In advance of tomorrow’s 21 for freedom event at the Sanctuary, we’re publishing the first in a series of new resources to help us all as we pray and act for an end to human trafficking. Liz Baddaley’s ‘What price?’ is a song of lament and intercession. You can download the mp3, chord sheet and story behind the song from our new and topical resources page. Here, Liz tells us a bit about the song, the heart behind it, and the friends it is dedicated to – Mollie and Steve Brown…
…how and why it was written
The statistics speak for themselves and are the inspiration between this song of lament and intercession for trafficking to end:
“Today an estimated 27 million people are held in slavery, with statistics estimating that 99% are never rescued. Trafficking in women is the 2nd largest global organised crime, and in some cases girls are forced to service as many as 40 men a day.” (Source A21, 2012.)
I had been considering writing something for a while but the urgency of the issue got past my reticence to tackle something like this in the context of music and poetry because of friends working with those affected, and a documentary I watched in the summer of 2012 called Nefarious.
One day towards the end of the year a number of us were praying praying about trafficking at the Sanctuary as it was the issue in focus that day and the central idea of paying a price for a person versus Jesus paying the price came to mind.
Actually writing the song has been a bit of a struggle needing several sessions to get there because singing it let alone creating it has been painful for me. Facing up to this issue is difficult but it is essential. And nowhere is it more appropriate for us to talk about it than in the presence of God.
…how, where and when it could be used
This kind of specific lament and intercession song is outside the experience of most corporate sung worship, but there is no real reason why it couldnt work as a led congregational song.
It will probably work best however sung over a congregation as part of a response to a message on this topic and/or as a stimulus to intercession.
…the dedication
This song is dedicated to Mollie and Steven Brown friends from Mosaic Church Leeds who are now in Cambodia working with Iris Ministries to help women and children who have been trafficked into the sex trade. It is an immense privilege to know them and support them in prayer.
I believe one of the things our world most needs is more people like Mollie and Steve ordinary people who have become extraordinary by loving God and others so much theyve left friends, family and successful career prospects to work for justice and freedom.
…its place on the journey to where world and worship meet
This song is simply another in a growing family of songs written by the Sanctuary and other worship leaders which seek to bring the injustices of our world into our worship. For this is where they belong in the presence of God for they were on his heart first. Here we can catch his compassion, his strategy, and are filled with the Spirits strength so that we can partner with him in prayer and action to end modern day slavery and every other injustice that reduces precious unique individuals made in the image of God to commodities, numbers or disposable statistics.