Lockdowns lead to isolation, which leads to vulnerability and abuse. “The exploitation of children online is huge,” notes Tracy Daugherty. Daugherty leads The Freedom Challenge, an initiative of Operation Mobilization USA.

“[At] this time last year, there were 3 million reports. This time [there are] 7.7 million reports of child pornography. That is huge, and that’s right under our nose.”

As explained here, child pornography is only one of human trafficking’s many evils. Each year, the U.S. State Department releases an update on human trafficking statistics and anti-trafficking efforts worldwide. Plus, websites like this one and this one describe who’s typically affected and what to watch for.

(Photo courtesy of Freedom Challenge via Facebook)

Human trafficking information abounds online, yet public awareness remains low. Freedom Challenge equips everyday believers to fight the evil hiding in plain sight.

Setting captives free

The Freedom Challenge raises awareness and funds to support anti-trafficking efforts. It began in 2012 with a Freedom Climb, growing and expanding over the years to a multifaceted endeavor.

The pandemic is changing their methods this year, but it’s not stopping Daugherty and her team.

Instead of organizing one big annual event, The Freedom Challenge is empowering women to raise support through localized, one-day events. These “regional challenges” allow women to speak up for those enslaved while still obeying pandemic restrictions. Learn more here.

Plus, adapting its approach allows The Freedom Challenge to keep pursuing biblical justice.

“When we talk about biblical justice, it’s all about restoring the image of God back to its original design; bringing dignity to that woman who could understand that she is worth more than her body.”

Find your place in the story

Daugherty describes three ways you can come alongside The Freedom Challenge to fight human trafficking.

PRAY

According to Ephesians 6:12, human trafficking has spiritual roots. Its consequences are tangible – “These are real children, real people who are being exploited,” Daugherty says – but believers must wage spiritual war as their knowledge grows.

“That awareness drives us to prayer,” Daugherty continues.

“If we believe that Jesus is the hope for the world, then we believe that prayer is vital in fighting this battle – magnifying God above all of this darkness.”

GIVE

(Photo courtesy of Freedom Challenge via Facebook)

Ask the Lord how He wants you to respond to this story. Then, follow through in obedience. If He calls you to give, click here.

“There are so many places that God is moving,” Daugherty says. “There’s a place for everyone at the table to engage around this.”

GO

Want a tangible way to fight human trafficking? Sign up for the California Regional Challenge here. Or, make it personal through “My Freedom Challenge.”

“We had a group of women who raised almost $20,000, and that was quite remarkable. We had another woman who climbed Mount Whitney,” Daugherty says.

Read Ginger’s story here.

Header image courtesy of The Freedom Challenge.

“It’s illegal; it’s not supposed to be happening,” Lovett says. “But still, it is a rampant issue across South Asia, the Middle East, and that part of the world.”

OM USA partners globally with churches and NGOs to prevent child marriage, rescue at-risk children, and give kids a different future – one rooted in Christ’s love and hope. Here’s how you can help.

Risk factors

Circumstances vary by culture and region, but poverty underlies many parents’ decisions to support child marriage. “People are just so poor. You’re looking at how you can have less of an economic burden,” Lovett describes.  Without education or a way to financially contribute to their parents’ household, girls and young women lack viable options.

“They’re stuck in this position that their future is only in getting married. And it’s often the younger, the better.”

According to the UN, approximately 650 million girls and women alive today were married as children. As VOA News describes, the coronavirus pandemic places an additional burden on girls in sub-Saharan Africa.

Watch as child brides around the world talk about their experiences.

3 ways to help

(Photo courtesy David Lovette)

Now that you know, how will you respond? Lovett describes three ways to help end child marriage.

PRAY

Prayer surpasses geographic and circumstantial barriers. Use the prompts listed alongside this article to guide your intercession. Pray child marriage would end globally, and that people would see women as Christ sees them.

GIVE

Together with their partners, OM USA empowers girls and women through education and vocational training. You can support their efforts here. “We have been doing what we can for the last few decades to address this [issue] through projects [designed] to empower young women with a skill that would help them have a way to support themselves,” Lovett says.

