Slavery in Our Time

In his book, From Hope to Higher Ground: 12 STOPs to Restoring America’s Greatness, Mike Huckabee, Governor of Arkansas, tells some interesting stories. One is about taking his daughter to Israel when she was 11 and visiting the Yad Vashem memorial to victims of the Holocaust. After seeing the pictures of the slave labor camps and the death ovens that Hitler and his Nazis constructed in Dachau, Auschwitz, and other places he controlled in Europe in the 1930’s and 1940’s—and events that led up to those tragedies—she came to the guest book next to the exit door. Governor Huckabee noted that she wrote five simple words that showed him that she grasped the meaning of what she saw: “Why didn’t somebody do something?”

I am retired from teaching high school social studies in the Detroit Public Schools and in Ohio, and over 80% of my students were African-American. Most of them probably entered my classes believing that their ancestors were the only people who were forced to endure slavery—except for what they learned about it in the Bible. While teaching the history of the 1930’s and ’40’s, I tried to bring in special material about the Holocaust, have a guest speaker on the subject, or take them to a Holocaust museum near Detroit. They were always impressed and asked the same question as young Ms. Huckabee. Then when we talked about contemporary examples of slavery, they were even more amazed. My point was not to minimize the tragedy of slavery that their ancestors were forced to endure coming to and within the U.S.—but to show how it has even wider tentacles then they had imagined.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of when William Wilberforce was able to get Parliament to pass a law outlawing the slave trade in the British Empire. It’s been 142 years since the Civil War ended and the Thirteenth Amendment made slavery unconstitutional in the United States. Nearly every country in the world—if not all of them—now has similar laws forbidding slavery or has signed a formal agreement against it.

One of the organizations in my Helping Overseas Directory is the U.S. Center for World Mission, and they publish a bi-monthly magazine called Mission Frontiers. The current issue came to my door yesterday containing four well-documented articles about slavery as it tragically exists today. The essence of these articles is that slavery is can be found all over the world, including in the U.S, right now, and that everyone should do whatever is possible to fight against it.

The National Geographic Magazine had an article in its September 2003 issue stating that “there are more slaves today than were seized from Africa during the four centuries of the trans-Atlantic Slave trade.” It estimates that there are approximately 27 million slaves in the world right at the present time. Several other newspaper and magazine articles and recent books have pointed out that there probably are more people living in slavery now than at any other time in history. In 2005, the U.S. State Department reported that slavery is documented in 112 countries.

I live in a middle to upper-middle income, multi-racial suburb of Detroit that has approximately 90,000 people and over 60 languages in our local school system. Last year the U.S. District Court found that a couple in my community—ten minutes from my house—was guilty of slavery by having someone from an African country living in bondage in their household. The same crime was found in an adjoining suburb shortly before that.

In the introduction to his book, Not for Sale: The Return of the Slave Trade—and How We Can Fight It (HarperCollins, 2007), David Batstone says that “nearly two hundred thousand live enslaved at this moment in the United States, and additional 17,500 new victims are trafficked across our borders every year.” I did a Google search on the internet this morning by using this title: “Slavery in the U.S. today in 2007.” It instantly brought up 2,160,000 entries (some of that may be more historical than contemporary, however).

Who are the people forced to come to the U.S. as contemporary slaves? They may be women and children forced into pornography and other sexual situations that they had not anticipated. They could be workers in agriculture or food processing and non-agricultural work. Like those I mentioned above, they could be house slaves. When one examines the problem in other countries, there are these and many additional situations of slavery. Batestone says that of those who are forced across international borders, “80 percent are female and 50 percent are children.” He also notes that this is a multi-billion dollar crime just in the U.S. and far more worldwide. Doing what you can to fight pornography and illicit sex is one of the most effective ways of fighting slavery. There are many others.

Three of the organizations in my directory that are fighting against this are Amnesty International (www.amnestyusa.org), Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org), and International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org). There are others that seem to be doing a great job, and perhaps you might want to consider supporting one or more of them.

Recently I heard Tony Campolo, retired professor of sociology at Eastern University (in the Philadelphia area) speak at a church near me. He is a prolific author and someone I really admire on the subject of applying the Bible to contemporary issues. I recommend his writings, and you can easily find them by doing a Google search. He and I also share a strong interest in Haiti.

