June 2012
Dear friend,
Greetings in Jesus’ name – the powerful name that allows us to come to the Father’s throne room and pray for great things! This month I pray for God’s grace to be poured into our lives as we corporately seek biblical justice for the serious global problem of modern-day slavery. Yes, this is a great big job, but let’s keep in mind that Jesus is a greater savior!
Last year I was in Zanzibar, an island on the east coast of Tanzania, launching Project Hannah. Ninety-seven percent of the population there is Muslim. I visited a former slave-trade market, where the suffering and horrors inflicted on innocent people two centuries ago seemed to still be crying out from the walls of the dark chambers where slaves were kept like animals for days or weeks. On the mainland, they sometimes traveled 1,000 miles on foot, chained by the neck to one another as they carried ivory to Bagamoyo, a town on the east coast. “The name Bagamoyo means ‘lay down your heart,’ because it was here that slaves would abandon hope of freedom,” a Zanzibar website reports. “Slaves who survived the long trek were crammed into dhows bound for Zanzibar, and paraded for sale like cattle in the Slave Market.”
Slavery has been abolished in much of the world a long time. Unfortunately, however, as you see in this month’s prayer calendar, slavery affects more people in 2012 than ever before! It is a greedy and shameful but lucrative and booming business that keeps 20 million men, women and children locked and enslaved in sweatshops, farms, restaurants and brothels in most developing nations.
In his book Disposable People, Kevin Bales writes: “[S]lavery is exploitation, violence, and injustice all rolled together in their most potent combination. If there is one fundamental violation of our humanity we cannot allow, it is slavery. If there is one basic truth that virtually every human being can agree on, it is that slavery must end.”
As Christians we cannot close our eyes. Most of all, we must pray against the real cause of modern slavery – the sin in the human heart. Jesus said, “Everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin,” but “if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” That’s the ultimate freedom we pray for.
May God reward our work and may we see his deliverance rolling like a river over this world.
Marli Spieker
Global Ministry Director/Founder
Project Hannah
TWR