Caring for the Lord baby

【Prayer】

Photo courtesy/Wang Wenxian

Organizing/Zhou Weiwei

Visions on the streets of Hong Kong

On a hot afternoon in 2000, when I was walking hurriedly on the streets of Mong Kok with others, my eyes were suddenly attracted by two beggars on the street: one stretched out his hands with skin disease and lowered his head to beg from passers-by; Unable to do anything, he curled up on the ground and shook the empty cup in front of him with his hands. Such a picture tightly grasped my heart, and an inexplicable heavy wave kept surging inside: "O God, didn't you create male and female in your own image? Since you created them in your noble and majestic image, "Why are so many people still living without dignity in this world?" God did not immediately tell me "Why?" but told me: "Respond to what you see with action."

From then on, God began to lead me among people to restore the prosperity and dignity that people should have in Christ. During my internship at the seminary in 2006, I visited Yau Ma Tei, Hong Kong. When I was passing through a red light district, I saw a beautiful girl with a good figure walking towards the "Clock Hotel" (Clock Hotel) in front of me with a man. , seeing her retreating back disappearing behind the dark door, I couldn't help but burst into tears, feeling sad for her broken-winged soul. I asked God again: “Where is the dignity and beauty that You have bestowed on man?”

Cheaper than beer girl

After graduating from seminary, I accidentally saw a documentary on TV one day that reported on the sexual exploitation of girls in India. The camera suddenly turned to a little girl about five years old, sitting on the lap of a middle-aged man, letting the man move his hands up and down her clothes and keep touching her. Suddenly, my heart was shocked by this real but unbelievable picture! Narrator quote: In a certain brothel in India, a bottle of beer costs US$5, while the price of a prostitute is only US$3.

Man, a man carefully created by God, is so humble that he is not worth as much as a bottle of beer? As a mother of two daughters, it is hard for me to imagine how I would deal with my daughter if she lived in such an environment, where her human rights were despised and her soul was trampled on. Every time I think that somewhere in the world, there are beings who are in such unbearable darkness, where their body and mind are being abused, my heart feels like a knife cutting through me, and I cannot calm down for a long time.

It all starts with prayer

Human trafficking is one of the most serious crimes in the world, with a new victim every five seconds. Human trafficking covers a wide range of areas. In addition to becoming sex slaves, victims may also be abused in sweatshops. Others, such as child marriage, human organ sales, etc., are all different forms of human trafficking. Although this is a very serious crime, it is rarely mentioned and not many Chinese churches pay attention to it. Therefore, even though I am passionate about starting this ministry, I don’t know where to start.

However, God’s grace was sufficient, and He raised up a group of co-workers around me who shared the same burden for human trafficking. We often gather together to pray for the ministry. At the same time, I continue to collect information, data and documentaries, and distribute them on different occasions or on social networks, hoping to let more people know more about human trafficking.

One time, I played the documentary "Nefarious: Merchant of Souls" in a co-worker group at my previous ministry. There were scenes of women being treated as commodities, and a line of commands. The story of the sore nose truly reveals how the person involved experienced the heinous evil deeds and thoughts that trampled on humanity. At the end of the film, a woman who has been working as a call girl for a long time attempted to commit suicide by taking medicine because she was in a depressed and hopeless life. In a trance, she was shocked to see Jesus appearing in front of her. Like a child who made a mistake, the woman cried desperately and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm a prostitute, I'm sorry!" Jesus comforted her with mercy and tenderness: "My child, don't be afraid, don't worry, I've already done it myself with my precious blood. Redeem you and cleanse you of your filth!" Since meeting Jesus, this woman's life has undergone a tremendous transformation. Finally, she joined a local volunteer organization to help women with similar experiences in the red light district, and to Many people preach the gospel.

After watching the documentary, many of my co-workers and I knelt on the ground, crying out to the Lord for justice to come to the earth. Some male co-workers even prayed for their prostitutes to confess their sins and repent deeply for the damage they had done to women's bodies, personalities, and dignity. Since then, every two months, we have always prayed for different human trafficking issues around the world, because we firmly believe that behind the ministry, there must be prayer support and it must be based on prayer.

During those days, I often felt an urge in my heart, and God often moved me to "get up at night and cry out at the next watch, pouring out your heart like water before the Lord. Your children are starving and fainting at the entrances of the markets. Their lives are lifted up in prayer to the Lord” (Lamentations 2:19).

