THE COLOR ORANGE

“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)

Last night, I sat through a very powerful presentation in Westminster, MA.

The speaker wore a bright orange tee-shirt, carried a Bible with an orange cover, and even used a plastic orange pen. He was Pat Manzo, a resident of Florida who was formerly pastor of the North Providence (RI) Assembly of God church for over 25 years. Pat Manzo moved to Florida a couple of years ago. He spent one year as an Associate Pastor at a very large Assemblies of God church in suburban Orlando, but has now embarked on a very special mission from God:

Pat has founded Run For Freedom, a non-profit organization with the purpose of rescuing teenage girls (and boys) from the bondage of human trafficking.

I hope you will check out

www.runforfreedom.net

The audience in Westminster last was mostly stunned, saddened, but greatly moved by his presentation. Most of us have stereotypes of who is being held captive in human trafficking in America. We usually picture foreign...mostly Asian girls who speak little English and have been lured into this lifestyle. That certainly is going on and these foreign girls are among those who need to be rescued. But we had no idea of the thousands upon thousands of American teenagers who grew up in middle-class American homes that have been kidnapped and are being beaten, raped, abused, and expected to "service" 10-20 clients every night.

The reason for the emphasis on the color orange is to raise awareness of this horror. Pat wants to do with the color orange what the breast cancer activists have done with the color pink.

A number of people who are reading this are not Christians nor are they religious people. Of course, Pat wants to see these kids who are rescued commit their lives to Christ, but the immediate issue is rescuing them from their slavery! Whether you are a Christian or not, religious or not, that should be something you can get behind!

Please check out

www.runforfreedom.net

and if you can help in any way, please do!