I work with an organization that rescues young girls from exploitation in one of the most concentrated plots on the planet for sex trafficking — Angeles City, Philippines. Evil boldly walks those crowded streets in plain sight, and everyone knows precisely what is happening, including the Filipino government and law enforcement.

But here at home, evil has been forced to hide in the shadows, and most of us naïvely assume that our authorities and officials are doing everything possible to prevent sexual exploitation, particularly against children.

Tragically, that belief is entirely misguided, and recent actions by the United Nations plainly illustrate why.

Last year, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres rightly called human trafficking “a heinous violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms” mostly victimizing women and children. In response, the United Nations Office on Drugs, Terrorism, and Crime began drafting a treaty to strengthen restrictions against porn and trafficking targeting children online.

That treaty was submitted for review last month — but deplorably, American delegates helped gut the language, opening the door even wider to protect child pornography, which fuels child trafficking and abuse worldwide.

The UN Wants to Normalize Pedophilia

The delegates are ignoring international sentiment and are instead actively promoting the exploitation of children online. Not only every American, but every human on God’s good earth should be horrified at the U.N.’s reprobate complicity to even consider softening the treaty.

The shameful politicking surrounding this is one more reason the U.N. should be read its Last Rites. The treaty contained clear and appropriate language preventing all forms of online pornography that depicts, describes, or represents any person under the age of 18 — but inconceivably, delegates from the U.S., European Union, and Australia fought to lower the age of consent from 18 to 14, saying:

Children over the age of 14 have the right to develop sexual relationships and choose to have a sexual relationship with adults. They can produce images in the course of sexual engagement and share them with each other without any criminalization.

In other words, they voted to weaken protections for children while strengthening protections for criminals, deviants, and pedophiles.

Fifty-one countries, including Syria, Iran, Russia, Congo, and China, strongly opposed the proposed exceptions. Unconscionably, a contingent of 91 countries, led by the U.S., overruled them, and the exceptions were ratified on August 9. The General Assembly is expected to formally adopt the treaty by the end of this year and then open it to countries for signature.

Take careful note of this moment: Iran is on the right side of a moral issue, and America is on the wrong side.

How Can God Allow This?

I often say that I understand Third World exploitation well, but I know less about First World exploitation. I’m frequently asked: Why go to the Philippines when America is the number one producer and consumer of child pornography, and there is most likely some form of exploitation happening within walking distance of where you live?

It’s a sobering point.

As stomach-turning as this systemic wickedness is, people are becoming more and more awakened as Satan recklessly overplays his hand because he knows his chips are running out.

How? Please take a deep breath as we peek beneath the poker table.

More than 50 million people currently are being held in modern slavery worldwide, and 12 million of them are children. Child sex trafficking has been reported in all 50 U.S. states. While many of these children are trafficked for labor and some for organ harvesting, the majority are held for sexual exploitation. Multiple organizations estimate that more than 500,000 predators are targeting children online every day. One in 13 children is expected to have an unwelcome sexual experience online before his or her eighteenth birthday, and 43% of kids exposed to inappropriate sexual content online are under 13. One in 10 children will experience physical sexual abuse in the U.S. before age 18, and 50% of these will be abused before age 12. Unthinkably, many of these dear souls are forcibly used for rape porn, torture, and satanic ritual abuse.

As we exhale from reading the previous paragraph, let’s pause, place our affections upon the God who created each of these children, and consider the most soul-shredding, heart-wrenching question of all. And I don’t mean, “God, how could You allow this?” That’s the easy question.

The hard question is hearing the Lord ask us, “How could you allow this?”

How Many Warnings Will It Take?