“Every time you see a young woman’s life transformed and there’s a sense of restored hope and dignity, it makes it all worthwhile.”

SHARE

Using the buttons below, share this article on your social media channels. Spread the word to rally prayer and advocate for change.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of amyannbrockmeyer via Pixabay.

Then comes marriage, often to a man old enough to be their dad or grandpa. “Especially in rural areas with high illiteracy, young girls – [some] even as young as ten-,11-, 12-, 13- [years old] – are being married to older men,” Lovett says.

“In Bangladesh, something like 22-percent of young girls are being married before they’re 15 years of age.”

OM USA partners with churches and NGOs to give kids like these a different future – one rooted in Christ’s love and hope. Here’s how you can help

How much does a girl child cost?

According to UNICEF, South Asia leads the world in child marriages. Child marriage affects both boys and girls globally, but it affects girls disproportionately – especially in South Asia:

Learning how to read gives women and girls self-esteem and hope. With the Bible as the teaching text, they can experience God’s amazing love for themselves.
(Photo courtesy OM USA)

Child marriage violates children’s rights and places them at high risk of violence, exploitation, and abuse. India has the largest number of brides in the world – one-third of the global total. Bangladesh has the highest rate of child marriage in Asia (the fourth-highest rate in the world). Nepal has also one the highest rates of child marriage in Asia for both boys and girls.

A report released earlier this week says the COVID-19 pandemic could make this trend worse. UNICEF officials say the economic side effects of coronavirus restrictions will likely drive families deeper into poverty, putting an estimated 600 million children at higher risk of exploitation.

Desperate times lead to desperate measures. If family members cannot produce an income, they become expendable. “In one of these countries, if you are a young kid – five, six, or seven years old – you’re already rolling cigarettes by hand [for up to] seven hours a day, for about $1 a day,” Lovette says.

“You cannot and do not attend a local school because your parents are illiterate; they don’t see the value of the school… If you miss grades one, two, and three, you can never attend a primary school there.”

Circumstances like these make life even more difficult for young girls. “[If] you’re looking at how can you have less of an economic burden, girls that are younger are [easier] to get married off in that part of the world,” Lovette explains.

The resulting conception and birth of a child introduces new problems. Watch Needata’s story to learn why. “We come alongside and do vocational training, literacy training, and then help them (former child brides) find a future out of this situation,” Lovette says.

Find your place in the story

Now that you know, how will you respond? Lovett requests prayer first and foremost. “Jesus said, ‘Pray the Lord of the harvest for workers’,” he summarizes.

(Photo courtesy David Lovette)

“That’s always a prayer – ‘Lord, raise up people from within Bangladesh, other parts of the world, who would be willing to come love and serve, and help make an impact and difference in these kind of projects.’”

Find more prayer requests listed alongside this article. If you can spare $10, support this critical work through OM USA. Plus, use the buttons below to share this article with a friend and help spread the word.

“The challenge is just so huge and we’re seeking to build awareness,” Lovett says. “So much of the rest of the world [doesn’t] hear and know about this.”

Header image courtesy of David Lovette.

In the missions world, 2019 held a lot of debate about semantics and its role in shaping strategy. Terms like “people groups”, “unreached”, and “unengaged” were – and continue to be – debated by experts from every sphere. You can find examples on sites like Patheos, Christianity Today, and The Gospel Coalition.

Alliance for the Unreached members are part of the broader discussion, says York Aspacher with Operation Mobilization USA. “We are looking at these (approaches) as tools in our toolbox to help inform the strategy, the way that we try to go about this work,” he says of the “people group” versus “place” debate.

“We’re all open to learning and we’re in this process together as co-laborers with Christ and with one another in our mission to reach the world with the message of Jesus Christ.”

The Alliance for the Unreached

Aspacher serves as the Marketing Director for Operation Mobilization USA. OM is a multifaceted outreach ministry active in Bible studies, teaching, building businesses, relief and development work, the creative arts, and more. Their ministries, with more than 6,800 volunteers and staff, are spreading the word of the Lord across all occupied continents.

