Prayers For Justice - A Prayer Guideنموونە

Pray For Children Trapped In Child Labor

Ebenezer was only six years old when he was sent to work on Lake Volta in Ghana, a notorious hotbed of child slavery. This lake is the largest human-made body of water in the world, and entire communities make their living on the boats and in the fish markets. Unfortunately, hundreds of fishermen (or, more accurately, fisherboys) are not there by choice. They’re trafficked into the horrors of child labor; their families deceived, their former lives as distant as dreams.

Lake Volta’s fishing industry is built on the backs of vulnerable children, most of whom are younger than 10. The trafficked are given the most dangerous and difficult jobs, are subjected to violence, work longer hours and have their food and pay withheld.

Ebenezer was just an infant when his mother died, leaving him orphaned. Comfort, his grandmother, came to collect him and take him back to her home. “I take care of nine grandchildren,” says Comfort. “Their fathers have abandoned them.”

When Ebenezer was 6 years old, a relative appeared at his grandmother’s house. The man owned a fishing boat and he was looking for boys to come and work on the waters of Lake Volta to learn the ways of the fishing boats. He promised a good job, a steady wage, enough food, a safe place to sleep.

Comfort was torn. He would have something to eat and somewhere to sleep, and she would have a little more for the children who remained. She made her decision and let him go.

For three years, Ebenezer worked the lake. He cast the nets and heaved them in until his shoulders burned and his hands cracked and bled. Ebenezer prayed for deliverance from slavery.

Thankfully, these child slaves have an advocate. Meet Henry Tetteh Amanor, center director of the New Ningo Good Shepherd Methodist Child Development Center. “Child trafficking is a poverty issue…Caregivers give their children away for an amount as little as 300 cedis, about 78 U.S. dollars. They can never find their way back home.”

Comfort’s fear for her grandchildren wouldn’t let her rest. Henry explained to her that Ebenezer could receive support through the local church and Compassion. The grinding poverty that had pushed her into her fateful decision wasn’t insurmountable. Spurred by a fresh hope, Comfort enlisted Henry’s help and set out for the lake.

When Comfort tracked her grandson down, she wept with relief that he was still alive. When she learned of the abuse and despair he’d suffered, she wept again.

With Henry’s support, she negotiated Ebenezer’s release. “If not for Henry’s support to bring these children back from the Volta Lake, their lives would have been destroyed,” says Comfort.

Now in the final years of high school, Ebenezer hopes to become a mechanical engineer. He has suffered through great trauma but survived. In the years since he left the lake, he has been registered with the Compassion program, protected by his mighty grandmother, nurtured by the love of his local church, and encouraged by his sponsor.

“I have suffered enough in my life and so I don’t want my family or my children to suffer. I want them to acquire some knowledge so they can lead a better life,” he says. “So that children will be free, and free forever.”

Ebenezer’s suffering is shared by more than 150 million children who remain trapped in child labor around the world; half of them work in extreme or hazardous conditions. Will you pray for them today?

Father God, in our verses today, we are called to stand up for those who can’t speak for themselves. God we call on You. Protect them, free them, and defend them. Your Word says that children are very important to You so we ask You to be their defender. We ask for more people like Henry—people who stand up against injustice and fight for the vulnerable. In Your Son’s name, amen.

Learn more about Ebenezer.