1. Today I want to talk about a challenge and a cause that I’m extremely passionate about: Live Below the Line
It’s a challenge where you eat on $2.85 for five days, in September.
$2.85 is the equivalent of the global extreme poverty line on which nearly 900 million people live for ALL their needs not just food.
“The purpose of the challenge is not to experience poverty, but to get an insight into the difficult choices that people have to make with limited resources”

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You might ask why you would choose to live below the poverty line?

3. Because as unbelievable as it may sound there are actually more people trapped in slavery today than at any other time in human history.
Majority of people trapped in slavery come from families who live on $2.85 or less.
They are coerced, trafficked and taken into slavery. They are moved across borders, their passports seized and their lives threatened.
People who live in poverty are easy targets for traffickers, who promise jobs and opportunities for a better life.
Women and children are especially vulnerable. They make up the majority of the 4.5 million victims trapped in forced sexual exploitation.

4. Here are the stats:
21 million estimated number of people trapped in slavery
2nd to drugs – human trafficking is only second to drugs international organized crime
US $150 Billion is how much organised crime rings earn from human trafficking each year.
4.5 million people are trapped in forced sexual exploitation
12 years is the average age of victims trafficked into prostitution
Only 1-2% of trafficking victims are ever rescued

5. I have a very heartbreaking story to share with you, it’s from a trafficking survivor called Malee. She says:
“There was a van that would arrive at 2:00pm every day to pick us up from where I lived. The van had very dark windows so nobody could see in. If any of the girls were sad they would often make us take drugs without our knowledge so that we were always happy for the clients. I tried to not eat the meals they gave us, but then I started to get sick so I didn’t have a choice.
The clients were extremely abusive and forceful. One man started intimidating me and said he would involve my family when I wasn’t making the proper amount of money.
I tried to escape, but every time they would follow me on a motorbike and bring me back.
They used verbal and psychological threats and they kept my passport as well as having all my information, like where I lived and my family’s names so I had to do what they told me to do, otherwise they would physically intimidate me.
I lived like this for 3 months straight and I got so depressed that I didn’t want to live anymore.”

6. Malee was rescued by Tearfunds partner (Nvader) and taken into rehabilitation.
You can make a difference to the lives of people like Malee by doing the Live below the Line challenge.
The money we raise will help Tearfunds anti-trafficking partners in the trafficking hot-spot of South East Asia as well as the Pacific. They present a full circle approach to fighting human trafficking and slavery.
They work in…
Prevention: to educate and empower at-risk communities so they become resilient to trafficker’s schemes.
Rescue and prosecution: to infiltrate criminal networks, to rescue victims and prosecute trafficking offenders.
Rehabilitation of trafficking survivors: to help to restore survivors’ lives and dignity through medical care, counselling, vocational training and support.

7. We called to help people who are trapped in slavery.
Isaiah 61:1 says:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,     because the Lord has anointed me     to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,     to proclaim freedom for the captives     and release from darkness for the prisoners

8. <<Add your team name here>>
You can join the fight against human trafficking by living below the line.
We’ve set up a Village/s aka team/s so that we can stand up for justice together!
**Make sure you set up your Village/s at Livebelowtheline.co.nz**
Doing the challenge in a Village also makes things a lot easier, we can cook together, fundraise together and have a lot of fun! Tearfund has some great recipes and tips for us to make this easy!

9. So let’s do this, let’s band together and fight for justice
So let’s do this, let’s band together and fight for justice! Sign up today.