboration. Call it teamwork, unity, group effort, or “strength in numbers,” but the philosophy stands–we are always stronger and more effective TOGETHER.

So really, what’s keeping you from getting involved? As Matt reminds us, it doesn’t have to be a “high profile project.” The key is to look for things you are already doing and use them to get involved.

Need some more specific ideas to get you started? Here are some awesome group-friendly ideas:

• Start a prayer group with people you already meet regularly with.
• Include an awareness event or presentation at your church or school. Many organizations would love to come do a presentation to your Bible Study group, classmates, or other peers.
• Gather family or friends and join an awareness event in the community, school, park, neighborhood, etc.
• Take a gift-giving opportunity to hold a Resource Drive/Campaign for clothing, hygiene items, gift cards – this is always a huge need.
• Is music part of your life? Hold a benefit concert for resource items such as The Chapel did.
• Next time you’re at the mall, be eyes and ears for “recruiters”
• Use a craft night with friends to make something for girls on the streets- like journals
• Enlist your growth group or youth group, Boy Scouts, etc to volunteer or do a project
• Get a group of friends together to attend trainings and other educational events on human trafficking
• Check out our Organizations page, and contact a specific organizations for needs you or your group would be able to fill as part of your everyday lives.