The day started much like any other day. I had no wealth of my own, in fact the rather scraggy looking sheep I was looking after belonged to my wife’s father. There was very little grass to be found in the semi-dessert that I had made my home, so each day I had to take the sheep further and further across the arid landscape. I came to a mountain which was reputed to be a special place of the God my real mother had told me about so many years ago. Thinking about my real mother put me in a reflective mood.
Continue reading “An ancient, yet modern story”
Category: Slavery
The struggle for change
Why does Christianity, as a religion, seem to lag behind society in its lack of acceptance of people who are different in some way? When confronted with truth we can listen to reason, even change our minds on an issue, but dealing with the emotional impact of a new way of thinking takes time before we can whole heartedly embrace the truth. What am I talking about? Take the abolition of slavery as an example. Continue reading “The struggle for change”
Amazing Grace
The word “grace” has many meanings such as a prayer before a meal, courteousness, or the elegance of a dancer. But the word takes on a totally new meaning when we talk about grace in the context of God’s relationship with humanity. I respectfully submit my definition:
“Grace is the unconditional love of God extended to all men and women. Grace forgives us for the wrongs we commit towards our creator, his creation and one another. Grace includes us in the love relationship which God the Father shares with Jesus Christ his son.”
God is love: and the fact that he loves us is truly amazing, fantastic, mind-blowing, and whatever superlative you can think of. Continue reading “Amazing Grace”
Who should we blame?
The other day we watched a film about a Jew, living in America, who had escaped Austria when the Nazis took over. Before she left Austria, the Nazis stole all the family possessions, including a famous work of art worth millions of dollars. Sixty years later the painting was displayed in an art gallery in Vienna and the film describes her, eventually successful, efforts to restore the painting to its rightful owner.
In a sub-plot there are flashbacks in the film, to the period when Austria was taken over by the Nazis. We see scenes where the population was stirred up in hatred for the Jews. Jewish families were humiliated by ordinary people on the street, and of course they were eventually led away to their deaths. Continue reading “Who should we blame?”
3000 Vietnamese child slaves in the United Kingdom!
Some 3,000 Vietnamese children are enslaved by criminal gangs in the UK to work in brutal conditions in the European country, a report says.
“By our calculations there are around 3,000 Vietnamese children in the UK who are being used for profit by criminal gangs,” said Philip Ishola, the former head of the UK’s Counter Human Trafficking Bureau, the Guardian reported on Saturday.
(This is an article shared on Facebook by “Made in a free world” and produced by PRESSTV.) Continue reading “3000 Vietnamese child slaves in the United Kingdom!”
Sold to a brothel owner
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Marikit’s story
Hello, my name is Marikit[1] and I used live on an Island in South East Asia. I am now 18 years old but my story started when I was just 14. My mum and my dad were always shouting at each other. This was because my father owed a lot of money to the local loan shark and this man was threatening them. I didn’t know that I was to be the solution to their money problems!
Continue reading “Sold to a brothel owner”
Slavery in Britain today
There are an estimated 30 Million slaves throughout the world. But we, in Britain, cannot point the finger. We must ask why we tolerate 10,000 or more slaves in the United Kingdom today. We need a stronger law which will rank human trafficking alongside kidnapping and murder. We also need more vigilance on the part of the police, officials, social workers and the public as a whole to spot the signs of workers in conditions with restricted liberty.
Rescued from slavery on rose farm
Imagine fields of roses and a farm dedicated to the supply of these beautiful flowers to wealthy people in Bangalore, India. Roses represent romance and beauty.
But there is a darker side to this idyllic picture. The farm relied on 4 young boys, held as slaves to supply the labour. Two brothers had been trapped there for 5 years. One boy was just 9 years old.
They had been working on the farm to pay back a loan their parents had taken from the owner. But it was obvious that the loan would never be repaid and the children were effectively slaves. Continue reading “Rescued from slavery on rose farm”
Compassion and Justice 