Why I Run (LONG but I promise worth your time)

MISSING!     KIDNAPPED!     SOLD!

A teen goes missing in the local area… A child is lost a few towns away… it’s not connected to modern day slavery. No, modern day slavery is the problem over in other countries across the ocean.

For years I’ve been hearing about today’s abolitionists out there fighting modern day slavery – to which I can say I am not one of them…

I mean what could I do? I have no connections. I am an insignificant drop of rain in an ocean size problem, where the problem is literally oceans away!

After all, these girls are from other parts of the world, and they never set foot on American soil. This problem is not in my sphere of influence, and it certainly won’t ever impact me. Someone else is fighting the fight, they don’t need me. The United States has it’s own problems, and this isn’t really one of them.

Yet, shockingly enough… here are some statistics from the CASE Act website.

U.S. Statistics:

Human trafficking exists all over the United States, but California is a hot spot for domestic and international human trafficking.

• The average entry age of American minors into the sex trade is 12-14 years old. 
• California harbors 3 of FBI’s 13 highest child sex trafficking areas in the nation: Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego.

My feelings and ignorance are common armor for most Americans, as we guard our conscience so not to be responsible. Basically, if it doesn’t impact my world, then I can’t be moved.

That was until I read about a family who lives 40 minutes from my home. The mother, a typical suburban soccer mom. The daughter, a 17 year old no different than my daughter. They were your typical American family.

The daughter was at the local grocery store when she was abducted. Long story short, she was taken to a bay area motel, drugged, and pimped out on Craig’s List. She was repeatedly raped for 8 days until the FBI rescued her.

This typical American family, the one that could be your family or mine, had their lives turned upside down by MODERN DAY SLAVERY known as SEX TRAFFICKING.

While reading their story, it ripped through my heart like a hallow tipped bullet! It pierced any form of ignorant armor I had placed around my conscience! I was wrecked and stirred all at the same time! Yet, I still felt like that single drop of rain in this great big ocean called slavery, but now, the ocean is in my own backyard!

I discovered I can do something. I can RUN!

Run For Courage is the result of that family’s fight to help victims heal once rescued. It is a 5/10k event where the proceeds go to help victims in our own backyard!

Since their daughter’s abduction and rescue, everything that family had once known was stolen from them. An article of their visit to Dr. Phil stated that the family could not find help for their daughter, and she had begun self-medicating using drugs and alcohol. Understandable, the entire family struggles with fear, and their view of safety has been completely erased!

All this knowledge, and I still I feel like running isn’t enough. I still feel like an insignificant rain drop hitting that huge ocean!

What more can I do? 

FIRST! I can drop the mentality that I am only one. Because the truth is I am ONE of many drops of rain. It’s the mentality of I am only one that keeps so many from even trying to do anything!

SECOND! I can remember THEM while I run! (Well, maybe run/walk) but nonetheless I will do it for those forgotten and voiceless victims out there. It is estimated that there are 12.3 million slaves around the world, and not even 0.04% of the victims are identified!

Why Run…

I run for the ones who have no one looking for them. I run for the ones who wonder if anyone is still looking for them. I run for the ones who have given up hope, and I run for the ones who have been rescued and are fighting to live.

I run for those who haven’t been rescued, and for those who won’t be rescued. I run for those who have committed suicide as an alternative to living in hell. I run for those who were abducted today, sold today, beaten today, and raped today. I run, because they CANNOT run! 

What Can You DO? 

YOU can talk… talk about this story to your friends and family. Share about it on Facebook and Twitter so others realize that modern day slavery exisist here in the United States!

YOU can run/walk… join my team, team Brave Heart, September 29th in Folsom California, at the Run For Courage. Your entry fee goes directly towards the fight and healing of those victims of sex trafficking right here in California! Run for those who cannot.

YOU can give… if you cannot run/walk on September 29th, consider making a monetary donation to Run For Courage in support of Team Brave Heart. We will do the running/walking for you!

YOU can vote… Come the November election, the state of California will have on it’s ballot Proposition 35 to Stop Sex Trafficking in California. The victims of this crime have no voice, but you do! Don’t let your voice go unheard, and be their voice in November!

All I wanted to do today was RUN to find them! RUN to scoop them all up in my arms and take them to safety! Everything in my spirit raged in anger, and a deep burning to do something continued to grow! But where would I run to find them? What connections do I have? Who am I to really do anything? All those doubts and discouraging words were like water putting out my burning fire.

So, instead I did what I knew I could do – I wrote… so maybe, just maybe, my drop of rain can start a storm! Today, in my own little way, I became a modern day abolitionist! Will you?