Educate your church and save lives

Every time I speak with someone about the statistics of sexual slavery, I am surprised to hear their response. "That stuff doesn't happen here, does it?" Unfortunately, it does and it happens often. Rough estimates have shown that 300,000 are sexually trafficked in America each and every year. And that's just among teenagers and children. Based on the stories that have circulated over the last few years concerning sexual molestation among minors and how the situations have been handled in the worst possible ways, I am beginning to realize how necessary it has become for everyone to be educated on how to handle information and circumstances involving sexual abuse and trafficking. Looking at situations such as the Penn State scandal and the issues at Syracuse University with their sports programs, it's terrifying to think of the victims and how they have received little and in most cases, no justice. I feel that as Christian organizations and churches, we should be among the first to protect innocent children and teenagers from their abusers in all forms. Whether it’s from bullies on the playground or leaders in their lives that are abusing them sexually, the church should be the most educated and the most readily available to handle and care for these victims. This evening I received an e-mail telling me of a mega church in Tulsa, Oklahoma that has recently become the focus of a sexual travesty concerning the lives of three teenagers and 2 church employees. Allegedly, this August, a teen was raped in a stairwell just before a church service by a 20 year old church employee and another teen girl was molested by the same employee between August 13th and17th. Another church employee was arrested for committing a sex crime on his computer. And another 5 church employees were arrested for failing to report the issues of the child abuse. What's almost as disturbing as the fact that innocent teenagers were violated in the most vulnerable of ways, is that the employees were not immediately fired and the situation was passed around the church offices for weeks until something was done. The church had it's own policies about handling such situations and their lack of education on the topic of sexual abuse and the victim’s mentality kept them from contacting the authorities until later that month. The church has been cooperative with authorities since the investigators got involved in the situation. It is a good sign that the church was not intentionally trying to hide anything. I honestly cannot say that I believe the church was intentionally trying to hide anything as was the case with the Penn State issues and with Syracuse University. However, because they placed little importance in becoming educated on the issues of sexual abuse and sex crimes, these three innocent children have suffered. In a church of 17,000 members this is simply unacceptable. As Christians we are called to protect children at any cost. How can we protect them if we won't educate ourselves on the issues and on the proper response to such situations. This is yet another blow to the public face of the church in America. My heart breaks for these girls that were violated and then shown by their church leaders that their abuse held little, to no importance. Someone must stand up for these voiceless victims and protect them from the monsters everywhere both inside and outside of the church walls. I am praying for this church and for it's leadership. My prayer is that justice will be served to those responsible for their evil crimes and that the victims will be helped, brought through a healing process, and that they will be shown by their church leadership that their lives do matter. Please, join me in that same prayer. - Cheers.