People were outraged.

Something far more horrendous happens EVERY DAY . . . and goes almost unnoticed.

Human trafficking.

What’s that?

It’s children and teens being sold or kidnapped and forced to become a slave. Human trafficking also involves children being forced to become soldiers.

Of course, human trafficking isn’t limited to only children and teens. But of the estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people trafficked across international borders each year, 80 percent of these victims are female and as many as 50 percent are children, according to the U.S. U.S. Department of State. It’s big business! The FBI shares a frightening fact: Human trafficking generates approximately $9.5 billion each year.

Yeah . . . but that doesn’t affect me, you may be thinking. You’re talking about stuff that happens in other countries.

Yes. And no.

Though a lot of human trafficking happens outside North America, the “Trafficking in Persons Report” of 2006 estimates that 14,500 to 17,000 people—mostly women and children—are trafficked right here to the U.S. each year.

Does that make your stomach turn?

It made Natalie Grant sick.

And if you’re wondering what can be done about it . . . she asked the same question. But she didn’t simply stop with questions and answers. She did something about it. Something to make it matter.

It All Started With a TV Show
“I was settled into my cozy couch watching an episode of ‘Law and Order,’ “ the contemporary Christian artist says, “and it happened to be about human trafficking and showed kids in cages in New York. The credits after the show said the storyline was based on facts. What is this? I thought. I’d never heard the term human trafficking.”

Natalie couldn’t sleep that night. So she spent the hours in front of her computer researching the subject.

The facts shocked her.

And broke her heart.

“Suddenly, this was no longer a TV show,” she says. “Now it had become real stories of real kids.”

The next day, Natalie began making phone calls. “I had to do something,” she says. “I didn’t know what; I just knew I had to try to find a way to help.”

She found that help in a relief organization working to help prevent human trafficking. The receptionist who answered the phone just happened to have seen Natalie in concert and knew about her ministry. They discussed Natalie’s helping spread the word through her concerts. Three months later, Natalie was on a flight to Mumbai, India.

Up Close And Personal
“I’ve been on lots of missions trips,” Natalie says. “I loved the Brio missions trip I participated in, and I’ve seen a lot of eye-opening poverty and injustice. But nothing in the world prepared me for this!”

On a sunny day in Mumbai, as Natalie and her husband walked the red-light district known for human trafficking, she glanced up to see a little girl staring out of a second-story window.

“She was probably 6,” Natalie says. “And she was inside a cage. Our eyes locked. She wasn’t screaming. She wasn’t asking for help. She wasn’t trying to escape. She had given up. She was resigned to the cold, hard fact that this was her reality—a life of slavery behind bars.”

Natalie realized this little girl would never know the feeling of running barefoot across a field of soft grass, celebrating a birthday, holding a balloon, going to Sunday school, nor would she ever know freedom.

“When I asked our guide why she was in a cage, I was told that the younger girls are always kept in cages until they give up trying to escape. It made me physically ill,” Natalie says. “I vowed I’d spend the rest of my life fighting for that little girl and those like her who are trapped in human trafficking.”

Natalie organized her charity, The Home Foundation, and Web site to raise money and support for human-trafficking relief efforts. Through this foundation, Natalie’s able to raise awareness about this atrocious sin and is committed to educating her audiences on the plight of children around the world who have been forced into slavery.

Make a Difference
Human trafficking isn’t the only area in which Natalie is seeking to be a light. She’s striving to make her whole life matter. “When I was in high school, I was consumed with blending in instead of doing stuff to stand out and motivate people,” she says. “I really regret that. I wish I would have used my time better, and I wish I’d been consumed with standing out to make a difference. I encourage my Brio sisses not to fall for blending in like I did. Instead of trying to follow the trends, be a trendsetter!”

And if you’re wondering how to do that? “Be kind—that’s huge!” she says. “Do something out of the norm for your age group. For example, at the Christian university I attended, my girlfriends and I determined to make a difference in people’s lives. We’d try to come up with something different to do each week for someone. One week we cleaned a professor’s office. Another week we helped the staff in the cafeteria—just anything we could do to make our lives matter.”

You Can Make It Matter!
So what can you personally do to make your life matter? If you’re following Christ, you’re already headed in the right direction. And because you’re His disciple, He’s excited about empowering you to make your life matter!

So here’s the deal: Natalie and Brio are launching a challenge! We’re daring you to Make It Matter. You’re invited to submit an entry detailing what you’re doing to make it matter in your community, your campus, your church or your neighborhood.

Prize Package:
• The top 10 finalists receive Natalie Grant VIP packages with autographed copies of her new CD, Relentless (containing the song “Make It Matter”), Natalie Grant T-shirts and Natalie’s book, The Real Me: Becoming the Girl God Sees. (Provided by Curb Records and Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

• Grand Prize Winner: Roundtrip airfare and one night hotel accommodations to and from a U.S. city for the winner and guest/parent to receive VIP seating at a Natalie Grant concert and dinner with Natalie. The winner will be introduced on stage to share what she’s doing to make it matter. (Provided by Curb Records.)

• One international winner will receive a Natalie Grant VIP package and a personal phone call from Natalie.

Specifics:
• Only international entries can be e-mailed. (prizes@briomag.com)

• All U.S. entries must be sent through regular mail to: Brio’s Make It Matter, P.O. Box 16106, Colorado Springs, CO 80935-9809

• Entries must be type-written and no more than 200 words in length.

• Deadline for all entries: Sept. 18, 2008.

• Read the official contest rules.

Questions:
—If I live in Canada, am I considered an international entry? Yes. And that means you can e-mail your entry.

—Can an international person win the Grand Prize? Yes, but it’s your responsibility to get to a U.S. city. Your flight and hotel accommodations begin and end in the U.S.

—Does my “make it matter” have to be connected with human trafficking? Absolutely not. Anything you’re doing to make it matter counts! God can use anything you do it make a difference!

Make it Matter
(N. Grant, Bernie Herms, Matthew West)

Pack my bags and my regrets
Every second that I've wasted
Chasing after
My pursuit of happiness
Has only left me searching
There must be more

Chorus:
Take my life and lift me up to the sky
Take my dreams and help me to fly
On the wings of possibility
Come rewrite my history
(till it’s) only You I’m chasing after
Take this life and make it matter

Help me give more than I take
Let me see into somebody else’s heartache
And be the difference love can make
My heart is finally finding
That there is more

Only one life to live
Only one love to give
Only one life, only one love
So make it, make it matter