(Photo courtesy of Alliance for the Unreached via Facebook)

Along with its fellow founding members, OM rallies around a common goal: reaching people who have no access or opportunity to know Christ. Their efforts don’t stop there, Aspacher says.

“The biblical mandate is not simply to divide people into groups and check them off on a list. The biblical mandate is to disciple the peoples of the world and to see that they’re taught what Christ taught.”

Individually, each Alliance member has its own “realm” or ministry focus: community outreach, radio, Bible translation, etc. Collectively, the Alliance for the Unreached mobilizes churches, organizations, media and individual believers to advocate for communities with no access to Christ.

Its chief focus isn’t missional strategy. Instead, “we’re primarily looking to create a movement among the broader American church,” Aspacher says.

“We’re talking with people on the broad cultural level of understanding of what ‘unreached’ is.”

Next steps

You can learn more about this movement on May 31st, the International Day for the Unreached. Follow us on Facebook for updates or join the IDU email list. Most importantly, seek the Lord’s direction.

(Graphic courtesy of Alliance for the Unreached via Twitter)

“How is God asking you to be involved in the work of the Great Commission? Because this is something that, scripturally, is issued to all of us as believers,” Aspacher observes.

“This is not a professional mandate for people who are paid to work within the church structure. This is something that is incumbent upon all of us as believers.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy Suzy Hazelwood via Pexels.

As recovery efforts enter week two, disease threatens thousands of survivors – some still stuck on rooftops – who are waiting for emergency assistance. Unknown multitudes are still missing.

Operation Mobilization’s Geoff Peters says in-country staff are busy helping neighbors. “Food security, things like…provision of safe, clean drinking water; there are certain things that are just basic essentials,” he states, describing the types of aid provided by OM teams.

“Our focus is always to assess what the needs are, and – no matter what [hurdles] might get in the way – do whatever we can to press forward and make sure that people are feeling the love of Christ.”

Idai presents opportunity for ministry

OM began training Christian leaders in Mozambique in 1989. Today, their ministry has grown to include translation work and church planting, as well as resourcing and mobilizing the local church. Learn more about OM Mozambique here.

(Photo credit: Denis Onyodi, IFRC/DRK/Climate Centre)

When disaster strikes – as it did on March 15 – helping neighbors automatically becomes a top priority. “We start with relief and restoration, but long-term it’s recovery,” says Peters.

“How do we help people recover, and use this as a platform so that we can continue to show God’s love to people who are desperately hurting?”

OM’s long-term presence in the country lends them added credibility. “We are not coming in just because disaster occurred…. we’re mobilizing Christians there already,” Peters explains. People affected by Idai recognize OM’s workers because they are neighbors, coworkers, friends.

Part of OM’s ministry involves reaching out to already-vulnerable communities. Some 25,000 refugees have fled to Mozambique from neighboring war-torn counties. OM partners with local churches to surround refugee and migrant communities with respite and hope.

“We can come alongside refugees and share Christ’s love,” says Peters. “It’s a way of being Christ’s hands and feet for someone who needs it.”

What now?

Tragically, Mozambique’s forecast contains ongoing heartache. As floodwaters recede and officials gain access to remote villages, the death toll is expected to significantly rise.

Now that you know, what will you do? First and foremost, pray for Mozambicans affected by Cyclone Idai. Pray those who need immediate help will receive it, and ask the Lord to protect people from disease.

(Photo courtesy of OM USA via Facebook)

“When God’s children are in crisis anywhere around the world, it’s part of our family. Get on your knees, have that quiet time with God… and say, ‘What can I do?’”

As you ask God to reveal your place in this story, get in touch with OM. Learn what they’re doing to help and how you can be part of their efforts.

“Maybe what you have to give right now is finances. Maybe what you have to give is time, where you can rally other people to get involved.”

Header image credit Denis Onyodi, IFRC/DRK/Climate Centre via Flickr.

