Thursday, September 18, 2008

The Road of Lost Innocence

Do you sometimes have subjects that come up again and again in all sorts of conversations and reading and surveys and on TV and on blogs and at playgroup and...you get the idea. The latest one for me is human trafficking. Something I'd never given a second thought to is suddenly everywhere. Last year there were arrests just a couple miles from me and several women rescued (I hope!) out of slavery. IN MY OWN CITY! And we don't exactly live in an area that you'd expect to see that. I hope. Ahem.

So I got this book in the mail on Friday that I wanted to share with you. So that I can join the echo that will hopefully get loud enough that something can be done for the victims of this nasty endeavor. Here 'tis.

Born in Cambodia and orphaned at an early age, Somaly Mam, a Buddhist sex trade survivor, grew up never knowing her real name or birthday.

As a teenager, Somaly Mam was sold into prostitution and spent years in the brothels of Cambodia where she witnessed and experienced the full-blown horrors of the human sex trade – rape, torture, and nearly unfathomable abuse. After her eventual escape, she could not forget the young girls (some as young as 5) left behind in the brothels, and so she returned to serve them. Her new book, "The Road of Lost Innocence," is her newest means of advocacy. It tells her personal story, ultimately inviting people of conscious, such as our Christian community, to become involved (or to continue involvement) in this war against an epic evil, a modern battle for "the least of these." Truly, not only is this book worth reading, it's worth sharing.



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