Hearts for Sale: Sex and the Super Bowl

by Elizabeth | Jan 31, 2014 | Learning Story

Mindy tried to look normal, but she knew she wasn’t. Everyone thought they knew her story—how a senior had gotten her pregnant when she was a freshman, and she had given the baby up for adoption. But of course they had no idea of her much deeper, darker secret. They didn’t know about the late nights when Mindy’s pimp called her and told her to meet him at the Blackriver Hotel. They didn’t know that the senior who had gotten Mindy preg

nant was involved with a ring of sex traffickers. They didn’t know that no one knew and that she had no way out.

Five Weeks Later 

There in the hotel, trying to scrub herself clean of the nasty, sweaty odor of three more men forced upon her, she noticed a number printed on the cellophane soap wrapper. The next day, duri

ng school lunch, she found a deserted place in the senior courtyard. She dialed, and a woman picked up after one ring. Mindy was astonished that this hotline volunteer seemed to know “her story” without knowing her at all. Intrigued, Mindy agreed to meet this woman at the mall food court later that afternoon. There, in the large open space saturated by the strange scent-fusion of Chinese food and chicken nuggets, she risked sharing a single page of her story of shame.

As you may have already realized, this painful narrative actually combines the stories of several women entrapped by sexual traffickers. Read more at 1. To read more about S.O.A.P. (Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution), visit http:// www.traffickfree.com/S-O-A-P-.html.

You may know that large sporting events foster an increase in prostitution and sex traf

ficking. (Before last year, I did not). Governor Christie of New Jersey, where this year’s Super Bowl is taking place, spoke and tweeted to this reality this week, warning traffickers and users of strong consequences. He also shared the story of women who had been trafficked and tweeted:

As Governor Christie asserts, the issues of sexual trafficking of boys and girls, men and women are pervasive. Sometimes when I hear of such evil, I am struck with paralysis — the problem’s too big

— what can I do anyway? The gospel always calls us to respond to evil with the hope of restoration. As I prayed about it, here are a few ideas that came to mind. What are yours?

1. Get involved through prayer, giving, going. Sexual trafficking doesn’t just happen at the Super Bowl — it happens in your community. All you have to do is Google to learn more. Here are a few organizations that fight sex trafficking or assist those who have been trafficked. Take a look:

Traffickfree

Traffic911

International Justice Mission

2. Seek help… for yourself or someone else who struggles with their sexuality. Sexual addiction has been called an epidemic in America by Newsweek magazine. The fact is, someone you know struggles, and it might be you. It may be online pornography, sexting, serial relationships, and/or the painful story of suffering sexual abuse. Here are just a few organizations where you can find help for yourself or another:

Harvest USA

Route 1520

Dan Allender

3. Pray for grace in your own sexual story: here is a beautiful one composed by Philip F. Reinders, based on Heidelberg Catechism Question 109:

“Incarnate Jesus, thank you that you formed in me good desires and fashioned a body that feels pleasure. Yet how quickly desire turns into an all-consuming idol, how easily pleasure becomes a god. Chasten in me the lingering looks, leering thoughts, and hurtful desires for what is not properly mine, knowing that these are not harmless sins but violations of my soul and your honor. Amen”

What other ways have you responded to issues of sexual brokenness in our world or your life?