Featuring:
• Rich Stearns, President, World Vision U.S.
• Kay Warren, Saddleback Church Joseph D’Souza, International President, Dalit Freedom Network
• Mark Labberton, Director of the Lloyd John Ogilvie Institute for Preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary and Senior Fellow of the IJM Institute
• Joseph D’Souza, International President, Dalit Freedom Network
• Sean Litton, VP Field Operations, International Justice Mission
• Jim Martin, VP Church Mobilization, International Justice Mission
• Larry Martin, SVP Education, International Justice Mission
Panels and presentations will discuss:
• The Biblical Foundations for Justice
• Mobilizing the Church to Seek Justice
• Seeking Justice Domestically
• Seeking Justice Globally
We’d love to know if you plan to attend - just leave a note in the comments, and the IJM team will look forward to meeting you at the event.
If you have not already heard, Jeff Shinabarger (the creative mind behind the Catalyst Conferences, founder of Gift Card Giver, and strategist for many NGO’s and innovative ventures) recently launch a new community called Plywood People. In their own words, they are “searching for social problems with the hope to match them with entrepreneurial creativity to organize, innovate, and manage ideas that produce change.”
We’re thrilled to announce that Gregg Helvey’s film, KAVI, just made the short-list for the 2010 Oscars! His film is a 17 minute view into the life of a young boy enslaved in a South Asian brick kiln. It is a film of striking beauty, heartache, and passion… Words truly fail to describe what Gregg has captured.
If you are local to the DC area, I want to make sure you have the opportunity to attend a special screening of this film on Capitol Hill. Gregg Helvey has been invited by Donald Payne and the House Foreign Affairs Committee to show his film Tuesday December 15 at 6pm, and we would be honored if you, as Institute readers and members, would attend as well.
Take a moment to watch the trailer - details for the screening are below:
Where: 2168 Gold Room, Rayburn House Office Building, Capitol Hill, Washington DC. To see a map, please go to http://www.aoc.gov/cc/cc_map.cfm
Just received this video from the student ministries department at Northland: A Church Distributed in Orlando, FL.
In short, they hosted a fundraiser for IJM… via food fight.
Note: they used expired food that was no longer viable for giving to others.
The Weekend to End Slavery has arrived! Tomorrow more than 39,000 people will gather in homes across the world to watch IJM’s new documentary, At the End of Slavery. On Sunday, churches across the nation will preach sermons mobilizing their congregations with the biblical mandate to bring slavery to an end.
I’m eager to introduce you to our National Director of Church Mobilization, Jim Martin. I’m sure some of you are already quite familiar with Jim, and I look forward to all of you getting a chance to know him better as he begins to guest blog here at the Institute on a regular basis. Here is an update from Jim on IJM’s brand new documentary, At the End of Slavery and details on how you can be involved in the movement!
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Dear friends,
As of today more than 85 churches have decided to host a screening of IJM’s new documentary film, At the End of Slavery. The response to the film has overwhelming! We are thankful and excited for the gathering momentum of this movement. Many churches see screening this 30 minute documentary as a rare opportunity for their church to be on the forefront of an issue that really matters to the people of their neighborhoods and community. And by following the simple suggestions contained in the screening kit (what we’re calling a “house party-in-a-box"), churches are not only providing their communities with much-needed education regarding the modern horror of slavery, they are offering something even more essential and rare: concrete action steps that every-day citizens can take to join the battle against violent oppression.
If you would like to encourage your church to screen this film, we can resource you with everything you need. The invitation is a simple one: Host a screening in your church facility and invite everyone to come. The screening kit provides dozens of helpful tips for everything from how to introduce the film to how to move people to action after the screening. The film itself does a wonderful job of presenting to reality of modern-day slavery while offering substantive hope based on real change taking place in our world right now. The kit also provides 2 copies of the film - one for your use, and one for you to give away to someone else who commits to hosting a house party.
Consider connecting your church with these resources:
View the trailer at:http://www.attheendofslavery.com/ Contact IJM directly to host a screening by sending an email to: .
Great morning thus far gearing-up for The Idea Camp DC: Justice Edition. On-stage for the pre-session is Charles Lee interviewing Mark Batterson (pastor of National Community Church here in DC) and Dave Gibbons (Pastor of Newsong, Irvine, CA).
Looking forward to being a part of the opening session at 1pm - I’ll be interviewing IJM staff Blair Burns (in charge of our anti-slavery operations in South Asia) and Holly Burkhalter (VP of Government Relations). If you’re not able to be here in person, be sure to connect to the sessions via webcast.
Hoping to see many of you at The Idea Camp DC: Justice Edition at the end of this week. The IJM Institute has been honored to be part of the development of this event founded by Charles Lee (pastor of New Hope South Bay in CA).
For a chance to interact with 40+ global justice NGO’s and receive invaluable coaching and networking opportunities - at no cost (registration is FREE), join us in Arlington, VA (Mt. Olivet UMC, 1500 N. Glebe Rd.) this coming Friday and Saturday, August 28-29. People of all stripes are flying-in literally from all around the country - if you’re local and can catch a train, bus, or carpool, your efforts will surely be more than worthwhile.
