Slaves of the Super Bowl

Today is the long anticipated Super Bowl. The day where over 100 million people will sit down on their couches for a few hours to watch men tackle each other for a title. A day where far too many justified calories are consumed by people in honor of this football holiday. Don't get me wrong: I am one of these people and I hope its a great game. Even so, I can't help but think about a specific group of people who will not enjoy today (or any other day for that matter).

Victims of sex trafficking. 

It's hard not to pause at those words and think about all the connotations they hold.
However, I think we need to take a few pauses and think about the world-wide reconciliation that is needed. The Super Bowl has been known in the past to be the single-largest day for sex trafficking. Recent studies are showing that this may not be true, but that is no reason to turn our attention off of the issue. Today, just like most other days, women and men are trapped in a cycle they cannot escape.
I won't pretend that I really know what that cycle is like, because I don't. I have, however, spent some time reading about the issue, attending a few seminars about it, hearing victim's testimonies, and watching Nefarious: Merchant of Souls documentary. One thing is clear: these enslaved people need fighters. Prayer warriors. Real-life doers.
This post isn't meant to bash the Super Bowl or the yummy food or the couch time. It also isn't meant to deeply educate about the growing issue of sex trafficking. It is meant for us to become aware of things outside our chosen visual scope and spend a few minutes, today and in the days to come, getting off our butts and onto our knees in prayer for issues like this that grieve the heart of our God.