The Ostrich

The ostrich gets a bad rep with that whole "head-in-the-sand" thing.  I looked it up on a very reputable source (Wikipedia, of course) and it said that ostriches do NOT hide their heads in the sand.
 I guess that means this picture is not actually true.

The ostrich may not hide his head in the sand, but I've been hiding my head in the sand.  My life is relativity safe and when I hear about oppression and injustice in other parts of the world I ignore it.  I explain it away by saying "that doesn't really happen here," or "there's nothing I can do about it."  But the truth is that those are just excuses that allow me to stick my head in the sand.

 
But I'm going to take my head out of the sand.  I've found that I can no longer ignore these facts.

• 27 MILLION men, women, and children are  currently held as slaves.
• Each year, nearly 2 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade. 
• There are an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 children, women, and men trafficked across international borders annually.
• Approximately 80 percent of human trafficking victims are women and girls, and up to 50 percent are minors.
• The total market value of illicit human trafficking is estimated to be in excess of $32 billion. 

(International Justice Mission)

It has been interesting to experience peoples reactions when I tell them that I am riding for these issues of injustice this summer.  Last year when I told people I was riding for clean water in Africa everyone was very supportive.  But this year I've felt more resistance when I tell people what I am riding for.  It's not that these people disagree with the mission, it's just that they don't want to hear about it.  They still have their head in the sand and they want to pretend that evil like this does not exist, but it does.

The challenge is to take your head out of the sand.