What the good shepherd calls us to do about child trafficking

By Troy Fitzgerald | FāVS News Columnist

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. 

This column first appeared in The Wenatchee World.

I had not been back in years, but when I drove onto the campus in Collegedale, Tennessee, I noticed it was not the buildings or the roads that reached me first, but the smell. The air carried the familiar scent of baking from the nearby Little Debbie factory, where oatmeal cream pies, fudge rounds and peanut butter wafers are made. Before I had time to think about it, I was already remembering.

The brain processes most of what we see and hear through layers of interpretation, sorting and organizing before meaning settles, but smell travels a more direct path. It moves quickly into the part of the brain where memory and emotion are held, which is why a single scent can return you to a moment without effort or explanation. In that instant, I was 19 again, walking into my first class, meeting the woman who would become my wife, and standing at the beginning of a life I could not yet see.

I returned, however, not to relive those memories, but because Child Impact International invited me to spend time with those engaged in the work of rescuing and protecting children from trafficking. Their work is not abstract or occasional, but steady and deliberate, centered on real children whose lives have been disrupted by exploitation and who need not only rescue but restoration through education, food and ongoing care.

Trafficking is the exploitation of a person for labor or sexual use through force, fraud or coercion. When it involves children, it often requires none of these. Access alone is enough. That is what makes it so widespread and so difficult to face, especially when it remains out of sight and out of mind.

Trafficking is hidden, not rare

Human trafficking is hidden, not rare. There are more people in slavery today than at any other time in history, with about 50 million affected across 147 countries, including over 1 million in the United States. These are not just numbers. They are children.

Jesus speaks plainly: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). It is not enough simply to recognize that pattern; what we see calls for a response, because what should be protected is being taken and lives are being harmed. But Jesus does not stop there. He says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

He then gives images that are simple to understand but carry a deeper call to what is truly good. “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9), and “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). They describe protection that is real, and care that is willing to give itself for the sake of others.

While conducting a health clinic outside Lilongwe, Malawi, I experienced a moment I will not forget. The rain recently passed, leaving the ground uneven with standing water and deep red mud, and as families waited in long lines for care, children moved between them, playing in the open spaces. A group of older children ran past, jumping over puddles, and behind them, a toddler tried to follow, his steps uncertain as he attempted to keep pace. He fell forward into the mud, and before I had time to weigh the moment, I had set my bag down and picked him up.

He was coughing and crying, mud covering his face and filling his mouth, and as he tried to breathe and cry at the same time, I wiped his face and held him steady until his breathing slowed.

For a brief moment, he clung to me, then he looked up and realized I was a stranger, and he cried again. His mother came quickly, saying, “Zikomo kwambiri,” thanking me as she gently finished cleaning his face before taking him back into her arms.

It was not dramatic, but it called for immediate action. Doing good does not wait for the right moment. It meets us in ordinary situations and asks us to respond.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, does not stay distant from what is broken; he sees, moves toward it, and remains. If trafficking hides out of sight, we are called to see, not turn away, and to step in with his same care to protect and restore.

What you can do

As I returned to the South, I saw more than the power of memory. As we remember the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we are reminded of a Shepherd who did not remain at a distance but entered fully into the brokenness of the world to restore it, and that pattern still holds.

What can we do? Start by taking time to watch three films: “Sound of Freedom,” “Sold,” and “Priceless.” Let them help you see what is often hidden. There are many ways to respond, but you can begin by exploring Child Impact International’s work at childimpact.org. Then refuse to look away. Choose to see and respond with the same steady care the Good Shepherd has shown to us, acting where you are able.

One child at a time.

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