OPENING ACTIVITY: Light My Way!
After students arrive, ask which would be easier, to walk across your classroom with the lights on or off. If you have a classroom with windows, note that you’re asking about doing this at night, with no light in the room. After they say, “a lighted room,” point out that this week we will be talking about what it means that Jesus is the light of the world. He wants to shine through us to lead those living in darkness to Him.
OPENING STORY: [Read aloud or pass out copies for students to read.]
ATLANTA CHURCHES HELPED COMBAT SEX TRAFFICKING AND ITS VICTIMS
As football fans traveled to Atlanta to cheer on the Rams or Patriots at Super Bowl LIII in February, some local churches worked together to combat sex trafficking, which can spike around sporting events.
According to groups like the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, major sporting events like the Super Bowl often see an increase in sex trafficking due to conditions including visitor demographics and a celebratory atmosphere within a concentrated geographic space. Courtney Dow, director of Out of Darkness, a nonprofit organization of the Atlanta Dream Center, helped coordinate efforts to address the issue of trafficking during the Super Bowl.
“I’ve heard for years that trafficking increases during the Super Bowl, and when we found out Atlanta would be hosting Super Bowl 53, we were going to be ready,” said Dow.
Hundreds of volunteers signed up, according to Dow, and they were trained to identify and minister to exploitation victims. “We partnered with over 50 organizations to offer services to individuals in Atlanta who are working in the sex industry,” continued Dow.
“We were grateful for the opportunity to have the spotlight on our city and on the issue of sexual exploitation. However, sexual exploitation is occurring every day, in every community. We need people to be concerned about it year-round until we can finally put an end to it.”
Grace Midtown Church, which is less than a mile away from the stadium where the Super Bowl game took place, was a partner with Safe Zone Atlanta. Abany Bauer, communications director at Grace Midtown, said her church served as a host facility for training to help provide resources for those who were in need of safety from exploitation.
“Along with excitement, we were deeply aware that this event also brought an enormous volume of dark, unsafe, and violent circumstances for many who are vulnerable and powerless,” said Bauer. “We realize that this issue did not begin and end with the Super Bowl, as we have been partnering with Out of Darkness and the Dream Center for many years to raise awareness to the growing epidemic that is sexual exploitation, and we refuse to stop until those who are vulnerable are safe.”
Bauer added that her church saw this as part of their calling to “be the hands and feet of the love of Jesus to this city and to invite all people into a real, authentic life with God and to become awake to His work in our lives.”
According to the website Just Ask Prevention, international sex trafficking is a $32 billion-dollar industry and is the second largest criminal industry in the world. It is estimated that at this time, over 27 million people are caught in the sex trade.
Ask your class to form small groups to discuss their answers to these questions.
- What areas do you know of besides sex trafficking that are dark areas in need of the light of Jesus?
- When have you felt as if you were walking in a dark area yourself?
- When people hear the Good News of Jesus, what happens to the darkness that surrounds them?
News Sources:
Michael Gryboski: https://www.christianpost.com/news/atlanta-churches-combat-sex-trafficking-super-bowl-help-exploited-victims.html