Processing the price of life.

I'm going to be honest, the passion for fighting human trafficking does not come as easily to me as it does to others I know.  Yes, learning about the situations and hearing the stories often make me queasy in the pit of my stomach.  Yes, I do care about the injustice and yes, I want to do things about it.  At the same time, I'm pretty sure God is not calling me to fight human trafficking as my life's work (at least not at this point in my life), so the hear-respond-process becomes a slow but steady process of growth.  As God constantly brings the issue up in my life, it causes me to learn how my lifestyle relates to human trafficking and how can I make decisions that will work against human trafficking and not contribute to it.  It takes time and discipline for me to peel away the layers of the complexity of the issue, orient myself as to where I stand, and then take the next step of faith forward in obedience to God's invitation.  Over time, the ignorance and apathy start to erode the way a river's steady stream of water polishes a rock in a river.

What does this have to do with college campus ministry, you may ask?  Well, I first learned about the issue of human trafficking when I was a college student.  Peers of mine helped me become aware of the injustice and helped me begin this journey of understanding justice and God, which forced me to re-think my actions, purchases, decisions, and how I was called to live my everyday life - not just while I was in college, but after I graduated as well.

Last week I was sent to New York City to help coach students as a staff for the Price of Life Campaign.  While it was a 12-day period, I was sent there, along with my other upstate colleagues, to help with the middle four days of raising awareness about human trafficking to college students all around the New York City area.

I didn't really know what to expect, but whatever it was, it ended up not being what I expected.  I found myself more often than not failing miserably to step into what I realize now were God's invitations for me to follow His lead.  I realize now that I had forgotten what it was like to faithfully follow my leaders' lead and with a joyful, servant's heart.  I had forgotten how God can advance His kingdom through seemingly menial tasks.  Even tying it to the heart of why I started this blog:  I often focused so much on busting rocks - the task itself - that I lost sight of the fact that we were building a cathedral.

But God, of course, moved despite my sub-par faithfulness.  Within a 2-week period, we got to witness 11,941 students engage in conversations around the issue of human trafficking; 5,000 students hear the gospel; and 260 students move from darkness to light, deciding to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior.

You know, I wish I could've led someone to Christ, or had this a-ha moment or awestruck experience with Christ during my time at Price of Life, but not everything ties up into a nice, pretty bow.  I guess I just get to realize that the Holy Spirit is washing over me, bringing my sinfulness and brokenness in the world to the surface.  Maybe He's bringing these things to my attention so that I have another opportunity to respond differently than I have been - to not settle or stay where it's comfortable, whatever that may look like.  And maybe I just need to trust that God's never-ending work and ever abundant love is changing me, even if you're not exactly sure how or what that looks like.