“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10

In November 2018 I had the opportunity to see World Vision’s Child Protection work in Bangladesh & India. For the past couple of months, I’ve been leaning heavily into this verse. How do I even begin to share about a trip, that was amazing, intense, beautiful, heartbreaking, joyful, made me angry at times and hopeful in others, and one that pretty much put me through a wringer of emotions? I jumped off the deep end with this one!

Dominica leads her students in a lesson on social studies.

Dominica Chelatan (24) displays a rare trait, she has a photographic memory of her childhood. Her recollection of her upbringing speaks to the survival tactics she developed, living in a culture that had little regard for a girl child.

She was born into a large traditional Pokot family of twenty children. Her father was a village elder who was respected in the community. His words were like commands and nobody dared to disobey him. The sad thing is, he had no regard for education.

In Bangladesh, Shohug’s father died when he was 5, leaving him to help provide for his family. Through World Vision, Shohug, 10, can still go to school, even while he helps his mom sell homemade lentil chips. Please join us in prayer for children like Shohug. (©2017 World Vision/photo by Laura Reinhardt)

Children are a precious gift from God. As adults, we have the privilege and responsibility to care for them and help them live the full and abundant life God desires for them. Tragically, love and security are not the reality for three-quarters of the world’s children who experience some form of violence every year.

It is hard to accept, but the reality for the majority of children is a life of violence, and for some, exploitation. At least 1.7 billion of the 2.2 billion children in the world experience violence every year, in their homes, schools, or communities.

Essential human rights, liberty, and dignity are being torn from millions of people today. They’re sexually exploited, forced into labor, domestic servitude, and thrown into begging and stealing in an illicit multi-billion-dollar enterprise known as human trafficking.

Every year on July 30, World Vision observes World Day Against Trafficking in Persons by highlighting the importance of protecting vulnerable children and adults from all forms of exploitation and violence.

Every year on July 30, World Vision observes World Day Against Trafficking in Persons by highlighting the importance of protecting vulnerable children and adults from all forms of exploitation and violence.

Nearly 25 million people worldwide are trapped by trafficking, including 5.5 million children. In Guatemala, World Vision is working with parents, pastors, teachers, children, and youth to make trafficking history by ending violence and restoring hope.

More than 200 million women and girls around the world are living with the results of the dangerous practice of female genital mutilation (FGM/C), also known as cutting and female circumcision, according to a report by UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency.

In the next decade, 30 million more are at risk. The United Nations created the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, observed every year on February 6, to stop this harmful practice to girls and women. Ending FGM by 2030 is also part of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

“I stopped begging on the streets with my father, because I go to school now,” says Mustaque, a 6-year-old boy who is one of twenty- five children participating in World Vision’s Child Friendly Space (CFS). Corneal scarring from measles left his father Murad (33) blind. Because Murad had never been to school he had no job skills and made his living by begging on the streets, often bringing his children along to help. World Vision Bangladesh’s Child Protection Program identified Mustaque, enrolled him in the CFS, saving him from becoming part of the next generation of beggars.

When Christine was 11, her father had plans for her to marry. But Christine said she imagined a different future and dreamed of pursuing an education.

Her family of 10 lived near a World Vision program in West Pokot, Kenya. Among World Vision’s priorities were eradication of female genital mutilation and child marriage, which were rampant in the area.

Christine decided to run away rather than marry, and when World Vision learned of her desperate situation, they stepped in to help.