How many of you guys have heard about or talked about "social justice"?
I often talk about "social justice" - my term to describe making things right with the world in areas where injustice resides. I'm going to school to be a social worker because I want to better society for the people living today and also for the next few generations that will be coming in. I don't want my children and grandchildren to have to worry about these injustices and problems in the world that I worry about today.
I've used the term "social justice" so many times, but I just recently discovered what it means in the biblical sense. There are two Hebrew words used in the Bible that are tied together over 30 times: mishpat and tzadeqah. When tied together, the English expression that best conveys the correct meaning is "social justice".
Before we start talking about mishpat and tzadeqah, we're going to listen to a song by Sara Groves called "When the Saints". It's kind of like my theme song because it's really inspirational and encouraging even when I feel like I'm drowning in all the injustice of the world.
(Listen to this song.)
Also, if you guys have any questions while I'm talking, just let me know and we'll talk about it.
Mishpat simply means to treat people all the same no matter what. This includes both punishment and protection and care. If someone does something wrong, they should receive the exact same punishment as the next person and the person after that; no one should get a harsher treatment because they are not as important in the eyes of the world and no one should get a more lenient treatment because they are more important in the eyes of the world. Everyone must be given the same penalty. But mishpat also has another side: giving people their rights and caring for them.
When mispat is talked about in the Old Testament, there are four groups of people who come up time after time: widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor. These people were so often talked about in the Old Testament because these were the ultimate vulnerable populations during that time because they had no social power. Today, we could include the refugee, migrant worker, homeless, single parents, and older adults. Mishpat means taking care of them; if we were to neglect them, we would be violating justice because we would not be giving them the rights that they deserve.
Tzadeqah means being righteous in relationships; the way you conduct all relationships in your family and in society. They must all be treated with fairness, generosity, and equity - in short, being kind and good in your relationships with everyone. In your family, that may mean helping out around the house; in your friendships, that may mean keeping someone's secrets when they confide in you and not spreading it around to other people; in society, it means to speak up for those who cannot: the unborn baby, the girl forced into prostitution, the man receiving unfair wages...ANYONE who doesn't have the power to defend themselves.
Tzadeqah also means being in a right relationship with God. If everyone were in a right relationship with God, can you imagine what would happen in the world? If everyone had tzadeqah, everyone would treat everyone else with fairness and love, which means there would be no injustice in the world. If all injustice was eradicated, we would no longer need mishpat because everyone would have the rights that they deserve and no one would need punished.
* * * * *
So, how many of you guys have a group of people or a population of people who you are passionate about helping because they are vulnerable and cannot speak up for themselves?
(Make a list on whiteboard/paper.)
Now that we have the people we're passionate about helping...how can we help them?
(Make another list on whiteboard/paper.)
Okay, now I am going to share with you guys what my passion is and what I am planning to do to help.
Some of you who have known me for a few years might know that I am really passionate about helping those who are trapped in human trafficking. At first, it was all forms of human trafficking: labor, sex, and domestic. Over time, however, I have become more and more focused on sex trafficking and forced prostitution so now that is my first and foremost passion.
Before I tell you all what I am doing to help end this, I want to show you a short video that will show you what I'm talking about. This is a promo video for an organization called The A21 Campaign, which is the organization that I will be sending the money I raise to. The lady talking in it is Christine Cain who is the founder of the organization and a huge abolitionist.
(Watch this video.)
I love this organization because they know what they're doing. They have both the mishpat and tzadeqah; they have lawyers that punish the traffickers and they also have the safehouses where the survivors can go to be cared for and their rights are restored to them.
Does anyone have any questions about the video or sex trafficking before I go on?
For a few years, I've just been talking to people about it, making sure the people in my life know about it and are at least somewhat educated about it. A couple of years ago, the youth group raised about $500 for the Loose Change to Loosen Chains campaign, which helps end human trafficking. And then I graduated high school and went to college and I kind of forgot about these people that I was once so passionate about helping. One day, I suddenly remembered the plight of these girls and women and my heart broke all over again. So, I talked to Josh about an idea that I had and the ball started rolling.
We are making Freedom Birds, which we will sell to help raise awareness and remind people to pray for those enslaved in the sex industry. If any of you would like to help sew these, please let me know.
So, I was pretty content to just do little fundraising things like this until Kathryn Sabine came to me and started talking about starting nonprofit organization to raise awareness about sex trafficking and eventually open a safehouse to restore the survivors. We're really focusing here in Pickaway County, in Circleville and Ashville because we are convinced that it's happening here. The police may not know about it - actually, I know they don't; they told me it's not - but I want to teach them if I have to because I do not want people to have to live through this horrible reality any longer. When Kathryn told me about her idea, I actually thought she was crazy. I mean, both of us are social work majors, which is great, but neither of us know anything about running a business. But Kathryn thinks that nothing is impossible, so we are doing it! And I am really excited about it, though sometimes it still overwhelms me when I think about it. But I'm learning that big dreams are exciting and so worth the worry they may cause.
I'm telling you guys this because I want you all to find something that you're passionate about and do something about it. And don't be like me and be content to settle for something smaller because you think it's not possible - it is.
And if you aren't sure what your passion is, pray about it. Pray that God will break your heart with what breaks His; that's the prayer that I prayed and then I learned about human trafficking. He will honor your prayers.
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