BLESS Foundation Raises $1 Million to End Human Trafficking, Feed Hungry
A virtual concert held by The BLESS Foundation raised $1 million for five different Christian organizations whose goals range from housing orphans to ending human trafficking and feeding the hungry, The Christian Post reports.
The concert featured Shane & Shane, the African Children’s Choir, and Drew Womack. Additionally, Tim Tebow held a live interview. The concert was originally scheduled to take place in Austin, Texas, but lockdown restrictions forced it to go virtual instead.
The concert, called Light the World, helped fund five organizations, one of which was Trans World Radio, a digital platform that reaches the lost through radio broadcasts.
“In the American Church, we can get so inward-focused. And then I think this year of COVID is really weird for all of us because I think inherently, we’re all becoming more inward-focused — not that we really want to be, but I think people are drawing in. Our circle of people that we’re involved with is less. We’re more concerned about safety,” said Tom Watkins of Trans World Radio.
Additionally, Young Life Africa, an organization taking the gospel to children in Africa, also received money from the donations. “Clubs, weekly discipleship groups, camps and various ministries are all instruments we use to reach 27 countries and counting across the African continent,” their website states.
Further, Justice Ventures International, one of the organizations on the frontlines of fighting human trafficking, also received some of the donations. “JVI works on the front lines in poor and oppressed communities where the battle for justice rages daily, freeing the oppressed from slavery and other extreme injustice,” their website states.
Just weeks ago, Justice Ventures International helped rescue 34 children from child slavery. “The children were found working in appalling conditions. They were crammed into tiny, dilapidated rooms where seepage and cobwebs covered the walls. Some, as young as 12 years old, were made to work for 14–16 hours a day. The rooms where they worked and slept each had only one window and lacked proper ventilation. The employer kept a close eye on the children making sure they did not leave the premises and interact with outsiders,” Justice Ventures International stated.
The BLESS Foundation works “to protect vulnerable children, fight human trafficking, mobilize cross-cultural workers, advance the Gospel & supply life-sustaining resources, globally.”
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Efetova
John Paluska has been a contributor for Christian Headlines since 2016 and is the founder of The Daily Fodder, a news outlet he relaunched in 2019 as a response to the constant distribution of fake news.
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