OM Philippines conducted Operation Safe camps in three areas of Northern Cebu and Tacloban that had been badly affected by Typhoon Haiyan, as well as in different areas of Cebu City and Bohol.
(Image, caption courtesy OM)

Philippines (OM) — It’s been months since Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, but for some child survivors, recovery is starting now. Through Operation Safe, emotional scars are being healed one-by-one.

Four workers from Operation Mobilization (OM) Philippines received training in trauma counselling for individuals–especially children–in Calbayog, Samar, in March.

“This was a timely training, since Philippines recently experienced a series of disasters that have badly affected many areas and traumatized people, especially children, at different levels,” said Xenia Bodero, OM Philippines’ social worker.

Convinced of the benefits of this training, OM Philippines conducted Operation Safe camps in three areas of Northern Cebu and Tacloban that were badly affected by Typhoon Haiyan, as well as in different areas of Cebu City and Bohol that were hit by the earthquake.

Street children from Lorega Cemetery in Cebu City also underwent the program weeks after their community was destroyed by a fire in March that reportedly left 7,000 people homeless.

“These camps are basically aimed to cater for children ages seven years old and up,” said Bodero. “They facilitate psycho-emotional restoration through stress-debriefing [by means of] dance and songs, craft making, creative snacks, fun-filled Bible stories, adventure storytelling and team time. [These children] where able to ventilate their experiences and emotions caused during the disaster.”

One of the children in Northern Cebu who attended the Operation Safe camp was very quiet during the first few days of camp. He had seen his home fly away during Typhoon Haiyan.

“During the week, he slowly began to interact with other children and enjoyed the activities, especially song and dance,” noted Bodero. “By the end of the camp, he had become lively and active.”

Scholars who benefit from OM Philippines’ Scholarship Program also helped run various Operation Safe camps in Cebu City and Bohol. “Not only were they able to further develop their leadership skills, but they also had the opportunity to share God’s love with trauma survivors,” Bodero added.

OM Philippines provides training in trauma counseling for individuals, especially children, in areas that have been badly affected by recent disasters.
(Image, caption courtesy OM)

One of the scholars said that Operation Safe had helped her change her attitude “because I met people who are very kind to me…. Even though they experienced great loss and trials during Typhoon Yolanda [Haiyan], they still believed in God. Their smiles, even in pain, were very encouraging.”

Another scholar was amazed to see how “the tragedy brought people closer to God, especially in those places where we [hosted] Operation Safe. We were greatly blessed.”

Pray for more healing as Operation Safe camps continue through the summer. Learn more about OM’s work in the Philippines here.

More Haiyan recovery updates here.

(Image courtesy OM)

South Africa (MNN) — In South Africa, it’s not uncommon to find dead babies in plastic bags at the local dump. It usually happens about twice a month, according to Operation Mobilization.

“The babies that are found are usually in buckets, old tires, or containers,” Patience Maselela told OM last February. Maselela has been working at the Mamelodi City Dump for the past 20 years. Each year, city dump workers discover the discarded bodies of over 100 newborns.

Through the help of a local church and a generous donation, OM South Africa’s AIDSHope team opened a “baby safe” last summer, giving women a safe alternative to abandonment or abortion.

Now OM is stepping back so the community can take more ownership of this initiative. Pray for a smooth transition.

“To me, the best part is that we took the initiative from God to help the process so that the community can take ownership,” says AIDSHope leader Alma Leonard. “This is what makes it sustainable. God has transferred this passion for hope and life from us to the community!”

According to Operation World, nearly 40 million people in South Africa, or 75% of the total population, claim to be Christians. However, “the post-Christian worldview has center stage in the media,” and moral evils abound.

Some 5.7 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and half of South Africa’s population lives below the poverty line. A large percentage of middle school students–adolescents between the ages of 12 and 14 years old–are sexually active.

This is the demographic OM’s AIDSHope team is targeting with an awareness campaign sponsored by The Ford Motor Company. Ford supplied posters and flyers as well as staff to help the OM workers talk to women and girls at abortion clinics and schools.

