What comes to your mind when you think about The Salvation Army? Someone standing outside a store in the cold during the Christmas season, ringing a bell next to a red tin bucket, collecting money? A place where people drop off their old clothes and stuff they don’t want anymore? A store where people can buy used things for really cheap prices? That is what used to come to my mind (and maybe yours too) when I thought about The Salvation Army. But there is much more to this organization than that.
The Salvation Army is quite involved in combating human trafficking. They state on their website,
The Salvation Army firmly believes that the abuse and exploitation of human beings through any form of human trafficking is an offense against humankind and against God. This belief, combined with our mission to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination, motivates us to work vigilantly for the prevention of human trafficking and for the restoration of survivors.
Something I found to be very interesting is that over 100 years ago, William and Catherine Booth, the founders of The Salvation Army, reached out to help women and children in London, England, who were trapped in commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. The Salvation Army opened homes for these women and girls to help protect them from the horrors of sex trafficking. You can learn more about this by reading ‘Why The Salvation Army Fights Human Trafficking’ at their website.
The Salvation Army is deeply committed to the modern-day fight against human trafficking (for sexual and labor purposes) and forms of commercial sexual exploitation innately linked to sexual trafficking. This commitment emerges from both The Salvation Army’s mission – to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and meet human needs in His name without discrimination – and is rooted in the organization’s early history.
Visit The Salvation Army’s website to find out more about their response and involvement in fighting against human trafficking and for many helpful resources. Learn more about what human trafficking is, how to identify victims, and several ways to help educate others. There are also lots of resources and links, prayer and fasting resources, and much more!
