"Suffer not the Little Children"

The following is an article I read today online entitled "CHILE: 100,000 CHILDREN WORKING IN 'UNACCEPTABLE' CONDITIONS". I have added emphasis (bold text) to phrases or sentences that should be understood and prayed over.
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(February 16, 2007) A study by Chile’s National Service for the Protection of Minors (know as Sename) has revealed that 100,000 children in the country are illegally employed in jobs that are classified as “unacceptable” for children.

The Sename study, carried out in conjunction with the University of Arts and Social Sciences and the International Labor Organization (OIT), found that 200,000 children are working illegally in Chile. Of these, more than half are involved in activities such as pornography, drug trafficking, and underground labor.

Under Chilean law, children below the age of 15 are not allowed to carry out any form of paid employment. The only exception to this law is in the entertainment industry, where certain conditions are required to allow children to work in fields such as television and theater.

Minors between the age of 15 and 18 are allowed to work, but only with parental consent. Workers aged between 15 and 16 are legally obliged to provide proof that they are taking part in some form of educational program.

According to Paulina Fernández, director of Sename, incidences of child exploitation are higher during the summer and harvest periods, given that a lot of child labor is used in the agricultural industry. The situation is particularly bad in Chile’s Regions I and IX, where many children miss two months of school annually during the pine nut harvest. In Colchane in the I Region, child labor is seen as a rite of passage between “infancy and adulthood,” the study revealed.

Sename considers the worst forms of child labor as those involving some kind of physical, social or psychological experience that does not correspond to a child’s level of development. For this reason, children’s involvement in the sex and drug trafficking industries are particularly worrying.
To solve this problem, Sename is working together with Chile’s Police Force to compile a register of the worst cases of child exploitation in the country, and intervene where possible. By September last year, 2,194 children had been registered as working illegally. Children who are found in these situations are removed and given psychological treatment, and are placed in foster care if necessary.

Although Chile has one of the lowest rates of child exploitation in Latin America, this figure is expected to rise after a new, more in-depth study is released this coming March. This later
study, also conducted by the OIT, is expected to generate more detailed information about children’s involvement in Chile’s commercial sex trade.

In an attempt to raise public awareness of the child abuse issue, the OIT launched a campaign late last year with the slogan: “There are no excuses: commercial sex with children under the age of 18 is a crime.”

SOURCES: EL MERCURIO, LA TERCERA
By Cate Setterfield (editor@santiagotimes.cl)
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Implications for Our Ministry in Chile to Children:

1. The answer isn't police intervention, but Jesus Christ.
2. Ministering to parents is vital.
3. Ministering to children is important. They are the next generation.
4. Families are the building blocks of a solid established church.
5. We need prayer for wisdom in how to minister and handle "tough" situations that WILL come up.
6. Our children are a part of our ministry team. Their testimony and involvement in the community is important. Pray for our children to gain contacts and maintain a Godly testimony.
7. Chilean churches need to be involved in reaching out to street children and teenagers.
8. Children CAN understand doctrine!
9. Hospitality and investment of time in children and teens is crucial.