Will the angels take slavery away?

With thanks to Paul Sanderson for sharing these notes from a recent assembly he led, in anticipation of Anti Slavery Day.

‘Swing Low, sweet chariots’:

You know the chorus but do you know where this verse is from?

“I looked over Jordan, what did I see

Coming for to carry me home,

A band of angels coming for me,

Coming for to carry me home”.

Well if you have been watching the Rugby World Cup when England have been involved, you will have heard the crowd singing this old slave song to inspire the team to victory! (didn’t work!)

“Swing low, sweet chariot.” The song is about the hope of dying and being taken away from the pain, horror and degradation that was slavery in the Americas in the 1800’s.

Between 9 and 11 million Africans were kidnapped or sold by British, Portuguese, Dutch, Danish and American slave traders, to be transported to work thousands of miles from their home.

But that’s all in the past isn’t it?

Well according to the anti-slavery campaign group ‘Walk Free’, nearly 36 million people worldwide, or 0.5% of the world's population, live as slaves today in 2015!

80% are woman and girls and over half the total are children.

Slavery is worse today than it has ever been in history. To help highlight the issue every 18th October is Anti Slavery day in the UK.

It’s an opportunity to be made aware of the plight of the modern day slave. The women trafficked for prostitution and for use in the pornography industry; the children taken to fight in wars or to pick cocoa beans; the families in debt made to work for pennies to pay off many pounds; the girls and women forced into marriage; the men and children forced to work against their will under the threat of some form of punishment.

It’s not just happening in some far off country. It’s happening on our doorstep.

Latest government statistics say that 13,000 people are victims of slavery in the UK. Police in Hampshire have identified 40 people including 5 children who were victims of human trafficking in the last 12 months.

So what can we do? Take time out to find the facts. Chat about the issues with family and friends. Report suspicious behavior that you see in your community. Think what it must be like to be a slave.

Swing Low isn’t being sung over the next few weeks from a rugby perspective, but the history behind the song lives on.

Slavery is alive and we need a band of angels to come and take it away. Are we those angels?