“We have the unique opportunity to talk about making good life choices to pupils in grade seven at four local schools,” said an AIDSHope worker. “So far, our main focus has been on HIV prevention, but we realize that our focus must be wider.

“We have to talk about what to do if an unwanted pregnancy occurs, and we have to offer alternatives to aborting or abandoning a baby.”

An Abandonment Alternative
A designated room at the Bophelong Community Center functions as the “baby safe.” Desperate mothers are encouraged to take their infant inside the center instead of just dropping their child off and leaving. This way, mothers can receive biblical counseling and support, and the child’s important medical information can be collected.

Babies are then taken from the community center to ABBA House, a baby shelter in Pretoria that seeks to find a loving family for each child. In some cases, workers can connect distressed mothers or parents with vital resources.

For example, one set of parents desperately wanted to keep their child but felt they had no way to care for her. They thought the best option was putting their daughter up for adoption, so they brought her to the baby safe.

But after speaking with counselors, these parents were connected with a social worker, ultimately enabling them to keep their child. So far, eight newborns have been saved through OM’s campaign and the baby safe.

Contact OM to learn more about the baby safe and ways that you can get involved.

Praise God for this creative life-saving ministry. Please pray for the desperate situation many mothers in South Africa are facing. Pray that more lives will be saved through the baby safe.

Carlota Ursaig, 45-years-old, was thankful to be reunited with her 6 children after a tree landed on the house they had been taking shelter in. They gladly received food that an OM team had to spare. (Image, caption courtesy OM)

“I’ve seen dead people on the streets and the sidewalks,” a nine-year old girl tells CNN. “It made me feel scared.”

At the same time, more relief aid is being poured in. According to a recent report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN and U.S. are sending $25 million and $20 million, respectively.

Despite the increased aid effort, many survivors still badly need food, water, and shelter, said Sally Ababa from Operation Mobilization. To date, three waves of relief goods have been distributed to 850 families in Bohol and the Northern part of Cebu, where many OM staff members reside.

An Emergency Operation Center has been set up at the OM Philippines (OMP) office in Cebu City. All cash and in-kind donations are being channeled through OMP for receipting and distribution purposes.

Click here to add your support to OM’s relief efforts in the Philippines.

Two teams have been formed to distribute relief goods in Bohol and Northern Cebu. Another team is based in Cebu City to assess OM Philippines-Cebu’s outreach to children and partner churches affected by the typhoon. Debriefing of staff and children is ongoing, and preparations for trauma counseling training in 10 areas affected by the earthquake and typhoon are underway.

OM’s Elaine Ellis shares a special concern for Cebu’s slum dwellers. These are families living on an average of less than $35USD each day.

“Just to survive the horrendous inconveniences of the storm has to be a huge challenge for them,” she says. “These slum areas have no running water in the homes, they have no sewers.”

According to a 2011 study from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), over 5 million Filipinos live in urban slums, or slums located in major metropolitan cities. A large percentage of those communities are located in coastal and low-lying areas, where vulnerability to flooding is highest

(Image courtesy OM)

“When it rains, even normally, these homes are flooded several feet,” Ellis explains. After Haiyan, the damage is even more extensive.

“With everyone focused on the worst areas, there’s always a concern that people who are on the fringe may go over the edge.”

Ellis works closely with OMP Cebu’s scholarship program, which shares the Gospel and provides hope for a future to some 114 slum kids.

“We have three levels of scholarships,” Ellis says. “We have a complete scholarship that includes tuition, uniforms, school supplies, and a living allowance. Then we have a second level that is everything except the allowance.”

“The third level is for special project needs, like children that need a calculator for high school.”

The majority of OM scholars are safe and sound. However, Ellis says, the status of two remains a mystery.

“These are children who were part of our program in past years, and I have not heard if they’ve been able to locate them,” she states.

Pray for the safety of these children. Pray they will be found soon.

Along with the scholarship program, OMP Cebu trains selected children in a three-month intensive course called Junior Leaders’ Training. Kids are expected to assist volunteer teachers and soon be teachers themselves after completing the course. Bible class is held regularly on weekends, and OMP Cebu holds a Vacation Bible School each summer.

