This is Kirsty with Because Justice Matters (BJM), a ministry of YWAM San Francisco, focusing on addressing social justice issues of human trafficking, domestic violence, discrimination against immigrants and economic inequality.

On Friday April 16th, in partnership with the ‘Not for Sale Campaign’, we hosted a film screening of ‘Stolen Childhoods’:

“Stolen Childhoods is the first feature documentary on global child labor ever produced. The film features stories of child laborers around the world, told in their own words. Children are shown working in dumps, quarries, brick kilns. One boy has been pressed into forced labor on a fishing platform in the Sea of Sumatra, a fifteen-year-old runaway describes being forced into prostitution on the streets of Mexico City, while a nine-year-old girl picks coffee in Kenya to help her family survive”

Source: *www.stolenchildhoods.org*

Our ministry is going through a season of transition right now, with new staff and volunteers joining.  We have been going out on the streets more regularly to meet women who are vulnerable to exploitation, and often work in prostitution.  It is exciting to see the connections we are making on the streets, and the openness we are received with.  One of the ladies we see regularly shared that she has been working in prostitution for 18 years, but hopes to be able to return home to South America one day.  A lot of these women have suffered huge amounts of abuse working on the streets, and in strip clubs, so it is a big step for them to open up to people or even have hope for anything better. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by all of the injustices we encounter daily in this ministry, but it is an honor to be a part of bringing God’s love to the women we meet. 

In the words of Mother Teresa “We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.”