Deus Misereatur

  It’s a difficult topic for Americans and American Christians to get their minds around. We have been accustomed to thinking of slavery as some soiling blemish on our national past that we finally fixed by war and proclamation. Yet, the stark reality is that enslavement has been a deep part of human history all along and is still alive and well in the present. It’s economic-based, or ethnic-based, or gender-based, but it’s always about power and production and profitability. And it is a problem in our neck of the woods as well as globally. Yet there are significant approaches that churches can take to make a difference. To help, a new 224-page paperback has arrived as a guide for those desiring to address modern forms of slavery, “ Ending Human Trafficking: A Handbook of Strategies for the Church Today .” This manual is compiled by Shayne Moore, author, editor and activist, Sandra Morgan, director of the Global Center for Women and Justice at Vanguard University, and Kimberly McOw...

  “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12:4-6). We have sung your praises, we have declared your great deeds, and now we give you thanks for your great favor poured out on us: for food, friends, family, health, homes, hope, vocations, voices, and vitality. We acknowledge that it is you who upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing (Psalm 145:14-16). Supreme Sovereign who sits enthroned over all, we call upon you to move the nations of the world in such ways that peace may prevail, war be averted, the Gospel unhindered, and the Church unmoles...