Nine years ago, Rob Morris and other founders of Love146 traveled to Southeast Asia on a trip to discover how they could contribute to putting an end to sex trafficking. They went undercover with investigators into a brothel, posing as customers; there they witnessed children being stripped of their life and dignity in exchange for sex slavery.
“Her number was 146. She was looking beyond the glass. She was staring out at us, with a piercing gaze,” Morris said. “There was still fight left in her eyes. There was still life left in this girl.” The girl in question is the child who inspired the creation of their non-profit organization and reminds them daily of their driving goal.
On Wednesday, April 6, Josh Feay, the Pastor speaking at The Gathering, invited Rob Morris and Lamont Hiebert of Love146 to speak to Fairfield students at Black Rock Church.
Morris explained the heart-wrenching statistics: there are somewhere between 10 million and 27 million slaves on the planet today. One to two million children are trafficked annually, and this industry generates over $30 billion.
While the numbers may be overwhelming, “It’s about the one,” Morris said, celebrating each child saved one by one. Morris quoted Isaiah, “The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene.” With this verse, Morris illustrated God’s call for justice in the world and the creation of Love146 as an effort to begin and answer the call.
“Is restoration possible? I think so,” said Morris. “I believe with everything in me of a God who takes ashes and makes something beautiful out of them.” This restoration of what can be gained through a collective shout to end slavery throughout the globe. As a collective group, people need to embrace and engage the pain they see and work to radically change its outcome.
Love 146 hopes to abolish sex slave trafficking within this generation’s lifetime. With progress already made in multiple countries, Love146 has created safe homes and prevention programs for many children who had their lives taken away and are slowly piecing them back together.
“We’ve been given great favor by God… we see the dark but then we get to celebrate the miracles,” said Hiebert.
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