A number of Christian organizations designated this past weekend the National Weekend of Prayer to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking. Its stated purpose was “to mobilize prayer in America and to encourage awareness of the issue of human trafficking which is correctly called modern day slavery.” Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, head of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (Hispanic Evangelical Association), is Honorary Co-Chair of the event. Erik Campano spoke to him for Patheos.

A coalition of evangelical groups is launching what many are calling the “largest ever grass-roots push on immigration.” Rev. Sam Rodriguez, head of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, exclaims, “We have a moral imperative to act. This is the year. This is the evangelical hour to lead in a justice issue.” In the mind of many evangelical leaders, the reverend is right.

"I wanted to write this book to understand how a massive humanitarian effort, led by the most powerful nation in the world--my country--could cause so much harm and heartache in another that wanted its help so badly," writes Jonathan Katz wrote, author of the new book, "The Big Truck That Went By: How The World Came to Save Haiti And Left Behind A Disaster."

Slavery exists today for the same reason it did more than a century ago: money. The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes cites estimates that human trafficking in all its forms yields $32 billion dollars in profits every year. So how can we stop it? The private sector can help ensure supply chains are free of human trafficking, forced labor and other forms of modern slavery, and that their employees do not personally reap the benefits of trafficking.In September, President Barack Obama announced several initiatives to fight modern slavery.

Gary Haugen, president and CEO of International Justice Mission (IJM), told the 60,000+ Passion 2013 participants that 27 million people in slavery today is a massive problem of injustice in our world and that they must make this cause a priority, in what was both a plea for awareness and a challenge to take action Wednesday afternoon.

Russell Moore, dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently talked with Religion News Service about why adoption has become his personal cause and why more evangelicals should be joining him. On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, Moore said adoption fits evangelicals’ anti-abortion values, even as he maintains adoption isn’t right for every family.

It was 15 years ago that Ted Turner needed something interesting to say in a speech — and decided, in a rush, to give away $1 billion. In nominal terms, before adjusting for inflation, that semiaccidental donation was, at the time, believed to be the biggest single gift ever made, and it has helped transform philanthropy.

A few years ago, I interviewed Dr. Arthur Brooks, president of American Enterprise Institute and author of the book, "Who Really Cares." He has researched charitable giving for many years. He told me, "There is one question that answers [how generous you are] far and away better than anything else. And that question is: 'How often do you go to church?' Faith matters, faith matters more than anything else in determining whether or not we are giving people to others."

The International Justice Mission reminds us that the priorities of the Kingdom are broad and not encompassed by any political party.