“The projects OM is providing is helping [to keep] their lives cohesive,” says Ellis.

Learn more about OM Philippines.

In the coming days, Haiyan survivors in the Philippines will increasingly need your prayers. The bodies of storm victims are still in the streets and along alleyways. As they break down, the risk of disease increases.

Children are especially vulnerable to infectious diseases. Ask the Lord to keep them safe and healthy. Pray for the protection of OM relief workers and their families.

Ellis shares a quote from OM’s International Director, Lawrence Tong: “The One we serve is much bigger than any typhoon or earthquake, and we need to cry out to Him on behalf of the thousands who have lost homes and loved ones.”

Volunteers of OM Guatemala visit a poor family to see the situation the’yre living in. OM Guatemala will select the most urgent cases and take them into their long-term programme The Rescue with the hope to help them out of poverty. (Photo courtesy of Operation Mobilization)

Guatemala (MNN) – Are you fluent in English? Do you enjoy teaching? Are you concerned about doing God’s work?

A job opportunity from Operation Mobilization may be the fit for you. How would you like to visit the beautiful country of Guatemala?

OM has been working in Guatemala since 1990. They help social ministries within Guatemala and train for evangelism and missions for the national Evangelical church. The ministries that they help with cover a variety of aid. They emphasize discipleship training, evangelistic outreach and social help for needy people, and special training with students in schools.

National team members of OM Guatemala, and members from other mission groups as well, could use your help learning English. OM would like the English Teacher to start as soon as they can. The job commitment length is one to two years.

It is important for these missionaries to learn English because it will help them expand their ministry and allow them to participate more fully in the international work of OM.

The job will leave time to work in other areas of OM Guatemala. The requirements for the position are as follows:

• A strong personal relationship with Jesus
• Self-motivated and willing to serve others
• Fluent in English
• Good teaching skills
• Willingness to cooperate in the ministries of OM Guatemala
• Preferably able to speak Spanish, or willing to learn

Please note: Like all other jobs in OM, the work of the English Teacher is unpaid: finances for livelihood are to be provided through a personal network of supporters.

Not only could you be helping other Christians make a greater impact for Christ in Guatemala, but you will have the opportunity to assist in ministries that spread the Gospel. To apply, click here.

If teaching in a foreign country is not for you, you can still help. Pray that this English teacher would be found, that they would have a heart for God, and desire to make an impact in the world in Jesus’ name. Pray for God’s continual guidance for OM. If you wish to give to the ministry, click here.

A job opportunity from Operation Mobilization may be the fit for you.

OM has been working in Guatemala since 1990. They help
social ministries within Guatemala and provide training for evangelism and missions for
the national evangelical church. They emphasize discipleship training, evangelistic outreach, and
social help for needy people, as well as special training for students in schools.

National team members of OM Guatemala, as well as members from
other mission groups, could use your help learning English. OM would
like the English Teacher to start as soon as possible. The job commitment is for 1-2 years.

It is important for these missionaries to learn English
because it will help them expand their ministry and allow them to participate
more fully in the international work of OM.

The job will leave time to work in other areas of OM
Guatemala. The requirements for the position are as follows:

• Strong personal relationship with Jesus
• Self-motivated and willing to serve others
• Fluent in English
• Good teaching skills
• Willingness to cooperate in the ministries of OM
  Guatemala
• Preferably able to speak Spanish, or willing to
  learn

Please note: Like all other jobs with OM, the position of
English Teacher is unpaid: finances for livelihood are to be provided through a
personal network of supporters.

Not only will you be helping other Christians make a
greater impact for Christ in Guatemala, but you will have the opportunity to
assist in ministries that spread the Gospel. To apply, click
here.

If teaching in a foreign country is not for you, you can
still help. Pray that this English teacher would be found, that he or she would have
a heart for God and desire to make an impact in the world in Jesus' name. Pray
for God's continual guidance for OM. If you wish to give to the ministry, click here.