MD544/644:
Ministry to Sexually Exploited and Trafficked Children (4 units)
Christa Foster Crawford, Adjunct Assistant
Professor of Children at Risk
Mark Crawford, Adjunct Instructor in Children at Risk
Spring 2007
DESCRIPTION:
A young boy labors in a
brick factory to pay off the debt of his father; a teenage girl is raped by
“customers” in the small cubicle in which she lives and works; a runaway poses for
nude photographs in exchange for a place to stay; a child slave sleeps on the
floor and works non-stop for scraps; a street child sells trinkets in the
middle of heavy traffic. Each of
these children is among the hundreds of thousands of victims of trafficking for
labor or sexual exploitation world-wide each year. In working cross-culturally, many of these
children are in plain view, even if their problems are not.
This course will give students a basic
introduction to the problem of trafficking of children for sexual and labor
exploitation. Students will study existing faith-based and secular strategies
to address these issues, evaluate them and formulate effective solutions.
Students will be expected to develop a missional
approach to addressing sex and labor trafficking in their own ministry context.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
• Gain a biblical and
holistic understanding of the types, causes and effects of sexual exploitation
and trafficking of children.
• Develop awareness of Christian responses informed by an understanding of the
problems and best practices of mission to sexually exploited and trafficked
children.
• Develop an integrated theory of ministry to sexually exploited and trafficked
children.
COURSE
FORMAT: This course is a two-week intensive that meets for three-hour sessions
each weekday. Class sessions will include lecture, multi-media, and group
discussions.
Note: Students are required to attend the ASHA Forum, a
Children at Risk conference scheduled to meet at Fuller Theological
Seminary on Friday, April 27 – Sunday, April 29, 2007. Conference fees will be
waived for credit students enrolled in MD544. For more information regarding
the conference, visit the conference website:
http://guest.cvent.com/EVENTS/Info/Invitation.aspx?e=e3395bc0-438b-46fb-ba9f-cc1715924437.
REQUIRED
Brock,
Rita Nakashima & Brooks Thistlethwaite, Susan. Casting Stones: Prostitution and Liberation
in Asia and the
Kilbourn, Phyllis & McDermid, Marjorie. Sexually Exploited Children: Working to
Protect and Heal.
Bales,
Kevin. Disposable People: New Slavery in
the Global Economy.
Cadet,
Jean-Robert. Restavec:
From Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American.
Course Reader, which
includes information and articles about sex and labor trafficking written by
governments, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, academics and local
practitioners from around the world.
RECOMMENDED
Miles, Glenn & Stephenson, Paul. Child Development Study Packet for People
Working with Children.
Gourley, Steve; Miles, Glenn & Stephenson, Paul. Child Participation.
UNICEF
Children on the Edge: Protecting Children from Sexual Exploitation and
Trafficking in East Asia and the Pacific (no date).
McDonald, Patrick
& Emma Garrow. Reaching Children in Need: What’s Being Done – What You Can Do.
ASSIGNMENTS:
1.
Four written reflections. Each should be 500 to 750 words and address reading
assignments, class discussions and personal observations (due at the beginning
of four class periods).
2. A theological reflection paper on an issue of child sex or labor trafficking
(1,500 words).
3. An integration paper consisting of a strategic plan for a missional response to sexually exploited or trafficked
children in a context chosen by your personal research or ministry goals (4,000
words).
4. Attendance of the ASHA forum, a Child at Risk Conference, being held at
Fuller Theological Seminary April 27-29, 2007.
Additional
Assignments for ThM students: additional 300-500
pages of reading and write a publishable article on a selected topic.
Note: Fuller
expects from all of its ThM level students an overall
greater analytical depth on writing assignments.
PREREQUISITES:
None.
RELATIONSHIP
TO CURRICULUM: Elective. Part of Children at Risk concentration.
FINAL EXAM: None.