God is real, life has value

I was sitting in class. The teacher, an older Englishman; was telling stories from his experiences in an orphanage in Cambodia. This young girl had been sold at 3 years old for just $10, and then a second time for $100. She now lived in a group home, recovering from a life of sexual abuse, she was now 6 years old. He told how when he passed her in the hall that she immediately lifted her skirt, it was what she knew of men. It was her expectation.

Another story of a boat arriving from Nigeria to the Netherlands. There were 100 girls on board. It is expected that 1/3 of them would make it to the brothels. 1/3 would find themselves homeless on the streets, and the last 1/3... they would be killed and their organs sold. This is the very brutal reality of human trafficking.

God is real, life has value.

I wanted to throttle someone, or to cry out loud.

Then he started a short 'movie'. It was actually the passion of the Christ set to Amazing Grace. I didn't want to watch it. I don't like gorey movies, and I was ready to close my eyes, but something inside of me said look on. So I did. It was horrible. There was blood everywhere, his Mother, his friends, those that mocked. The carnage that went on was intense, overwhelming. There was in me this pit of the stomach feeling. Christ death was ugly, brutal, and hard to 'watch'.

It was for me. It is my sin that drove Jesus to die. His intense love for me. It's not that life in general has value. It's that there's an intimate cry from God that my life, as a particular individual has deepest and most passionate love value. I am loved by my Maker. YOU are loved, and worth every moment of Christ's passionate pursuit.

God is real, life has value. Here's the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbYLvgQwtGI