The report rates countries on a couple of things: prevalence and numbers. Mauritania leads the world in prevalence, which means slavery is most common here. India has the most modern-day slaves, tipping the scale at approximately 14 million.

Last week, the UN called on Mauritania to abolish slavery. Slavery is technically outlawed in the nation, but enslaved people make up nearly four-percent of the population here, according to the Global Slavery Index.

(Map of West Africa courtesy UN)

In fact, West Africa holds half of the 10 countries where slavery is most common. Lorella Rouster says Every Child Ministries rescues shrine slaves in the region.

“People argue over the precise definition of slavery,” says Rouster, “but in my opinion, this ritual servitude that we see in the shrines is absolutely a form of modern-day slavery.”

A Look at West African Slavery

While Mauritania tops the list, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Gambia and Gabon aren’t far behind.

An estimated 40,000 children are trafficking victims in Benin, and over 30,000 kids in Cote d’Ivoire are trapped in forced labor. The GSI says forced begging, child marriage, domestic servitude and forced prostitution, including child sex tourism, are the most prevalent forms of modern-day slavery in Gambia.

In Gabon, girls are sold and traded for domestic servitude or sexual exploitation, while boys are trafficked for labor.

ECM rescues shrine slaves in Ghana, Togo, Benin and small parts of Nigeria.

“The chains that hold the women and girls there are not physical chains,” Rouster explains.

“They’re social, they’re psychological, and they’re spiritual. They hold them there just as effectively as if they actually were chained down to the floor.”

The Gospel Truth breaks those chains.

“We have found that the Gospel can be the means by which they’re freed, it can really facilitate that,” says Rouster.

Freedom in Christ

ECM uses a variety of methods to free victims of ritual servitude and abuse. “We have been successful in freeing some of them, while we are still struggling with others,” Rouster shares.

Though security reasons keep Rouster from elaborating, she says the Gospel is central to their work.

“We are putting the Gospel more at the forefront than we originally did,” she states. ECM workers use every opportunity to share the Truth of Christ with everyone they meet.

“That includes the priests and priestesses, and devotees and shrine owners — everyone that we come in contact with,” Rouster adds.

Former shrine slaves are given the skills they need to start over again at ECM’s New Life Center. (Image courtesy ECM)

Though a relationship with Christ meets survivors’ spiritual needs, the whole person must be cared for. That’s where ECM’s appropriately-named New Life Center comes in.

Through discipleship and counseling, they experience healing and grow in their knowledge of Christ. Through job skills training, girls rescued from shrine slavery are given the ability to start a new life.

“This is intended to be a rehab center to empower women and girls who were formerly in ritual servitude,” Rouster explains.

Learn more about ECM’s New Life Center here. Then, let the awareness spur you to action.

“Our number one thing that we really need is prayer cover,” says Rouster. “It’s not easy going and we have faced many obstacles, many setbacks, many spiritual attacks.

“We’re hanging in there and God has given us some powerful in-roads to bring the Gospel to people that have normally been overlooked in normal evangelistic efforts, like the priests and priestesses, and devotees of idols.”

Pray perseverance for ECM workers. Pray the testimonies of those who escape slavery will advance the Gospel in West Africa.

Giving helps, too. A significant portion of financial support provides counseling and the training former slaves need to start a new life. Staff, Bible teachers and counselors also need money for fuel so they can visit survivors in nearby villages.

“They’re really spread over a very broad area so that really is a big need, and donations for that would be very, very welcomed,” Rouster states.

Click here to send “freedom money” to ECM.

Photo courtesy of Every Child Ministries.

Ghana (MNN) — Virgin girls as young as eight years old are turned over by their families to priests in Ghana.

Their families believe in sacrificing a virgin daughter to shrine slavery, they can glean forgiveness from idol gods for their sins.

Priests demand sex and labor from enslaved girls, and deny them food, education, and basic health needs. The girls are beaten if they try to escape.

Various estimates guess there are around 5,000 girls and women in shrine slavery in Ghana. This type of slavery is called trokosi.

A team of four American women are currently in Ghana with Every Child Ministries (ECM) developing a new rehab center for women freed from shrine slavery.

Lorella Rouster with ECM is also in Ghana with the team of women. She says, “We’ve been counseling and teaching them in their homes for several years…. They’re like in spiritual, social, psychological bondage to the idols they’ve been serving. All of them have been officially freed, but now we’re working on walking out every day the reality of what it means to be freed because psychological bonds are often loosened very slowly.”

