Cindy learns about labor trafficking.

I tasted good food from a variety of cultures this week –Thai, El Salvador, Chinese, Mediterranean–what a delight to taste the variety of spices and textures followed by refreshing liquids, warm and cold, sweet and bitter, satisfying my hunger and my taste buds.

Mudan, after you had been sold by your parents and forced to work in a brothel at age 9, were you able to taste the soothing tea the madam offered you as she repeated “what a brave little girl you are?” When one of the nicer customers offered you some candy at the end of your task, could you experience it’s sweetness and perhaps smile briefly as you allowed it to melt in your mouth? Or, did that sensation in your body die along with the rest of you as you continued to breathe, but weren’t alive any longer?

 

I felt the California weather this week –the cool breeze that seemed to refresh even the stalest air; the rain that washed some of the dirtiness out of the air; the warm and cold variations that brought sensations that made me feel alive.

Faye, when you leave the Downtown Women’s Center in LA, after resting for a spell, how will the weather affect you? Will the rain soak the only clothes you own? Will you even feel the refreshing breeze that is blowing on your dry, parched skin? Will you feel the sun and enjoy soaking in the warmth, or will the reflection from all of that concrete make it feel like you are roasting in an oven? Maybe you’ve become numb and won’t be able to feel any of it at all.

 

I saw the beauty of Los Angeles and the surrounding area –the beautiful mountains with the grand shadows from the clouds; the ocean with the sun sparkling off the water; the palm trees that seemed to reach clear to the sky; the amazing variety of flowers and foliage in a rainbow of colors.

Natasha, what will you be able to see when you arrive at the shelter once you’ve been rescued from your trafficker? Will you be able to see the cool, funky colors of the newly remodeled center that has been prepared just for you? Will you be able to look at the donated paintings on the walls and allow yourself to imagine new and wonderful places? Will you be able to look out that window with bars and see that this time the bars are there to protect you, not to imprison you? Perhaps you’ve been blinded by the darkness in which you’ve lived, and won’t be able to see the new life that is before you.

 

I heard a variety of sounds in LA –the wonder of many languages spoken from all around the world; the music played by musicians set up on the street corner; the laughter of friends.

Maria, how hard was it for you to hear again after being held as a sex slave from the age of 16? Did you close your ears to avoid the sound of your trafficker’s voice? Did you stop listening each time the phone rang when you became tired of hoping it was you sister calling to say she was coming to rescue you? Did you close your ears to the sounds from other girls that were brought into your house? And how did your spiritual ears continue to be open when the others became numb? How were you able to hear your Master’s voice in the midst of your horror, and respond by forgiving the one who stole your life away from you?

 

Lord, help me to respond so others might see and taste and hear and live again.

 

“Our job is maybe not to bring justice and mercy where there is injustice –it is to bring God.   When we bring God, justice and mercy will come.”