Dr. Campolo urges everyone to find some kind of a special cause to support with vigor. In addition to helping inner-city children in Philadelphia, he helped start a program called Beyond Borders that strongly emphasizes help for Restavecs. You probably have not heard of that term. It refers to the approximately 300,000 people in Haiti who have been forced into slavery—both there and in the U.S. if their captors bring them here.

I don’t have Beyond Borders listed in my directory because I feel that I can be more effective in listing and describing organizations that are involved in wide areas of the developing world instead of many thousands that deal with only one or a few countries. However I am glad to suggest that learning about and supporting Beyond Borders as an excellent example of how you can answer the question that is at the top of my blog. Their website is www.beyondborders.net

I also refer you to a book they introduced me to entitled Restavec: from Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American. It was written by Jean-Robert Cadet and published by University of Texas Press in 1998. The author overcame tremendous odds and is now a high school teacher in Cincinnati, and his autobiography provides excellent reading.

Pray, think, and learn about what you can do now—and find other appropriate actions— so that future generations won’t look back at us and say “Why didn’t somebody do something?”

H. Bruce Carr

Being a middle-class American, I realize that people in the United States and other developed countries often use phrases that may not have much significance to us personally but can be interpreted very differently in other parts of the world. If one of my American friends says, “I am starving to death,” it probably means that he or she is a bit hungry for the next meal (or perhaps a mere snack). It is very unlikely that the person went without food for 24 hours or longer and is really starving. Being on the governing board of a local homeless shelter organization, however, I know that there are some people in the U.S. who are truly hungry and could even starve if not given help. But far more Americans are eating too much – especially foods that are high in fat content. We are likely to see far more Americans become ill and die with diabetic and heart problems as a result rather than problems caused by lack of food. “Eat fewer calories and do more physical exercise” is frequent advice when many Americans visit their physicians for a checkup.

Contrast this with typical situations in what are commonly called the developing countries or the “2/3’s world” (where 2/3’s of the population on this planet lives). “Starving to death” is far too often a realistic and tragic fact that must be faced daily.

In my last “Bruce’s Blog” (December 24, 2005), I recommended that anyone who is able to do so get a copy of the Faith In Action Study Bible. It uses the Revised Standard Version and was published last summer by Zondervan in cooperation with World Vision (one of the major organizations in this directory; see www.worldvision.org). Page 1559 has the familiar story in Matthew, Chapter 2, of how Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus away from Bethlehem so that he would not be slaughtered by Herod’s troops. At the bottom of the page, it notes that some estimates are that “as many as 30,000” infant boys died in that tragedy. Then also at the bottom of the page, it lists the greatest child killers in the world today. The largest is hunger: “20 million children under the age of 15 die each year from hunger-related diseases.” It also notes that “every day of the year, 30,000 children under the age of five die of preventable causes.”

We are talking about current times—when the world is connected by television, the internet, and other forms of rapid communication. Almost every week, Americans and people in other developed countries see stories in their news about large numbers of children dying in many areas of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Last week I attended a missions conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan in which the keynote speaker highlighted these and other statistics. Every day, the number of children who die of starvation or other preventable causes equals that of a small city. The community where I live has approximately 90,000 people. Thus, the number of children who die because of these reasons in three days equals the population of where I live. He also noted the tendency of most Americans to compare themselves with other people in their own individual circles instead of taking a broader view. Perhaps this is one reason why the U.S. ranks last among the 22 most affluent nations in regard to the percentage of per capita income that goes helping in the developing world (see the color charts in the appendix to the Faith in Action Study Bible).

Recently I read the revised version of Ronald J. Sider’s Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity (W Publishing Group, 1997, 338 pages, $15.99 U.S. for paperback). Dr. Sider brings a tremendous amount of information and insights about causes of poverty, what God says about the subject, and how to effectively deal with it. I strongly recommend that you read this book if you have not already done so. On the last page, he says that we should begin our efforts with a simple daily prayer: “Lord Jesus, teach my heart to share your love for the poor.” This book has excellent discussion questions after each chapter and would be good for a small group to read and study together.