In 2011, Wikileaks released the personal emails of Transportation Secretary and Clinton crony John Podesta, which then exploded into a child-molestation scandal dubbed “Pizzagate.” (At the center was a D.C. pizza parlor decorated with wall hangings of children in compromising scenarios; the rumors were that the parlor was a clandestine operation through which Beltway insiders could order trafficked children for sex, and the pizza toppings were code for their preferences.) Predictably, the establishment media spent more time debunking than investigating — but when the disturbing evidence of the claims finally did squeeze through the censorial filters of establishment news, I thought our nation would spring awake and start protecting our children.

It didn’t.

Likewise, when Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were finally imprisoned in 2019 for their decades-long trafficking enterprise, I thought our nation would spring awake and start protecting our children.

It didn’t.

When the heart-stopping movie Sound of Freedom was released in theaters in July 2023, I thought that at last, our nation would indeed spring awake and start protecting our children.

It didn’t.

The mere thought of a single child being held against their will to satisfy the deviant desires of a predator should launch each one of us into action. The fact that our U.S. and European delegates to the U.N. disagree should spring each of us wide awake right now.

Revival in the Sex Trade

The organization I work with, Wipe Every Tear, has fully staffed safe homes where rescued girls come to experience the fullness of life the Lord intends for all of us. Jesus calls it “the abundant life,” and it’s what the Kingdom of God looks like here on Earth.

The girls receive love, counseling, food, and clothing. They can finish high school and continue their education to earn a full college degree. (In the Philippines, getting a fast-food job requires a college degree.) We help take care of any children they may have, and to instill a tangible sense of agency and dignity in them, give them a weekly allowance to spend as they wish.

But most importantly, these valued ladies are discipled in the Scriptures, connected with local church communities, and spend time every day worshiping the Lord who saved them. After years of living in the safety of heavenly transformation, they are trained for job placement and released on the wings of glorious redemption. And they never have to pay a dime for any of this.

I’ve served as a missionary in several rural, third-world regions but have never experienced anything so captivating as this. Imagine a traumatized girl entering a safe home for the first time with tears streaming down her untrusting face. Then imagine her a few years later, standing proudly before her sisters in faith with tears streaming down her radiant face, joyfully wearing her cap and gown.

Millstones Don’t Float

Jesus never minces words. No better example is when He says what He thinks of adults who cause little children to suffer:

“If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.” (Matthew 18:6-7)

The model of supply and demand fittingly portrays the hellish economy of sex trafficking. The supply side of the equation is amply sourced by the endless stream of beautiful young children who are kidnapped, tricked, or trapped by traffickers. The demand side is fueled by broken, depraved men who look like me.

Filipino men are not allowed in the bars on the shiny, brightly lit strip of the city where I work. No, these bars are reserved for foreigners, traveling exploiters, and sex-vacation miscreants. Few things more enraging than watching an overweight, disheveled, middle-aged man walk a diminutive, barely teenage Filipina girl to his hotel room.

Behold how much Jesus values children and take note; He is not threatening to drown the perpetrators. No, it’s worse than that. He is describing that a gruesome death by drowning in the sea would be preferable to enduring the inevitable consequences of compromising young children in any way.

While the culture shouts that we should adore evil, Scripture tells us to abhor it. The Apostle Paul gives this charge in Romans 12 — the only time this word is used in the New Testament. In its context, we are told to hate, despise, and be horrified by evil and, more importantly, separate ourselves from it.

May we have eyes to see our children with the same fierce love Christ has for them. May we protect our children’s innocence with everything we’ve got, and have the discernment to know when not to entrust them to the broken systems around us. May we come in between our children and those who would prey upon them, keep them separated from evil, and never relinquish our God-given calling to put our children’s well-being before our own.

But we pray, Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the afflicted! Break the arm of the wicked and evil man. Seek out his wickedness until You find no more. (Psalm 10:12, 15)

Keith Guinta is, in reverse order of importance, a mountaineer, standup comic, Ironman marathoner, coach, church planter, small business owner, coffee roaster, rookie blogger, worship leader, father, husband, and younger brother of Christ. Read his thoughts on his blog, The Wine Patch.