Guess what? IT’S STILL JANUARY. And that means it’s still Human Trafficking Awareness Month. And you can still do something or plan something or say something to your friend’s daughter or yell something from the steps of City Hall or…or…you get the point.
One Simple Way to Make a Difference
Guess what? IT’S STILL JANUARY. And that means it’s still Human Trafficking Awareness Month. And you can still do something or plan something or say something to your friend’s daughter or yell something from the steps of City Hall or…or…you get the point.
“But this is such a ginormous problem, and so many people are already doing a great job of making a dent, and what the heck could I contribute? I’m creatively and financially broke right now”, we’ve all said in that whiny inside-our-head voice. Well, I have an idea, maybe just for you.
Right now, Nefarious: Merchant of Souls is available to rent online for $4.99 (giving you 48 hours of streaming access to the full-length 24-award-winning film) which means if you don’t have the $20 DVD or the $200 screening license, you can still offer a public show at your church, or its youth group by clicking here. This is something anyone can do. Find a venue that can show it. Pick a date. Let people know it. Show up and push play.
No venue connections? No problem. Do what I did last Saturday and host your own Home-Screening event! Aint no stoppin’ the “incurable fanatic”. Six people drove 30 mins to my home to see this impacting film they’d only heard about, and two of them were 16 year old girls. You have no idea how my heart leapt within me to have two teenagers spending their Saturday night at my house, watching this movie.
A screening is easy to organize. Little effort and low cost. But if you have some time and emotional energy to spare, here are three things you can do to spruce up your event and make it even more memorable:
1.) Call around to a few local grocery stores, wineries or dessert shops for donated refreshments. Or bake fresh chocolate chip cookies like these. Have fair-trade coffee brewing when they come through your door, and hot water for tea.
2.) Google musicians who regularly perform in your community. Find their information or Private Message them on Facebook and ask if they’d be willing to donate one hour’s worth of their amazing talent to an event that will bring great awareness about sex trafficking. The pre-film social time with live background music will be deal-maker for some. Once it’s set, promote it online with a cool photo of the artist(s) and a link to their website to show them some social media love. But only pursue #2 if you’ve done #1.
3.) Call a local anti-trafficking advocate and ask if they know a survivor who is healed enough to speak publicly about her experience. Or if that’s too hard, how about reaching out to a local anti-trafficking agency you like? See if a representative can come share about all they offer. Charge a $5 cover for attendees and give the collected funds to the survivor or rep for your gratitude. If you happen to get both, go for a third speaker like someone in law enforcement, a DA who defends victims in court, or a student educator on the issue, and Viola! With an 8′ table and 3 chairs, you have yourself a post-film, enlightening 3-person panel-discussion that could last an hour after the film ends.
Jesus spoke something so comforting to a woman, in Mark 14:8… “She did what she could.”
She took what she had. She knew time was fleeting so she broke her alabaster jar of perfume, pouring it out on Jesus with no regard to the criticism she heard around her.
You don’t have to go all-out, spend months preparing, raise $30k or rescue a little girl from the clutches of her pimp. You don’t have to worry about numbers or critics or measuring up to that other activist you love reading about.
All I want Him to say of me is, “She did what she could”.