For full details - location, schedule of speakers, workshops, bio’s, hotel deals, etc. go to www.http://theideacamp.ning.com
IJM speakers at the event include: Blair Burns (Regional Director of Operations, India), Holly Burkhalter (VP of Government Relations), Eileen Campbell (Director of Justice Campaigns), Larry Martin (Senior VP of Education), and myself (Director of the IJM Institute).
Planning to be there? Leave a comment below - looking forward to meeting in person if we have not yet already!
Don’t miss this opportunity! To access this event from wherever you are (tomorrow @ 1pm EST) please go to http://event.pingg.com/ateos and RSVP.
The screening will be held from 1-2pm EST (film itself is 31 mins). Details and URL for viewing the film will be sent to you today after you submit your RSVP.
Let us know what you think! Leave your comments here after the film.
At the End of Slavery will be released in September 2009. If you are interested in hosting a house-party, please email
For IJM, our work of fighting violent injustice and helping broken public justice systems work for the poor could easily be summed up in just one word:
Story.
Story of deception, story of redemption.
Story of wrong, story of rescue.
Story of paralyzed despair, story of catalyzed hope.
Story of the millions, story of the one.
For us it is critical that abstract statistics and macro systems of injustice be grabbed and translated into a clear, compelling, lazer-focused story of the One. One life that has been transformed. One life held accountable for wrongs. One life redeemed. One life rescued that ripples out to transform millions of lives: your life, my life, and the global neighborhood God has entrusted into our care.
And so, in short, I’m excited to tell you about a ground-breaking event happening in Chicago this October - in partnership with Zondervan, many Chicago-area churches, and phenomenal story-tellers from all over, my long-time friend Ben Arment is launching ”Story. I absolutely cannot wait.
If you have even a remote appreciation for coffee, or simply know others who love the brew, there are 3 and a half days left to turn coffee-love into sustainable rescue and rehabilitation for victims of violent injustice.
Storyville Coffee is giving every dollar that comes in during May - including shipping costs - to IJM.
Up to ONE MILLION DOLLARS.
Take a moment to check-out their coffee and products and consider sending someone a gift or just stocking up for your own home’s supply.
For a small window of time, coffee can literally translate into rescue. Every dollar counts, and they’re giving it all to IJM’s work around the world. Simply phenomenal!
A few news pieces of note today, including global urgencies as well as press coverage of participants from IJM’s GPG and Advocacy day (thanks Ted Haddock (copyright) for the great action shot of Sara and Troy Groves, Susie Larson, and IJM staffers on Capitol Hill):
CM Spin - Sara Groves: “’I’m appreciative that IJM is not only at the forefront of confronting this issue, but that they give us the tools and empowerment to take our advocacy to the next level,’ says Groves. ‘Speaking directly to our leaders from Minnesota about the importance of ending the trafficking of minors gave me renewed hope in our ability to influence real change.’”
Fredricksburg Freelance Star - Six IJM supporters from the University of Mary Washington attended the Global Prayer Gathering and advocated for the Child Protection Act in Washington, D.C. earlier this month.
All Africa.com - The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) yesterday requested the court to give a life sentence to former Cabinet Director in the Rwandan Interior Ministry, Callixte Kalimanzira
CNN - At least 24 people have died and three others have been seriously injured in clashes between local residents and members of an outlawed Kenyan sect, authorities said Tuesday.
It’s been a fascinating expedition across sub-cultures over the past month: as I finished up my conversations at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland I transitioned back to the States and soon found myself in the classical pulpit of American evangelicalism—Moody Church in Chicago. Interesting juxtaposition of contexts:
In both places I noted from many a sense of old worlds passing and new, uncertain futures unfolding (ready or not).
There was also, in both places, an emerging word of conviction that the ancient virtue of “justice” must somehow be at the foundation of any good tomorrow.
The next big stop for me is IJM’s Global Prayer Gathering. I hope many of you will come join me and our leaders from the field, as well as Lamont Hiebert/Ten Shekel Shirt and Sara Groves. I’m so very grateful to all of you who join with us in prayer day by day from locations across the globe - the most recent outpouring of prayer for the rescue operation in South Asia was just staggering. And the upcoming opportunity for us to join together in person at the GPG is, for me, the most powerful homecoming of the eternal mysteries of prayer and the daily, dirt-under-your-fingernails fight for justice in the real world. Come and dig in with us. I doubt you have experienced anything quite like it.
Below, a couple of notable news articles from today in tracking with our global neighbors. We’ll begin to post links to justice-related global news pieces on a regular basis, especially as relates to countries where IJM has field operations. Hope these links, over time, help you connect with diverse daily realities both near and far.
Right in this moment, what can you do to impact justice for those who await rescue?
Think of all the tools right at your fingertips…
What can you do in the next 5 minutes?
In the next day as you enjoy the weekend?
In the next week as you go about your work?
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.