Rouster explains their goals: “One is to help the women with vocational training so they can make a more adequate living for themselves and their families. Then also to share Christ, share the Gospel with them and help them become disciples of Jesus.”

The American team of women has enjoyed meeting the Ghanaian women and fellowshipping with them. In turn, the formerly enslaved women have been encouraged meeting other women who are praying for them.

The bonds formed are impacting both groups of women. “This morning one of our members washed the feet of these women as a symbol of servant hood. And she was thrilled to see that they had learned during the week to trust her enough to allow her to do that,” says Rouster.

For vocational training, ECM has done various projects with the women like making jewelry, weaving, and sewing. They’re still experimenting with different ideas.

“That helps really build a sense that they can do something worthwhile; they can create something that’s beautiful. And along with the Gospel and along with the teachings of the Bible I think that’s a very strong combination.”

The first week they worked with 6 women from eastern Ghana. This week they will be working with 6-8 women.

ECM will continue sending teams from time to time, but the ministry will largely continue to be carried out by national Christians. The Ghanaian missionary partners need support. Click here to give to a missionary in Ghana through ECM.

Please pray for the team and this project reaching former trokosi slaves. Pray for the Holy Spirit to touch their hearts.

Contact ECM to learn more about joining a future mission team.

In Uganda, you might be forced to either kill or be killed as a child soldier.

And in India? You could become a prostitute at the ripe age of seven, have your organs ripped out and sold on the black market, or you might just simply disappear.

Every Child Ministries says West Africa is one of the most active places in the world for child slavery. One area of focus for ECM is shrine slavery. There are several different kinds of ritual servitude, but one of the most well-known forms is called trokosi. Virgin daughters–usually between the ages of 8 and 15, but sometimes as young as 4–are sold to temple priests as appeasement for a family member's alleged sin.

These girls become the property of the temple priest, subject to his every demand — whether for sexual pleasure or back-breaking labor. At the same time, shrine slaves are denied education and oftentimes food.

Shrine slaves can be found in Ghana, Togo, Beni,n and southwestern Nigeria. Although Ghana outlawed the practice in 1998, ECM says it continues for two primary reasons. Number one, the government doesn't want to interfere with the customs of the people. Number two, many people fear they'll be cursed if they stand against the priests of the shrine.

"Gradually, it's going down; however, there still are many who need help," says ECM co-founder and originator of ECM's anti-slavery initiative, Lorella Rouster.

"As long as there's one still in slavery, we are dedicated to trying to help them."

ECM rescues temple slaves in Ghana and gives them a chance for new life. Over the past 12 years, ECM has liberated 500 trokosi slaves and 2,000 slave children. In June, the ministry purchased land along the Ghana-Togo border for their rehabilitation center.

"We've been trying to do those things already, but our ability to do them has been somewhat limited by not having an adequate place to do them in," Rouster explains. "Now that we have a place of our own we'll be able to greatly expand that program."

From late January 2013 to early February, a construction team will re-roof the buildings and make some repairs. Two volunteers are still needed for this trip; you can sign up here.

When the ECM rehab center is up and running, former slaves will have access to vocational and life skill classes, counseling, and Bible studies. Rouster said ECM offers these programs to survivors "so that they can find a way to support themselves and their families, and not just be receiving but contributing members of society."

"In July, we'll be taking a group of women, and we'll be teaching some craft skills, some Bible study skills…and we'll be giving some additional training to the workers," Rouster continued. "We hope to have [the center] open in July 2013."

Their efforts will have a multiplying effect on bringing others to Christ.

"This is really strategic for the Gospel," Rouster said. "We hope that we can establish some of the survivors in the Gospel so firmly that they will be equipped and motivated to reach out to others who are still trapped in that spiritual slavery of idolatry, as well as physical slavery.

"There might be ways that [workers] could help to free them and share the Gospel with them," Rouster explained. "That's our ultimate goal. Of course, a lot of work needs to be done in the meantime to get to that place."

One donor has agreed to match every dollar up to $7,000, to help buy a van for the center. Click here to help build the rehabilitation center.

This is the reality for many women and girls who live as trokosi slaves in Ghana. A high concentration of trokosi live along the Ghana-Togo border and many try other avenues to escape their lives of bondage.

Lorella Rouster with Every Child Ministries says, “They’re working at this big, open air market there in Lome in a very desperate attempt to try to buy themselves out of slavery to the shrines. But without help, it’ll be very rare that any of them will really ever be able to get out of this.”

Every Child Ministries gives trokosi the help they need. Over the past 12 years, Every Child Ministries has freed 500 trokosi slaves and 2,000 slave children.

Now, Every Child Ministries is taking their trokosi ministry to the next level. They just purchased a plot of land on June 1 along the Ghana-Togo border. This land will serve as the foundation for a rehabilitation center.

“It’s really a strategic spot because it’s located in an area where there are many shrines…and also we will be easily able to access the shrine slaves in Togo, especially those in the market at Lome,” says Rouster.

With this rehabilitation center, Every Child Ministries will provide vocational and life skill classes, Bible studies, counseling, and even temporary shelter.

Women at the center will be able to earn a living by learning tailoring, beading, or soap-making. Every Child Ministries is looking to expand the list of vocational training they offer.

Rouster says, “Our ultimate goal is to help those former shrine slaves become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, and then to send them out to reach others like themselves who are caught up in that whole system. So we hope that it will have a multiplying effect on the Gospel.”

So far, there are three buildings located on the land plot. Two of them don’t have roofs, and one of the roofless buildings will require additional work on it.

Every Child Ministries plans to send a construction team to start fixing up the buildings and adding roofs in January 2013. They hope to have the rehabilitation center up and running by August 2013.

Before they can send the construction team in January, they need to recruit six male volunteers for the job and raise $26,000. You can donate to the rehabilitation center by clicking here, or volunteer for the construction team by contacting Lorella Rouster.

Please pray for the ongoing rescue of trokosi women and for protection over the construction of the rehabilitation center. Pray that the Gospel does indeed have a multiplying effect as more women are rescued from the trokosi slave practice.

The medical team has seen just over 1000 people in
four clinic days because there is little access to medical care in the
region. They have
two more clinics in the next two days. Each village is so different; the IN Network team will be treating patients for malnutrition, worm infections, sexually transmitted
diseases, and more.

Each member of the team has been stretched and has
filled various roles in their clinics. Some good news: more medicines arrived just in time for another clinic,
which helped the latest one run smoothly. Team members say they try to make it stretch,
but it seems that they run short at the end of the day on a regular basis.

Pray for safe travel to and from the villages for
the staff and volunteers. Several team
members have fallen ill. Ghanaian
medical help arrives soon. Pray for cooperation, strength, unity, and wisdom.

IN Network is known in Ghana. Since 1984, they've been on the forefront of
the fight against the Trokosi practice, a cruel tradition which removes young
girls from their families to serve as slaves to the village priest.

By negotiating with the priests and pointing out the evils of slavery, IN
Network Ghana has seen thousands of young women set free. With the government
of Ghana now committed to eliminating the Trokosi practice, IN Network Ghana
is determined to free every young girl from slavery.

A big part of the Trokosi Freedom effort is what to do with the women and
children once they are free. The Vocational Training School at Adidome provides
a place for vulnerable women to receive counseling and also to learn the skills
that will help them to provide for their families.

The children of these women are provided with a Christian education at the
IN Network Ghana schools in the Volta region of Ghana. These children, born
in difficult circumstances, receive the tools to escape poverty and live
meaningful lives.

Carnes and TerBeek of West Michigan have paired up with International Needs Network (INN) and to host card-making parties all over the West Michigan area, donating the proceeds toward freeing women from sexual slavery in Ghana.

The evil practice of Trokosi, or sexual shrine slavery, in Ghana has been going on for many years. With Trokosi, a family will hand over their daughter to the village priests to pay for their sins for fear of the priests' death curses. The girls live in slavery to pay for the offenses of others and are both sexually and physically abused by the priests.

International Needs Network has been fighting the Trokosi practice in Ghana since 1984 and has freed over 3,500 women and girls from this evil tradition. By negotiating with the priests and pointing out the evils of slavery, the practice has dwindled over the years. INN then teaches the freed women and girls how to earn a decent living at their training center. But there are still hundreds of girls left in sexual slavery in Ghana waiting to be set free.

Carnes first heard of INN through one of their local bases and was inspired to aid the plight of women in Ghana. She was an elementary teacher at the time and decided to put her creative flair to good use by making and selling cards in the teacher's lounge. The money she made from this was donated toward buying a new sewing machine for freed Ghanaian women trying to learn a new living.

"I just thought this is easy; it's easy to make a difference," said Carnes.

Soon, Carnes paired up with her friend, TerBeek, and the pair started hosting parties in churches, homes, and even a local jail. Carnes also conducts a card-making class twice a month. The goal of these parties is to raise both money and awareness, and each session begins by the attendees being informed about the plight of these women in sexual slavery in Ghana. The cards are then made using the batik fabric from the vocational training school for the freed Ghanaian women.

