#ijm

Hunter Parrish-Beautiful City

10 Truths to Live By:

“Seeking justice [is] bringing right order and exerting life-giving power to protect the vulnerable.”

“Contrary to what might seem logical, sabbath stopping is not meant primarily to help us “rest up” so that we are ready for the next challenge; it is not meant to be pragmatic toward another end. The resting and stopping of sabbath are intended as being good in and of themselves - complete. They are a declaration of all that has come before as belonging to God, and a declaration that all that is left undone and all that lies ahead also belongs to God. All is from God and for God and by God. Sabbath is a declaration that it is God alone who reigns supreme in this day.”

“Foolish as it seemed, it became clear to me that this command to “stop”, to “rest”, to “cease” from work and to be still is a command that pervades Scripture. Nearly every issue that the Israelites faced - idolatry, murder, coveting, grumbling, lying - could be linked to their root disobedience of not keeping the sabbath and therefore not trusting God above all else… Compelled by Scripture, I decided to trust God and, for a full day each week, stop the flurry of activity that I believed defined who I was and seek to be more intentionally attentive to the reality of who God is… sabbath is an intentional declaration of the reality of God’s reign, of the reality of God’s finished work on our behalf.”

“Prayer in many moments can all too easily feel like an interruption. It feels inefficient and ineffective. Sometimes it might even feel irresponsible in the face of truly urgent matters. And that it exactly why the sabbath rhythm exists. When we least feel that we have time to stop is likely when we most need to do precisely that - stop. Without moments and days of intentional sabbath, I am bound again to the treadmill of what Gary Haugen has called “prayerless striving.””

“If we pursue life in the midst of friends who are also listening intently both to God’s Word and God’s Work in this world, then this community surrounding us will further confirm the convictions we ourselves are discerning. Our daily, intentional openness and pursuit of God will bring the deepening and clarifying of our soul’s conviction that is so necessary for persevering in the work of justice to be done in our world… we need to open ourselves to doing justice in community.”

“Ask God to remove the despair-driven question “But what could I possibly do to make a difference?” and turn this question into an unceasing prayer - a prayer asking God to show you injustice with God’s very own eyes, asking God to let you live from the mind of Christ that is within you, and asking God to bring his glory in greater measure as you step forward in daily obedience to God above all else.”

“Every day, each one of us receives “letters”... we encounter great discouragement in our lives that… threaten to lock down our hearts into deep burden. As we pursue justice as integral to our daily lives, there will be times when we will be tempted to believe that our God does not hear, that our God does not see, that our God is not able to intervene. But as these “letters” come our way, these discouragements that threaten our commitment to seeking justice, even our own disbelief in God’s power or willingness to act, we are invited like Hezekiah to spread all of this out before the Lord.”

“Were we all fools, ignorantly moving past the pain in the eyes of modern day slaves as we sang of God’s goodness and blessings? Or were we beginning to engage in an act of protest, a community act of opposition to the oppression we were seeing?”

“The entirety of Scripture emphasises that true worship, by definition, must always have us thinking about our neighbours in need, just as loving our neighbour should always flow out of our worship. Justice is always connected to worship, because both worship and justice are about the right ordering of the world.”

“Worship - the declaration of who God is over and against any reality that would vie to mock God’s reign - this was the power for… countless others across the ages, to keep seeking their God against the greatest obstacles, and it will be our power as well.”

Dressember Registration Now Open!

Dust off those dresses in your closet, because #Dressember registration is here. This December, we’re pledging to wear dresses every day in December to raise awareness and funds to restore dignity & bring freedom to survivors of human trafficking. Gather the girls & guys in your world, put on a pot of coffee, and get your game plan going. We'll be equipping you with resources, fundraising, and team building ideas along the way. Who said fighting to end human trafficking had to be boring? 

So how do you do it? In a matter of minutes, you'll be the proud new owner of your Dressember campaign page. We're breaking it down for you step by step on the blog today!

Create your campaign page here! 

My dad reaches out to me about once every 2 or 3 months. I think he is getting better at it :)

[16/05, 10:08 p.m.] Dad: Hi Mel I read that there’s a car bomb in Kenya bordering Somali [16/05, 11:28 p.m.] mel: Things with Somali are tense [16/05, 11:28 p.m.] mel: Lots of things happening up in northern Kenya [16/05, 11:28 p.m.] mel: Actually I hadn’t heard about it [16/05, 11:28 p.m.] mel: But I heard that there was an ebola breakout in DRC [16/05, 11:29 p.m.] Dad: Be careful [16/05, 11:29 p.m.] mel: Okeee [16/05, 11:29 p.m.] mel: I am, always careful [16/05, 11:29 p.m.] mel: somehow that’s what happens to you when you live here awhile [16/05, 11:29 p.m.] mel: You learn how to be careful [16/05, 11:30 p.m.] mel: But at the same time, yo u know you can’t account for everything [16/05, 11:30 p.m.] Dad: I feel better [16/05, 11:30 p.m.] mel: Ok glad you feel better [16/05, 11:31 p.m.] Dad: It’s bed time sleep tight [16/05, 11:31 p.m.] mel: I just went to a gospel concert at safaricom [16/05, 11:31 p.m.] mel: It was really nice. [16/05, 11:31 p.m.] mel: But about to sleep now [16/05, 11:32 p.m.] Dad: Ok

…

The concert I had just came back from was for the launch of Juliani’s new album, Machozi ya Jana (”Cry of Yesterday” in Swahili). The event was backed by IJM. Juliani is a gospel artist who isn’t afraid to talk about the blood-curdling injustices rampant in Kenya, that churches are often painfully silent on. The concert was also a forum to talk about police violence (especially for young males in the slums), extrajudicial killings, IPOA, lack of accountability and lack of concern in leadership, and Willie Kimani, whose brutal death was a catalyst for conversation and political action for the same injustices that happen to many Kenyans who are not high profile enough to capture international attention. I’ve only touched the tip of that iceberg in a collage of my own experiences: was stopped and questioned in irritating and dizzying circles by a policeman who was drunk on duty last night, and have been bewildered and angered to the point of yelling at/losing patience with a number of incompetent, and also undertrained, underpaid, drunk or high policemen who asked for bribes or waved around their rifles in a display of threatening ego or did the very things they wanted to arrest us for… I didn’t know how to tell my dad all those things.

I remember being a little girl and asking my mom why I had to wear a dress at Christmas while my brother got to wear pants that let him run around and play. I remember wondering why girls sometimes could wear pants but boys could never wear dresses.

What was it about dresses? A kind of underlying confusion about why everyone was so much more concerned with what I wore instead of with what my brother wore—whether it was just to school or a family gathering—remained with me throughout my childhood. However, I didn’t really think much of it until I grew older.

When I did grow older I learned about sex slavery.

I learned that there are women still today who are bought and sold for the sole purpose of giving pleasure to men, and of women who are beaten and exploited because they are seen as expendable and exploitable. It is their femininity that causes these things. Their femininity costs them their lives and the chance to grow into the human beings that they could be; human beings with passions and ambitions and joy. It baffled and angered me that the same femininity that came with my dresses gave me a sense of strength and capability but simultaneously was twisted into a sign of weakness and powerlessness to girls who were enslaved.

This was never going to be ok with me, and led me to begin asking “why?”

Why femininity? Why dresses?