News from IJM Casework Countries
Lusaka Times – Zambia to receive US$269.2m for HIV/AIDS fight
BBC – Kenya’s vice president condemns alleged assault of prisoners by wardens in a Nairobi jail
Washington Post – Bolivian President Evo Morales visits the U.S.
World and U.S. News
CNN – UK plans clampdown on sex trafficking
“But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’” Matthew 14:27
Year after year it can feel harder and harder to connect at Christmastime with the deep mysteries of Christ’s birth, of God’s choice to come to earth, to take on human flesh, to come into our suffering, to meet with us, to bring healing to the nations… The reasons for our heart’s distraction from this beauty are many, but sometimes something as simple as a song written in holy surrender can float by our ears and draw us back to the wonder of Emmanuel - God with us.
This is precisely what I’ve experienced over the past 16 hours since I opened Sara Groves’ new Christmas album - an awakening from the distraction, an invitation into holy wonder. Sara is an artist partner with us (and dedicates the fourth (and title) song on this album to our work).
Sara, thank you for the way you let God use you to draw us to truth, beauty and blazing hope, even in the darkness of injustice and oppression.
Ted Haddock/International Justice Mission®
News from IJM Casework Countries
BBC – ¬Rwandans gather to protest the expected extradition to France of Rose Kabuye, who is charged with the murder of the former Rwandan President (which is said to have sparked the genocide in 1994)
AP – Industry and Trade ministers from 49 “least-developed” countries met in Siem Reap, Cambodia for a two-day conference where Cambodian Prime Minister Hum Sen called for unity among poor nations on global trade
World and U.S. News
AFP – Cholera epidemic outbreak threatens thousands in Zimbabwe
BBC – New laws in the UK will criminalize paying for an illegally trafficked women for sex
“Deliver me, O LORD, from evildoers; protect me from those who are violent, who plan evil things in their minds and stir up wars continually.” Psalm 140:1
Today Laurel Henshaw (welcome back from SE Asia, Laurel!) and I are taking a day off-site, away from in-office meetings in order to do some long-range planning and vision development for the Institute. Some topics include:
- laying the agenda and drafting the content for our annual 3-day Institute Retreat with Gary Haugen and the Senior Fellows next month
- laying strategies and project plans for 2009 (including the upcoming Global Prayer Gathering in March)
- drafting a timeline for the development of the Institute’s international school program
- continued drafting of a working 10-year vision for the IJM Institute in correlation with IJM as a whole
What questions do you have about the Institute and where it is headed?
What suggestions do you have for us as the Institute grows and develops?
Ted Haddock/International Justice Mission®
News from IJM Casework Countries
Medical News Today – Cambodia launches a HIV/AIDS test campaign during the National Water Festival as part of efforts to test one million people in observance of One Million Tests World AIDS Day 2008
Human Rights Watch – Human Rights Watch is worried that a new anti-drug campaign in Thailand will lead to human rights violations
Reuters – Flooding in Ethiopia kills 11 people and submerged over 100 villages
World and U.S. News
Los Angeles Times – Firefighters continue to battle the deadly wildfires that have swept across southern California and destroyed over 800 homes, thousands of acres and several buildings and dorms on the Westmont College campus
AP – Fighting broke out again in Congo despite cease-fire agreement
The operation in South Asia was delayed. We sincerely appreciate your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for the girls who are suffering. Please also pray for the safety of our staff and for good cooperation with the local police officers.
Ted Haddock/International Justice Mission®
News from IJM Casework Countries
Asia Times Online Cambodian Prime Minister intends to limit the NGO’s present in the country
The Daily Nation Kenya Red Cross appeals for sh585 Million to assist with flood damage that effected more than 300,000 people
International Herald Tribune Deadly clash in Gaza puts pressure on an already shaky truce
World and U.S. News
The Telegraph “Child Witches” of Nigeria seek refuge
Rights and Democracy Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights wins Rights & Democracy’s 2008 John Humphrey Freedom Award
All Africa Sudan Government declares complete cease-fire in Darfur
Sky News Special report of girls of North Korea trafficked into prostitution in China
“Rise up, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed. Why do the wicked renounce God, and say in their hearts, ‘You will not call us to account’? But you do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands; the helpless commit themselves to you; you have been the helper of the orphan. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoers; seek out their wickedness until you find none. The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations shall perish from his land.” Psalm 10: 12-16
Please pray for our team in South Asia as they execute an operation on a large brothel today. Pray for continued good cooperation with the police and safety for our staff as they enter an especially dangerous situation. Pray that the girls would be rescued quickly as they are currently suffering very violent treatment.