"We really feel like every woman can make a difference even if they don't have deep pockets," TerBeek said.

Also, Teri Van Hekken, senior vice president for I.N. Network USA, commented, "I think it's just incredible how God has raised up these women and they are providing the leadership to this program. It's exciting to see women here having a heart for women a world away."

Ministry doesn't always have to take place through travel. By being creative and having a heart for spreading the love of Christ, men and women are making a huge impact for the Kingdom of God wherever they are.

Thousands of women and children throughout Ghana are held in bondage as trokosi, or wives of the gods, forced to submit to every whim of local priests. Trokosi suffer severe manual labor, sexual exploitation, and starvation under threat of becoming cursed or enduring corporal punishment.

For years now, Every Child Ministries has been responding to the vast need for abolitionists in Ghana. ECM has helped in the efforts to free thousands of women and children from slavery.

"Many times the women can't even put into words what it feels like for them to be free, to actually be able to live life," saya ECM's Hannah Howard.

The work cannot stop at freedom, however. Several obstacles stand in the way.

Many trokosi have been in bondage their entire lives and often don't know even basic skills to help them live on their own.

"A lot of times they don't know how to even handle money, or many of them don't know how to read or write," notes Howard. ECM helps them with basic and vocational skills so they can acquire a trade. Once they have a trade, they are often successful, especially after a lifetime of learning hard work.

Another significant hurdle for these women to overcome is the emotional effects a life of servitude has had on their souls. Howard, a counselor in the rehabilitation process for liberated trokosi, says women often have difficulty opening up to ECM staff.

"They haven't experienced much love in their lives," explains Howard. "For the most part, these women have experienced rejection, hurt, betrayal, and they haven't really experienced love at all.

"Building relationships is part of showing that we love them, that we care for them, and that their lives are important to us. Along the way, they start opening up as they see that we are genuine and we really do love and care about them."

As trust is built, hearts open up to the Gospel as well. Howard says despite the lives they've lived in bondage to idol shrines and priests, the trokosi are able to understand the Gospel better as a result of their difficult pasts.

"It's actually a wonderful way to describe the love of Christ. We are all bound by our sins, we are all dead, and we are all hopeless without Christ. They have experienced that in their physical lives."

Many trokosi have been changed by the power of the Gospel as a result of ECM's ministry, but perhaps none more radically than the "Old Woman" who came to faith during Thanksgiving 2010. Listen to a three-minute clip of Howard telling the amazing transformation tale here.

ECM is helping to solve the second-leading crime in the world as they pull people out of human trafficking and into the light of freedom. Physical and spiritual bondage released, these women are able to live as God intended and multiply the kingdom with their testimonies.

You can be the next one to help free a trokosi slave. Click here to learn more.

Since then, ECM has continued to help these women whose
lives are in desperate need of restoration and rehabilitation.

Sharon Aldrich of ECM says they have just finished a three-week
rehabilitation program where they worked with seven of the freed women. ECM created a personalized plan for each woman's future, held
Bible studies twice a day, and taught them
how to sew. "We also helped them find
a more viable way of making a living, which involved
training them to develop a home business and possibly get a micro-credit
loan."

During the program, Lorella Rouster, co-founder of ECM, spent
an hour each day teaching the women various aspects of running their own
businesses–including basic math skills.

ECM hopes to offer the next step of rehabilitation
to any of the freed women who are interested. This will include more
information about starting a business and learning more skill sets.

Though training, personal attention, and Bible studies are
helping freed women take steps toward a life of wholeness, the process is slow. "It's
difficult for them to go back into the community and feel a part of everyone
because they have been set apart for something they know is wrong,"
Aldrich said.

However, ECM is speaking into their lives and showing them
they are loved and valued by Christ and His followers. For the women who turned
their lives over to Christ, their faith is growing and deepening. Aldrich said
they get excited just to hear Bible stories.

"It's encouraging to see them take the
next step of their growth. They enjoy being in Church, and they enjoy
hearing Bible stories. It was very exciting for me to be able to tell them
about Moses and the way that his mother sent him down the river. They smiled
and clapped just to hear that story,"
Aldrich said.

As for their former priest, "There is a local Christian man who is going to him every week and having prayer and Bible study
with him. And we pray for him," said Aldrich. ECM is keeping in contact
with him and is amazed by his strength as he refuses to return to his idols. "He
simply found the courage to do what many idol worshippers would like to
do," Aldrich said.