I call your attention to several organizations in my directory that are especially interested in helping deal with hunger issues. Bread for the World (www.bread.org) is a leading research, education, and advocacy group. ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, see www.echonet.org) has a special research farm in Florida that seeks solutions for hunger in developing countries. Feed My Starving Children (www.fmsc.org), Food for the Hungry (www.fh.org), and Heifer Project International (www.heifer.org) have very excellent programs. Solar Cookers International (www.solarcookers.org) describes alternatives for cooking food where wood and other fuel sources are not readily available. You might also think about direct sponsorship of a child via one of the excellent programs that link you with a specific person in need of daily food and educational help. Another idea is to support programs such as the Vitamin Angel Alliance (www.vitaminangel.org) or the Worm Project (www.fmc-online.org/wormproject). Usually children facing major hunger problems also have vitamin deficiencies and are afflicted with parasitic worms that destroy about ¼ of the child’s nutritional intake. There are many other excellent organizations besides these few that I have listed.

The next time some temporary hunger pangs cause you to say “I’m starving to death,” please ask yourself whether this is a flippant phrase or a fearful fact. Think about what Christ said in Matthew 25 about providing food for those who need it. Think about what you can personally do to help people who really are starving. Then think about what the Bible says in James 1:22 (Revised Standard Version): “Do not merely listen to the word … do what it says.”

H. Bruce Carr
February 10, 2006

Almost anyone with even the most simple knowledge of Christianity has heard about how Jesus Christ was born in a stable in Bethlehem because there was no room at the inn when Joseph and Mary sought lodging there. In countless churches around the world, the familiar story is told about how he slept on straw in a manger—literally a place where farm animals ate. “Away in a Manger” and other Christmas carols tell about how cattle were near the holy infant. You probably can’t imagine any more simple surroundings than that. Of course, the brief description in Luke 2:7 and the carols don’t tell the full story of what a stable is like—especially the smell.

Have you ever visited a modern dairy barn in the United States or another developed country? It’s not a simple place anymore and is instead much more like a milk factory than the kind of farm where I was born in the hills of Tennessee 67 years ago. In my young years, we didn’t have electricity. Cows relieved themselves where they stood in the barn, and it was a very smelly place. Flies and other insects were almost everywhere. In contrast, today’s American dairy farmer uses computerized equipment that automatically brings special formulated feed to the cows, removes their waste products, and keeps things so clean inside the milking barn that the old time manure smell is almost gone from it.

I also remember what it was like to live in a rural and small town area where no one had indoor plumbing. Instead of a bathroom, there was the outhouse (with big spiders). I clearly remember the first time of going to a city and seeing a toilet flushing. How amazing it was that the water swirled around and the contents magically disappeared. After my parents moved us to Detroit, we went to visit my grandparents and other Tennessee relatives every year. Once I remember watching my grandfather put a rope around his outhouse and using his mule to drag it to another location—then filling the old hole with fresh dirt. There was plenty of room between that and the spring or well where they got drinking water, so we didn’t worry about contamination. The previous location’s ground was safely enriched with new natural fertilizer and produced better vegetation the next year. It was a simple idea, but it worked.

A few years before I was born, public health officials and educators began spreading the news about how safer drinking water systems and better sanitary facilities could eliminate the intestinal parasitic worms that drained children and adults of so much nutrition and energy. With electricity and indoor plumbing so much more available now, and the massive changes in farming, the “Away in a Manger” words no longer describe rural life in the more affluent parts of the world.

Yesterday I used my computer to read a few news articles. One was a major story in the New York Times (12/23/05). It told about how girls in many parts of Africa are not able to get very far in school for a very simple reason: lack of appropriate toilet facilities. As they reach puberty, they are embarrassed by not having toilet privacy—especially when they begin menstruating. The article noted that if more appropriate bathrooms could be provided, more girls would stay in school for more years—thus being able to anticipate more promising futures. Given all of the possible subjects for their front page, I was impressed by how much emphasis this world-famous publication gave to such a basic need.