Ted Haddock/International Justice Mission®
News from IJM Casework Countries
The Independent – India opens up tariff free trade with Uganda
BBC – Investigation discovers that the 15 people killed in a Bus fire in Guatemala were shot first
U.S. and World News
AFP – Sudan president announces an immediate ceasefire in Darfur
Jamaica Gleaner – Two men sentenced to 12 months in jail for human trafficking of a 14-year-old girl
“Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.” Jeremiah 20:13
Ran into Kevin Bales today at a meeting with legal and human rights experts in DC. He has been a wonderful friend to our work. If you have not picked up a copy of one of his many groundbreaking books, I would do so today.
Kevin is one of the foremost statisticians compiling the compelling evidence of slavery’s world-wide prevalence today. In many ways, the issue of modern-day slavery is one that has been alive in the public and media’s eye for only a few years, even as the issue itself has been growing in magnitude for centuries. Many of us, myself included, used to believe slavery was a thing of the past, a crime that came to an end with the Civil War here in the U.S.
Ted Haddock/International Justice Mission®
News from IJM Casework Countries
AFP -Philippine government rejects claims that it is grabbing land on Boracay island
U.S. and World News
AFP - In Zimbabwe, Mugabe looks set to form new government
BBC – DR Congo government rejects calls for talks with rebel leader
“So you handed them over to their enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the hand of their enemies.” Nehemiah 9:27
Ted Haddock/International Justice Mission®
News from IJM Casework Countries
BBC – Cambodia and Thailand begin new border talks
Reuters – Best malaria treatment too expensive in Uganda
U.S. and World News
AP – Crisis in Congo continues as a cholera outbreak throughout refugee camps during the ceasefire
BBC – Unit dedicated to combating human trafficking in the UK to disband
“Rise up, O LORD! Do not let mortals prevail; let the nations be judges before you. Put them in fear, O LORD; let the nations know that they are only human.” Psalm 9: 19-20
Today one of our South Asia teams successfully executed two rescue operations, freeing twenty-six people in an area that is prone to mob violence against slave rescue efforts. Among those rescued was a ten year old boy who is blind. I was so moved by these words of one of our team’s leaders as she wrote to us about this little boy’s rescue:
“As soon as we entered the area, we saw the young visually impaired boy of whom we had heard stories. He had laboured in the mill for approximately twenty-five cents per month, and had been beaten by the owner. We took his hands and walked him out of the facility. Now, at the end of our day we see a smile on his face and a release certificate in his hands. Praise our awesome God!”
[Gary Haugen serves as President & CEO of IJM Click here to listen to his sermon from this past Sunday.]
This weekend I had the privilege of being with the Imago Dei church community in Portland, Oregon. Imago has been championing the work of justice both locally and globally. It was such a joy to be given the opportunity to preach at each of their Sunday worship services, to experience the way God moves through His word and His work, inviting us into the adventure.
I was profoundly moved this weekend to hear the personal testimony of a young nurse practitioner who had just returned from a mission trip to Liberia – a nation simply demolished by the wrecking ball of civil war. She and her small team from Imago Dei had helped local Liberian nurses establish a makeshift “clinic” that served more than a thousand people in a few days who otherwise had no access to any medical care. Humbly and authentically, this sister shared the trauma of confronting all the healing she and her team could not provide. She manifested the costly price of authentic, Jesus-like love in our disastrously fallen world. In order to save a few from death and excruciating pain, this sister had to be willing to endure the heartache and trauma of confronting all those whom she could not save.
Painful, disorienting, not fun. Nothing tidy or easy here.
For me, this is perhaps the most fundamental barrier to actually getting out there and doing something. I want to share with a suffering world, but I’d rather not share in the world’s suffering. And yet, in the real world, that is what love requires. And the literal truth is this: if the whole Body of Christ were willing to love like this sister, every Liberian could have access to reasonable health care. In 2008, there is certainly nothing impossible about 3 million people getting basic medical care.
These challenges of caring for the sick are so much more doable than we imagine – especially when we consider the global capacities and resources of all those who seek to follow Jesus in our world. Likewise for the work of justice; that is, addressing the problem of violence that lies underneath so much of the suffering of the poor.
The nurse practitioner reported that 40% of Liberian women are victims of rape – which comports with WHO data which states that gender violence accounts for more ill-health in our world than malaria and car accidents combined. But who is working on stopping the violence?
Gary will be posting to the Institute blog this afternoon. Be sure to check back for this!
On another note - you may have noticed “Emily Seybert” posting the Daily Global Neighborhood news - she is our partner here at the Institute for 3 months, serving as an intern. We have been so blessed by her excellent work. Such a privilege to have her with us. More bio info to come…
International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local governments to ensure victim rescue, to prosecute perpetrators and to strengthen the community and civic factors that promote functioning public justice systems.
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