Yesterday I read about a rescue mission in South Asia on IJM’s website. The rescue included a mother and her one day old baby.
Today our staff, in cooperation with the local police, were able to bring many laborers out of a slavery facility. One of the laborers was a woman who had been forced to work up to the moment of delivering her baby (without a doctor – the owner refused), and then forced to continue work immediately following. She was unable even to pause to bathe her newborn or to get food for herself. Today, the day of this rescue, the baby is 1 day old.
Tears swell up in my eyes as I begin to think about the mother. I wonder what she was like as a little girl. I wonder if she’s even very old right now. I wonder how she was captured and how many hours she is forced to work before she sleeps in a small, unsanitary room with other slaves. I wonder if she was raped and that’s how she became pregnant. I wonder if she had morning sickness. I wonder if they made her work after he water broke. I wonder who cut the umbilical cord or if she was beaten while she was in labor. I wonder what she thought about as she was forced to get up and work and if she could see her baby in the corner all alone.
I wonder how many other women experience this every day and nobody knows where – or who – they are.
All of those things I wonder…But I do know this.
I know this woman is now free. This mother is now free. Her child is now free.
And I know we need to be on our faces pleading for their protection.
For their freedom.
Pleading for them.
Because I know their voices are oppressed….
….And I also know there is hope.
Comments
18 responses to “Having a Baby at Work?”
indeed! hope – what a powerful concept.
And we need to realize these things don’t just happen on the other side of the globe – they are going on right under our noses in our towns and cities, every single day.
Ummm….Wow. I think I feel like crying.
Sad! – I wish my anger and sadness at this could automatically free women like her, cuz then they would all be free!
This just breaks my heart. And makes me so so incredibly grateful for IJM.
I wonder with you…. I wonder how to help… I wonder why I am so blessed… I wonder….
I KNOW we are their VOICE and I know that they must know the HOPE to be had for all that have breath!
I think this is an apt meditation. The brutality of slavery is in the details, in the endless string if minutes that each contain an unbearable torture whether physical, emotional, or psychological.
We can hardly comprehend, let alone empathize.
In a world full of evil, sometimes it is hard to keep our eyes on God. I have found that, if I want to help those who are in bondage to evil, then I need to pray for everyone and to achieve what God has laid in front of me. As more and more of us rely on God’s absolute love and as we seek Him for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, we will be able to defeat the power of evil.
i can’t write what’s in my mind due to the obvious need to keep the printed word respectable on your blog – i will say 2 things however:
– God reacted to this type of event quite strongly many times as recorded in Scripture
– the fires burn hot for those that enslave others or put babies at risk of death, including those in elected govt. positions for which they should be elected or appointed for the good of all the people they represent.
(read between the lines and you’ll get the drift w/o me having to be censored)
1) incredible blog post with some thought-provoking questions. indeed.
b) i just started your book! and i can’t believe it took me this long to find your blog! thanks for sharing.
blessings.
I have no idea why we got chosen by God to live in America, to live so freely! We really cannot imagine this kind of slavery no matter how hard we try or pretend to understand.
Thanks Anne, some day I hope to meet you…meanwhile I’m praying for you! God Bless!
Powerful blog! Wonderful!
And, Texas in Africa, you too are right on target! Very true!
“Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.” Bob Pierce
“If one part suffers, every part suffers with it …” 1 Corinthians 12:26
Is is easy to be encapsulated in my own comfort and not truly feel the suffering of others. Thank you for drawing attention to this story. I highlighted it on my blog and linked it to you and IJM.
In the body of Christ, you are certainly a part of the voice.
I feel the same way and sadly there are probably mothers in very similar situations right here in Nashville! I wish I could save them all! Just have to pray for hope and do as much as we can!
wonderful post. thanks.
Anne – thank you so much for your words… So grateful for your partnership in defeating trafficking, slavery, poverty – God uses you in so many mighty ways.
wow… just wow…
Oh man Anne…this KILLS me. I honestly struggle with the whole grace thing when it comes to stories like this.
You might find this interesting…my wife and I are leaving on a 8000 mile roadtrip next month to make a documentary on Sex Trafficking for HopeFortheSold.com. Getting super excited about taking it to the next level!