Yesterday recognized a small niche of Americans – the 1.3 million soldiers who have given of their lives in service to our country since the Revolutionary War. That’s over the span of 250 years and equals 5,200/year. I do not write that to minimize the loss. I only share the figures to highlight a much larger segment of society and one that is even more tragic. Yesterday was also National Missing Children’s Day.
Each year, roughly 360,000 children are reported missing to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center’s (NCIC) Missing Persons File across the United States. The actual number of runaway and missing children nationally is likely closer to 2 million children.1 Endangered runaways account for 91 percent of missing children reports, while stranger abductions are extremely rare (less than 1 percent). More than 97 percent of missing children in the U.S. are found and returned to their families. The “first three hours” are critical: In serious abduction cases, the immediate timeframe following the disappearance is vital for a safe recovery.2
A statistic that is both nauseating and frightening is that “Every 2 minutes a child is sold into trafficking. 4.8 Million people are victims of sex trafficking today. 300,000 American children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation each year. The Average age of entry into the commercial sex market is 12 years old. The average victim is held captive for 23.4 months before escaping, dying, or being set free. In the U.S., 1 in 6 reported endangered runaways are believed to be victims of child sex trafficking.”3
Currently, the state of Ohio has 444 children missing. 800 who were reported missing have been found.4 That’s in just the first five months of the year!
I don’t know how a person can read statistics like this and not feel something. Sorrow and rage intermingle in our hearts as we consider what some poor child is enduring, alone, frightened, and having their emotional, mental, and physical innocence robbed from them.
How can someone do these things? That question cries out from the hearts of decent people. The answer is clear in Jeremiah 17:9. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” This wicked heart puts itself on full display according to Mark 7:20-23. “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. (21) For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, (22) Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an
evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: (23) All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Even when we hear or read of the vilest actions of humanity, we have to remind ourselves that even worse depravity is possible.
As Jesus spoke about the kingdom of Heaven, He said in Matthew 18:2-6, “And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, (3) And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (4) Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (5) And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. (6) But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Jesus talks about guarding His children against offense with the illustration of protecting an actual child – a child He was probably holding in His lap at that moment.
The Believer’s Bible Commentary gives this insight: “Here, the Lord Jesus glides almost imperceptibly from the subject of a natural child to a spiritual child…It is bad enough to sin against oneself, but to cause a believer to sin is to destroy his innocence, corrupt his mind, and stain his reputation. Better to die a violent death than to trifle with another’s purity!”5
As Christians, we might feel helpless, unable to prevent child abductions and runaways. What we can do, though, is be the kind of person that if a child feels they must run (whether right or wrong), they know where to run to. We must stay vigilant against behaviors towards children that are inappropriate. We need to support every effort to keep children safe from predators, groomers, pedophiles, and more. Learn the warning signs of abuse that might make a child run. Learn how and where to report.
Parents/grandparents, stop posting pictures of the kids/grandkids! I know you do it innocently but it’s like handing a predator a restaurant menu. You’re telling the wrong people what the child looks like, what they are involved in, and giving a schedule of when the child will be at those events. All of this helps a predator map their strategy. Instead, parents and kids alike need to be educated on the dangers of social media.
We all have to be willing to step in and protect the kids. When your phone sounds an Amber Alert and you see that another child is missing or abducted, pray for them. May God rest His protective hand on our children and especially on the heads of those children who are still missing!
“Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. (4) Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.” (Psalms 82:3-4)
1https://childidprogram.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Minority-and-Missing-and-MMIP-Executive-Summary-3-16-25.pdf
2https://momlovesbest.com/child-abduction-statistics-and-facts
3https://www.safehouseproject.org/blog/child-trafficking-every-2-minutes-a-child-is-sold/
4https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/missing-persons-by-state
5Believer’s Bible Commentary, e-Sword.net module
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