Last month, I was among the over 2,500 people at the Global Missions Health Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s the largest faith-based event of its kind anywhere on the planet. Learn about it at http://www.medicalmissions.com Among the many excellent workshop speakers was April Perry. She is a pediatric cardiology advanced practice nurse at Duke Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. That’s among the most highly respected medical centers anywhere in the world, and she has all of the advanced equipment and facilities to work with. Ms. Perry is especially interested in Haiti and recently wrote a book about her experiences there: THEY SUFFER IN FAITH: STORIES OF THE LIFE TRANSFORMING WORK OF GOD AMONG AND THROUGH THE PEOPLE OF HAITI (Xulon Press, 2005)

One of Ms. Perry’s main themes was that she had to change from her role of being a specialty nurse having all of the medical advantages and get down to the most basic issues. Quickly she realized that one of the main concerns was the lack of sanitary facilities in most of Haiti. On page 71 she writes: “In an environment where there is 80% unemployment…, where the life expectancy is 49 years, and 30% of the children die before age 5 from preventable diseases, it is clear where the most work needs to be done. Think about latrines instead of bone marrow transplants. Think about clean water instead of bypass surgery. Think about tetanus prevention in newborns instead of laparoscopic surgery facilities.” She was especially happy to be able to help raise funds for more latrine construction and then move on to other concerns.

Haiti certainly isn’t the only place in the world needing help, and I strongly believe that we Americans and other folks in the developing world don’t have all of the answers. I believe that we need to help the nationals learn to help themselves. Three years ago, my wife and I shared our home with a man from Haiti while he earned his M.A. in Pastoral Counseling at a seminary close to us. Last Saturday he got married to a nurse from Finland in her hometown, and they will be going to Haiti next month to continue their work with Medical Ambassadors International. See http://www.medicalambassadors.org They will be working on an intense house by house, community by community basis to share the blessings of God’s love as they help empower local people to solve more of their own problems. Again they strongly emphasize starting on simple things.

Finally, I want to call your attention to a new edition of the Bible. It is called the FAITH IN ACTION STUDY BIBLE: LIVING GOD’S WORD IN A CHANGING WORLD. Published by World Vision and Zondervan (2005), it uses the New International Version language. For anyone interested in missions, I don’t think you can find a more interesting Bible. Almost every page refers to some aspect of missions, and many useful stories, charts, and statistics are presented in a helpful manner. More than one billion children live in poverty. It also notes how many simple things can be done at little expense to help them and others. More information on that and other World Vision activities is on their website: http://www.worldvision.org

What simple things can you do to advance the gospel of salvation and healing that Christ brought? I hope that my Helping Overseas Directory gives you a few ideas, and I look forward to hearing from you. May the peace that Christ came to bring in this world be with you and yours.

H. Bruce Carr

Bruce's Blog, September 1, 2005

The attention of just about everyone in the United States, and much of the world, is focused on the recent Category 4 Hurricane Katrina tragedy in New Orleans and other areas of southern of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. It is estimated that at least 1,000 people are dead. Destruction is everywhere, and there are uncounted tales of woe. As I write these lines, television reports say that the helicopter crews sent in to help are to "ignore the dead and concentrate on rescuing the living" until further notice. Again and again, one hears reports about how this is one of the worst natural disasters (and certainly the most expensive one) in U.S. history. The effects will continue for many years.

Katrina reminded me of some personal hurricane-related experiences a few years ago.  Along with friends from several states, I had planned to go on another mission trip to La Romana, Dominican Republic, in mid-November of 1998. Two months before that, Hurricane Georges swept through that coastal community and caused a lot of suffering and damage.  We wondered if it would be necessary to change plans, but our hosts advised us to come.  We brought a lot of medical suppies for the Good Samaritan General Hospital and various things to donate to hurricane victims.

Georges made me think of another idea:  designing and getting custom-made t-shirts.  They had these words in Spanish, Haitian Creole and English encircling a large cross:  "Our God Is More Powerful Than Any Hurricane."  We were all wearing them upon our arrival and gave the extras to our hosts.  They were delighted and said that we couldn't have chosen a better message.

