Every year all over the world four million women and children are trafficked for purposes of forced prostitution, labor, and other forms of exploitation. Over one million children enter the sex trade every year. Relying on research from the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department estimates there are at least 50,000 human trafficking victims brought into the United States each year. The US is among the top three destination countries for sex traffickers, along with Japan and Australia. There are at least 2.4 million children that are exploited in the sex industry right now in America. Worldwide we are facing a catastrophic reality that there are more slaves today than there were during the infamous African Slave Trade of the 1800s. Over 27-30 million people are in slavery today, 70-75 percent of whom are sex slaves.
On Monday, February 5th the Lord expanded our Justice Mandate at IHOP to include not only the issue of abortion but also Human Trafficking. One of our leaders shared a burden the Lord had placed on his heart for human trafficking in a briefing before the 8 pm intercession meeting. As the team discussed it, one of the singers spoke up saying she had just had a dream related to this issue the week before. She said that in the dream she was kidnapped by a foreign man and taken to the home of an American man. Once inside this home she realized she was in a brothel, and would be forced to live a life of prostitution for the rest of her life. She began to see the babies she would have to abort as a result of this lifestyle. She then heard someone (she believes was Jesus) singin g, “Open up the heavens over the weak!“
Heaven Responds: Child Pornography Ring Exposed
So, we focused our 8pm intercession meeting on this issue. For two hours we cried out for freedom for women and children enslaved by traffickers. A day and a half later Wednesday, Feb. 7th, Austrian authorities busted a huge child pornography ring involving over 2,300 child pornographers in 77 countries. The suspects paid to view videos depicting infants and young children being sexually abused. Federal police called the case “a strike against child pornography unprecedented in Austrian criminal history.“
GOD TV Update
On April 23rd GOD TV will begin to air Morning Devotionals called “The Prayer Room” live from IHOP in Kansas City seven days a week at 5 am CST. (DirectTV: Channel 365, Webcast: www.GOD.tv) IHOP leaders and worship teams will guide the television audience in prayer for things like their lost family members, GOD TV’s operations, and various issues occurring worldwide. They will also have a time of devotions and worship sharing from the Word.
