CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Human trafficking, either for sex or for forced labor, is a horrible crime.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including many Christian ministries, raise hundreds of millions of dollars to fight human trafficking.
Indeed, sex trafficking has become something of a cause celebre for evangelicals. International Justice Mission's revenue has doubled in the past five years. Operation Underground Railroad didn't exist a decade ago, but has now grown to the point that it was able to pay its president Tim Ballard more than a half-million per year.
But work in the human trafficking arena has raised questions, and recently media reports have increased their scrutiny. MinistryWatch raised some of these questions, especially about Operation Underground Railroad.
Guidance For Christian Donors
Given these concerns, and the proliferation of trafficking ministries, what's a Christian donor to do? Here are a few guidelines:
Give locally.
Before you send money off to a national organization that is taking in tens of millions of dollars, see if there's a ministry in your community. There likely is. Investigate that ministry first. Big ministries can afford slick marketing. Don't be seduced.
Do your research.
MinistryWatch tracks the 1000 largest ministries in the nation at www.ministrywatch.com. Many of the largest trafficking organizations are there.
Volunteer.
Local ministries usually need volunteers to work with the people they serve. Many of them offer volunteer training that will help you understand how to be more effective in your work for them, but which also educate you about the human trafficking problem in your area.
Give to Christian organizations.
Many of the organizations involved in sex trafficking are not Christian groups. For example, neither OUR or IJM are explicitly Christian organizations, though IJM does have many Christians (including its founder, Gary Haugen) on staff.
Some of them do good work, but without bringing Scripture and a biblical worldview to this problem, we are likely not providing lasting help. I make no apologies for recommending that you give to and advocate for explicitly Christian organizations.
Finally...
Don't let negative headlines freeze you into inaction. View the negative headlines as a gift, steering you away from the bad actors and toward the good actors.
Human trafficking is a scourge, a horrible scourge in this beautiful but broken world. But it is the job of Christians to be restorers, reconcilers, repairers of the breach. Local human trafficking ministries are a great place to start.