Although we saw plenty of evidence of the destruction caused by Georges, we were in a safe environment and were able to help in many ways.  We were also assured that no hurricanes had ever come ashore around there in mid-November.  Thus it was quite a surprise when, as a friend and I were helping at a small church in La Romana that was being used as a temporary medical clinic, our driver came with an urgent message.  We were to get into his truck immediately.  A category four hurricane had been spotted about 130 miles offshore, and it was headed towards us.

We were taken to the safest place available--a solid building constructed with reinforced concrete and designed to take just about any hit.  We put mattresses on the concrete floor and awaited the dawn (when the hurricane was projected to arrive.)  A lot of prayers went up that night.  Fortunately, this new hurricane changed its course and never hit land.  There was some very minor flooding for a day or two, but nothing of consequence happened.  We certainly had many reasons to count our blessings as we continued our volunteer work and then headed home to the U.S. on schedule.

What happened with Katrina was infinitely worse than my experiences, but three observations come to mind.

First, some people escaped and some did not.  Innumerable efforts were made to warn everyone along the Gulf Coast as soon as the size and projected course of Hurricane Katrina became apparent.  Most people were able to heed the warnings and evacuate.  Tragically, however, many thousands could not.  Most of those who could not escape are extremely impoverished.  They don't own a car or could not afford enough gasoline to escape if they had one.  Others were too physically weak for regular travel.  Some stayed behind to care for a family member.  They could only hope and pray for the best.

Yet others felt that because other hurricanes had not been as bad as predicted, this one probably would not be as bad as what they had heard. "We can ride it out," was a common response. Some people were successful in surviving, but many were not. "I wish that I had known that it was really going to be that bad," some of them sobbed. Hindsight is 20/20. Foresight is not.

Second, all of us have a responsibility to do what we can to help now.  Current conditions in the desperate Gulf Shore areas have been described as "Hell on earth" and "America's Tsumani."  Some medical care workers there have also had experiences helping in developing countries.  They describe working in a New Orleans hospital without electricity or basic supplies as being just as challenging as overseas mission trips.

Regardless of where you are or what you can do, you can help in some important way.  Many of the organizations in this directory are already involved or will be doing so in the near future.  Go to their websites, and you will find many examples of how you can provide hands-on or financial assistance.  Many other organizations, such as the American Red Cross and the Salvation Arrmy, are doing a tremendous job.  My church is part of American Baptist Churches/USA, and we have an excellent disaster relief program called "One Great Hour of Sharing."  It's wonderful to see how people all over the world are getting involved, and each of us should do whatever we can.  Begin with prayer--and don't forget to use your checkbook!

At the same time, we should not foget the needs in other countries where equally (and sometimes even more) devastating tragedies take place--but where there are not the kind of major resources available in the U.S.  Far more people in developing countries die every day because of diseases which can be prevented very inexpensively than will be killed by Hurricane Katrina.  Are their lives any less important than ours?

Third, the news should cause all of us to reflect on our own mortality. The word "saints" is commonly used. It also refers to professional football in New Orleans and the happy old song: "When the saints—go marching in, when the saints—go marching in. Oh, how I want—to be in that number—when the saints go marching in." I've been at some Christian funerals when that was sung as the casket was carried out of the church. It seemed so very appropriate. For one who is a Christian, death is a victory, and those who die with Jesus Christ as their savior will have eternal life and truly are the saints—not just anyone who happens to like the word.

The Bible repeatedly says that the opposite is also true for those who do not accept Christ as their personal savior. Just as many of Katrina's victims who could have escaped did not heed the numerous warnings, many people will suffer eternal punishment because they did not accept the gift of salvation before it was too late. Unlike the Katrina victims, no one will be left behind because of poverty--but they will lose if they make the wrong decision about Christ.  It makes no difference whether one is rich or poor; the same eternal warning applies.

Another song has these words: "Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand. But I know who holds the future, and I know He holds my hand." If you were a hurricane victim stranded on a roof, you would be thrilled to see a rescue helicopter come and for someone to reach out his or her hand to save you from death. Have you accepted the hand that Jesus Christ extends to save you from an infinitely worse disaster?

If anyone wants to communicate with me about any of these matters, I would be glad to hear from you.  Our God Is More Powerful Than Any Hurricane!

H. Bruce Carr