Justice

Last night Jason and I went to a benefit dinner for the International Justice Mission, which is headquartered in DC and is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.

I first heard about IJM in a dingy train station in Glasgow, Scotland. Friends and I were on our way back to Oxford after a quick, "let's-go-see-the-Loch-Ness" weekend in the Highlands, and I spent the trip home trying to catch up on the studying that I had missed out on by not spending the weekend in the library. Our lecture the next day would ask the question, "Where is God in the face of injustice?" It was one I had struggled with for about a year without being satisfied with the typical Sunday school-type answers I'd received.

The reading we were assigned the week before told the true story of a young girl in Cambodia who had been kidnapped, dragged across the border to Thailand, and sold into sex slavery. It was members of IJM, an organization that works with local authorities as legal advocates for victims of sex trafficking, slavery, and other forms of violent injustice, who risked their lives to rescue this girl and bring her abductors to justice. The message was clear, and I have not forgotten it: God uses us to fight injustice in the world, and when we don't step up to the plate, injustice goes unanswered. Never before had I realized how critical I am to God's plan.

Three cheers for the CCCU, because Jason also learned about IJM when he did an off-campus study program in DC while he was in college. We strongly encourage you to check out IJM's website and see what they are doing--and what you can do--to help fight injustice in our world.