Not For Sale President, David Batstone delivers Freedom Sunday broadcast from one of the largest Christian churches in the world after experiencing Japan’s earthquake.

By Jade Batstone, TIP Press

Seoul, South Korea (March 15, 2011) – With a name meaning “all nations” in Korean, it’s only fitting that Seoul’s Onnuri Church joined over 2,000 faith communities in nearly 50 countries to pray for the emancipation of others. The service, held last Sunday, was a part of Freedom Sunday – an international worship event aimed to raise awareness and spur collective action against human trafficking.

Not For Sale Co-founder and President, David Batstone delivered a sermon at the Korean church of 60,000 – challenging the Onnuri congregation to use worship as a catalyst for action in the fight against modern-day slavery. Korea’s largest religious broadcasting network – CGNTV – brought the sermon to over two million viewers inside of Korea, and broadcast live to 150 countries.

“The people living in captivity today cannot walk away, and neither should we walk away from this global injustice,” proclaimed Batstone, who narrowly made it to Korea for the service. A mere two days earlier, Batstone experienced Japan’s earthquake on the eighth floor of a Tokyo office building. He was meeting with one of Japan’s largest newspapers, Asahi Shimbum, who had just published the book, “Not For Sale” in Japanese.

Using the Freedom Sunday service to shed light on the reality of global slavery, Batstone shared the stories of three teenage women he met on his visit to Thailand one week earlier. The sixteen-year-olds were trafficked from China to be sold in the commercial sex industry before they were rescued by Not For Sale Thailand. However, an additional twelve girls from their region still remain in captivity, awaiting smuggling from Myanmar into Thailand. “Please pray that these girls might be located and rescued from the fate that the trafficker has planned for them,” Batstone appealed from the pulpit.

The congregation in Seoul might also pray for those closer to home, as South Korea is second only to China as the most common source of trafficking victims coming to the United States. Through worship on Freedom Sunday, the Onnuri Church hoped to create a platform for people of faith to rally for an end to the injustice of slavery in their own communities and beyond.

“Our congregation is now on fire to address human trafficking in our own backyard,” claims Pastor Eddie Byun of Onnuri Church, “We want to help wake up a sleeping giant  – to mobilize the church internationally to set the captives free.”

Byun’s faith community will employ a model of “smart activism” Batstone described in last Sunday’s service.

Referring to his recent visit to Myanmar, Batstone told of a young boy who had approached him with a basket containing two wild birds. The boy proceeded to ask him for a fee to release the birds, for to do so would bring good fortune. While Batstone admitted at first to liking the idea of setting the birds free, he soon realized that the boy would just find new birds to fill his basket. The incident reminded Batstone of modern-day slavery: “We have to go to the roots of the practice of slavery and create justice” Batstone said. For, like the boy with the birds, traffickers can easily capture new victims.

Two smart activists were present at the Freedom Sunday celebration in Seoul. Korean twins Janice and Sonia Lee form the musical group Jayesslee. They have become a Youtube sensation in their native Australia and are now using their platform to advocate for the freedom of others. After performing two songs at the service, the girls prayed for an end to slavery and committed to “fasting for freedom.”

Drawing on a Christian tradition, “fasting for freedom” is one action that faith communities may take to carry on the spirit of Freedom Sunday throughout the Lenten Season. The Jayesslee sisters will forego one meal a day from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. They will then donate the funds they would have spent on meals to help victims of trafficking.

Churches around the world will also engage in a “Fast for Freedom” in the upcoming weeks. These faith communities span continents and religious denominations.This past Sunday NFS Co-founder Kique Bazan led a prayer service with children rescued from exploitation in Lima, Peru while NFS co-founder Mark Wexler worshipped with the First Lady of Uganda and her family in Kampala, Uganda.

“For a movement to succeed, it will require a deep engagement from a broad array of religious communities,” Batstone wrote in a column recently published on the Washington Post. Through worship, prayer, and fasting, Freedom Sunday has united churches in Seoul, Lima, Kampala and across the globe in the fight against modern-day slavery.