So you saw Sound of Freedom and now you want to “do something” about the problem of human trafficking. Or perhaps you’ve heard about it in the news and were shocked and saddened and want to help.

If so, please - please - get Ending Human Trafficking: A Handbook of Strategies for the Church Today (galley received as part of an early review program).

You might find the introduction offensive: the authors speak of how police disparage a lot of people motivated by their faith to “do something” about human trafficking. Yet they well explain why: a lot of times those motivated by their faith, with the best of intentions, “do something” they think is “helping” but at best proves redundant, and at worst actively hinders and works against the work a lot of law enforcement and non-governmental organizations are doing on the ground.

Instead, the authors of Ending Human Trafficking encourage Christians and churches to get trained and educated about the history of slavery and human trafficking, the nature of slavery and human trafficking today, the terminology used, all applicable laws, and they provide a guide for Christians and churches to develop efforts to work with existing efforts from law enforcement and non-governmental organizations to end human trafficking following the six Ps: prevention, protection, prosecution, partnership, policy, and prayer.

The authors do well at dispelling a lot of the myths about human trafficking and work to uncover its reality: there are far more people trafficked for labor than for sex and it often does not look as obvious or dramatic as it is made out to be. It is important to be trained in how to effectively work with survivors of trafficking and maintain firm commitments in efforts to work toward their restoration. Christians can do a lot to maintain a spotlight on the issue, in their prayers, and do what they can to prevent people from falling into trafficking and partnering with organizations to help those who have been trafficked.

There is a lot of practical wisdom in this book. I appreciate the sharp criticism of the white saviorism and “lone ranger” tactics which prove all too pervasive in conservative Christendom writ large and what seems to be exemplified in Sound of Freedom (I again refer to Laura Robinson’s excellent series on this topic beginning here). Some of us have some qualms about the church as a corporate collective institutionalizing some of these programs, and there are some valid critiques of the urge to systematize in general; nevertheless, the problem remains very real, and there do need to be a lot of institutional guidelines and safeguards erected and maintained in order to properly help restore survivors of trafficking.

If you are as serious in substance as in profession regarding human trafficking, this is a great resource to consider. ( )