One night at three o'clock in the morning, I woke up suddenly and couldn't sleep. A strong thought forced me to pray for the many girls who were suffering in the world. During the prayer process, God made me feel for the experience of the abused girl. The helplessness, pain and disappointment inside made me unable to stop crying out to God for a way out all night long. I saw a picture of Image: There are many people in the world who have lost the ability to pray and cry out. God called me to speak up and pray for them.

▲Sister Lily Lee, the president of Christ Abundance Fellowship, came to Hong Kong from the United States to share her vision of anti-human trafficking and her ministry in Cambodia.

The birth of the baby booklet

The heavenly experience that night made me truly realize the urgency and importance of prayer. God wants to raise up not just a small group, but also a large group of His people to respond and pray together.

In September 2014, during collective prayer at a church in Hong Kong, I was inspired to pray for human trafficking. The church pastor contacted me and invited me to share the situation and response to human trafficking. Since that night, I and this group of faithful intercessors called by God have been praying for the human trafficking situation around the world through WhatsApp groups every day, regardless of time and region.

During the prayer, we received a strong message together: every victim is God’s “treasure” and the apple of Heavenly Father’s eyes. Therefore, we decided to call these innocent victims treasures. This is why When we name the prayer booklet in the future, we will call it "Treasure Booklet-30 Days of Prayer".

In this prayer booklet, we have compiled prayers from the past year and compiled some information about human trafficking to make more people aware of and pay attention to this crime that is spreading around the world. The biggest purpose behind this is to raise more intercessors to pray for the babies.

In 2014, the first issue of the prayer booklet was released, and 2,000 copies were quickly distributed in just one week. In July, an additional 5,000 copies were printed, and the electronic version was also published on many websites. Currently, the "Baby Booklet" has been distributed in Hong Kong and the United States. Many brothers and sisters who have read the prayer booklet responded that it not only made them understand more about human trafficking, but also knew how to specifically pray for the babies. Some parents even personally share the situation of human trafficking with their children during family worship, and encourage their children to save their pocket money and donate it to "anti-human trafficking" organizations in the future.

We are very grateful. Now the "Baby Booklet" has attracted the attention and support of many Chinese churches. Due to the need for ministry development, it is now available in English. Many sisters who assisted in translation shed tears for the victims' unbearable experiences while translating. . We sincerely hope that God’s Spirit will personally touch the hearts of intercessors, so that people in every corner of the world will pray for our babies every day, so that they can be freed from the shackles of sinful forces as soon as possible.

▲Member of the preparatory team for "Baby Booklet".

next steps

Micah Chapter 6:8 says: “O man, what does the Lord require of you, since he has shown you what is good? But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. ”

God wants us not only to stand up and shout, but also to put our slogans into action and become truly "people who walk humbly with God." We hope that the "Baby Booklet" can arouse the public's compassion for the victims and further see the Human trafficking turns out to be so real and ugly in our lives. I hope that in addition to praying for the victims, we will reflect more deeply on ourselves: In this era where consumerism is paramount and sexual values are severely distorted, how should we live out the likeness of Christ and fight against human trafficking with a holy life.

We are also preparing a set of teaching materials on "Anti-Human Trafficking", hoping to promote it to church groups and primary and secondary school systems to enhance the public's understanding and reflection on human trafficking.

Prayer: Lord loves baby

Dear Lord, You are the only true God of the baby. You love the baby far better than anyone else, because there is great and infinite love in You. You are the righteous Lord. You hate all lawless things. You will avenge all treasures and perform complete salvation.

Dear Lord, we pray to You that all the treasures in the world can live with dignity, regardless of each other. Our wish is that every baby can live and grow in a safe environment and have the most basic rights of a child: to be loved, protected, have dreams, have a voice, have food, have fun and laugh. These are the dignity You gave us when you created us.

Dear Lord, we beg you even more, we want to become your people, we will never compromise easily, and we will never stand aside, but we will become humble walkers with you and your treasure. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!

Note:
If you are willing to pray for your baby, please go to the following webpage, http://www.ficfellowship.org/books.html and look for "Baby Booklet - 30 Days of Prayers" in the middle section and click to download the booklet.

Author profile Wang Wenxian was called by the Lord to serve the poor in 2000, and then joined the Christian Concern for the Homeless Association to serve full-time. In 2003, he entered Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary to study for a Bachelor of Pastoral Studies, and returned to the association family in 2007. Blending theology and social work training; that same year, God placed the voices of human trafficking victims in her heart. In 2014, he officially joined the Christian Abundance Fellowship and devoted himself to promoting education and anti-human trafficking in Cambodia.