These 55 freed slaves, however, are not the end of ECM's quest to
liberate sex slaves. Though this was a slow process–taking five years for
these individuals to finally be free, ECM is already contacting and forming relationships with other
shrines, hoping to free even more slaves.

Pray for ECM as they continue their work in Ghana. Pray for
these freed women to find acceptance in their communities as they try to piece
their lives back together. Pray that they will find redemption and the unconditional
acceptance of Christ. Pray for the priest to remain strong in his faith and for
his fellow priests to turn to Christ through his example.

Support ECM and the work they are doing with trokosi and
vulnerable women and children across Africa at their Web site.

Every Child Ministries is rescuing these women and their children who were born into this environment. ECM co-founder Lorella Rouster says ritual servitude, or shrine slavery, is common.

Recently, Every Child Ministries liberated 55 slaves of the "Thunder god."

Rouster says it was a long process that started five years ago. "We went to the priest's home to meet the wives and to share the Gospel. We also met him and began to share the Gospel with him. At that time he was very interested.

Rouster says that was the beginning of a liberation that was supernatural. "Several members of the ECM team have been visiting [this priest] for the past five years. And, very gradually the priest has come to faith in Christ. He has come to the point where he was willing and even anxious to leave his idolatry and his priesthood and come out as a believer."

Rouster says his conversion led to the release of the slaves. And that's not all. "This priest convened all 63 other priests who were under him and urged all of them to follow Christ, too."

The priest has made a dramatic turnaround. He's now listening to God's Word on a Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) "Proclaimer" given to the priest, and he and his family have been listening to it constantly. But, also in the evening he has been playing it in his yard, and the whole neighborhood has been gathering to listen to it."

This home once used for idolatry is now an outpost for God's Word.

The road hasn't been easy for the priest. Rouster says, "He has really stood firm. Some of the local chiefs have come and argued with him and tried to turn him back, but he has stood firm." They're waiting to see when he gets sick. When he does, they're going to blame it on his conversion to Christ.

Rouster says many of the liberated slaves have already turned to Christ. "Even before the actual liberation took place, the priest allowed us to share the Gospel with the women, and many of them made professions of faith in Christ."

The road ahead is long, says Rouster. "Liberation is an event, but rehabilitation — that's a process. Some of the things we're doing are vocational training, counseling, and we'll continue sharing the Gospel with them and disciple those that have come to Christ.

Funding is needed to help these efforts. If you'd like to help Every Child Ministries with these rehabilitation efforts, click here.

Ritual servitude involves young
virgin girls who are given over to a traditional religious shrine in payment
for services, or in religious atonement for alleged misdeeds of a family member.
 In Ghana and in Togo, it is practiced by
some parts of the Ewe tribe in the Volta region, and in Benin it is practiced
by the Fon.

Those who practice believe the
girl is actually married to the gods of the shrine. Often, they are sexually abused, serve at
hard labor without compensation, suffer harsh punishment, and are denied food and
education, among other things.

Violation of the anti-slavery law carries
a substantial penalty: a mandatory three year jail sentence, but the law has
not been enforced.

Since Every Child Ministries believes
God created human beings in His image, it is natural for the ministry to be
anti-slavery and interested in human rights. They have been partnering for several years with national
Ghanaian efforts to liberate these girls. 

ECM's Lorella Rouster says their
work with these women is fast outpacing their staff.  As of April 2008, Every Child Ministries was instrumental
in organizing three liberations which ended the practice of slavery in
five shrines, freeing 500 slaves and 2,000 of their slaves' children. 

A triumphant story, but that's
just the beginning. "One of the big
jobs is not only liberating them, but AFTER we liberate them, helping them to
rebuild their lives. So much is broken, and that's really a big process. We are expressing an urgent need. We need two
women or two couples to work alongside our Ghanaian national
workers." 

After liberation, the girls
get vocational training. Options include dressmaking, tie-dying and batik,
weaving of traditional kente cloth, hairdressing, soap making, baking, and
catering. ECM also develops Christian education programs so that those
freed have opportunity to learn the teaching of the Scriptures.

There are thousands more who are
enslaved. Before expanding more, Rouster
says they want to make sure they are taking good care of the girls they're
working with now. That's why ECM needs a
team ready to commit at least a couple years to reach these women. "They would have the opportunity to
share Christ with the women who have been freed as they go into their homes.
They would help train and give experience to our national workers to evangelize
them and to disciple them." 

Click here if you can help.