Long before it opened in theaters, Eileen and I were invited to preview the film, Sound of Freedom. We found the story riveting and inspiring, though the subject matter is overwhelmingly difficult to process emotionally. We have, for several years now, been sponsors of the “End It” movement, focused on bringing awareness to the global reality which is human trafficking. Abolition is, of course, the goal.
We’ve also had a number of positive experiences with the International Justice Mission (ijm.org) over the years. They share the mission. On a much more personal note, we’ll introduce you to our friends in Italy, Jon and Erika Tello (see tellosblog.com for their story). Through a ministry connected to the arts, Erika combats trafficking through Alleanza Tesori Raggianti (tesoriraggianti.com), a national alliance of evangelical ministries combating commercial sexual exploitation in Italy.
Released on July 4 and starring Jim Caviezel, Sound of Freedom traces the real-life story of Tim Ballard, who heroically abandoned the safety of his Homeland Security job and his government pension to rescue trafficked kids. It began with Tim’s successful rescue of a little boy in Colombia, after which Tim was haunted by the thought that the boy’s sister was still being trafficked. Tim and his wife, Katherine, were parenting six of their own children at the time, but they considered Tim’s unique opportunity to try to rescue kids to be a calling from God. I couldn’t agree more. I won’t share more about the movie in case you haven’t yet seen it, which I urge you to do.
Just to keep us abreast of the statistics, the most recent estimates are that upwards of two million children are being trafficked even as I write this blog post. Notice that I’m only including children in that horrifying number, and the stats get far worse from there. Globally, the darkness that is human trafficking rakes in at least $150 billion on an annual basis, which helps explain the powerful motivations behind this evil industry. As you might suspect, there are multiple direct links to the porn industry.
To quote USA Today from yesterday: “While Barbie and Oppenheimer opened with record numbers this weekend, another sleeper hit has been quietly dominating the box office.” Though the movie has been wildly successful across the fruited plain, Sound of Freedom has generated a shocking amount of pushback from both Hollywood elites and the mainstream media. I find this trend deeply disturbing. It appears that, when no studio would agree to release the film, Disney attempted to bury the movie so that it would never be released. I simply cannot understand this, or perhaps I just don’t want to.
Other critics have suggested that the statistics on human trafficking are overblown. As I hear these kinds of criticisms and insinuations, I think to myself: “Wouldn’t we be alarmed if only ten children were trapped in this nightmare?” Others seem outraged that the manner in which the movie depicts child trafficking does not represent the way in which child trafficking normally occurs. Again, I must say that I don’t understand these criticisms. The creators of the movie could not possibly have communicated all possible scenarios, but they chose a storyline which would raise awareness in a compelling way. After all, isn’t that the point? My best guess is that people don’t like the popularity of the movie among QAnon supporters. And I suppose this gets back to what I’d call “the politics of everything” these days. But I can tell you this: the movie is not about conspiracy theories of any kind.
As followers of Christ, you and I ought to be keenly aware of what’s happening in the world, that we might make the impact we can for the glory of our Lord and Savior. Jesus has left us here as His salt and light, and that’s a high calling.
Make your calling count!
Pastor Charles
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