Hearing voices

February 8, 2007. You probably don't remember what you did that day or what, if anything, of note happened for you on that date. For myself, however, I remember. I will always remember. I was sitting in a meeting in Orlando, Florida, just eight days removed from having left a very difficult ministry situation, and I had both the feeling and the attitude of a man who had just been released from prison.



I was in Orlando at the invitation of a friend, Alex McManus, who was hosting a conference dedicated to helping leaders more fully discover what it means to become fully human, especially as an aspect of knowing and following Jesus. I was greatly enjoying myself, surrounded by friends from around the country, as well as beginning to flex mental muscles that had seemed to atrophy over the previous few years. I was enjoying being challenged through both one-on-one and small-group conversations, as well as the words of those invited to speak during the 2-day event.



The main speaker for the event was Alex's brother Erwin, someone who has always challenged me to think more deeply and through a wider visionary lens. In the late afternoon of February 8, Erwin was wrapping up the event by talking about some of the things in which he and his faith community (Mosaic in Los Angeles) were involved at the time. In an almost "oh, by the way" manner, he quickly brought up a collaborative relationship they had recently developed with an L.A.-based organization concerning the issue of sex trafficking in the U.S.



"In the U.S." Those words hung in the air, almost as if I could see them right in front of me. Until that point (and this is not something I'm proud of), I considered trafficking to be a Latin, Eastern European, Asian, African issue. I had always been saddened by the trafficking stories I'd heard from those parts of the world, but had never really known what, if anything, I could do about the problem. But here, in the U.S.? Could that really be possible? I don't remember anything Erwin said after that. All I heard was a still, small voice inside my head telling me, "Go talk to Erwin. Go talk to Erwin." So, grudgingly, I went and talked to Erwin. He told me who to call at Mosaic about the issue. That person then connected me with a lady named Cindy, who connected me with a young man on the West Coast named Adam who turned out to be a gold mine of information about this issue.



Later, a good friend and colleague with whom I had shared my Orlando story flew to California to spend a week with Adam and his team to learn all that he could from them about the issue of trafficking in the United States. At the end of that week, Adam handed my friend all of his team's research concerning this issue and told him to go back to Chattanooga and make a difference on behalf of those victims who suffer at the hands of traffickers. My friend came home, told me all he had learned, and Second Life of Chattanooga was born.



Since then 2 other good friends and colleagues have come along to build and lead this organization with us, this conspiracy of hope, this commitment to creating both awareness and action about this issue everywhere we can in the Greater Chattanooga/Southeast Tennessee region. We have all learned things that have broken our hearts, outraged us, left us wondering at times how humans can treat other humans with such brutality and heartlessness, and on occasion been barely able to hold on to faith in the God we believe created all of humanity to reflect His personhood. We have been forever changed by what we've experienced, what we've learned, the people we've met, the calling we've each heard.



God knows that we've sat through more meetings than we can count, some of them in coffee shops and pubs, some of them in those places where power and influence are most obviously exhibited. We have met with the courageous and the cowardly, we have met with those who have told us that there was no way what we were describing was happening in our area, and we have met with those who have immediately asked, "How can I help?" We have spoken to groups of a few and groups of many, describing just what trafficking is, its scale, how to recognize it and what each of us can do to begin bringing about the end of it.



All of those meetings have led us to a meeting this Thursday, November 18, when along with the wonderful people of Partnership for Families, Children, and Adults in Chattanooga, Tennessee, we will lead a meeting of individuals and groups from law enforcement, the judicial system, and the social justice and advocacy arena, as we begin the work of forming a coalition that is specifically dedicated to ending all forms of human trafficking in the Greater Chattanooga/Southeast Tennessee region. It has taken almost four years to get us to this point. At the same time, it feels like my true involvement in this work is just beginning.



Had I known all that was ahead for myself and others that February day in 2007, I might have ignored the voice telling me to go talk to Erwin. God knows I have heard all kinds of voices since then. There have been voices of unbelief, outrage, heartbreak, courage, voices of compassion and generosity. I have also heard voices of hope, even when hope seemed the most ridiculous possible response. All of these voices continue to both call me and drive me. Most of all I hear the voice of One who said that He came, "...to proclaim freedom for the prisoners...to set the oppressed free."

I hear voices. I bet you hear them too.