I remember sitting in my fifth grade United States history class when I first learned of slavery and the absolute terror and anguish those in captivity had to endure. We learned of Harriet Tubman and how she used the Underground Railroad to not only escape slavery herself, but help over 70 other families and individuals do the same. Then we were taught how the 13th amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865 and slavery was officially abolished in the United States, putting our young minds at ease that this would never happen to any of us or our friends and family members. Little did we know that slavery had never fully ended and our beliefs of safety were far from the truth.

Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means, such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation (United Nations). There are approximately 20.9 million victims in captivity today; around 17,500 people, primarily women and young girls, are trafficked in the United States alone each year, according to humantrafficking.org. Children make up 1.2 million of these victims. With this "business" being based upon secrecy, it is believed that there are hundreds of thousands of more cases that go undocumented each year.

To make matters even more sickening and heart crushing, caseact.org reports that 79 percent of human trafficking victims are sold into the sex slave trade. Globally, most victims are on average only 13 years old when they are first sold into the trade. Less than one percent of victims are identified and rescued. Most will live out the rest of their lives after their capture in the confinement of those that they were sold to, being forced to perform the unthinkable. These victims aren't far from you or I; in fact, trafficking is happening right outside of our doorsteps in the communities that we believe that these sort of things could never happen in.

It does not matter how safe you perceive a place to be; no place on this earth nor person is immune from the overwhelmingly massive net that human trafficking is. Human trafficking doesn't just occur in underdeveloped communities and third world countries far from the comforts of our own homes. Victims are people from our hometowns, those we grew up with, members of our congregations, our classmates. The next victim could be your best friend, or a family member; it could be you. It is our job not only as neighbors or friends but as people to educate ourselves and others on this topic and to become aware of what is happening in our own communities. We cannot rely on prayer or good thoughts alone, but instead use these as a driving force. One raindrop doesn't do much alone, but with more rain comes a ripple effect of change that can lead to a flood so powerful that nothing could stand in our way. It's time for us to make a wave.