Pursuing Justice really broadened my horizons on the concept of justice. Specifically, biblical justice – what God intended the word to mean & how it’s been twisted and misconstrued. Most people associate the word justice with the criminal justice system, or with “getting justice for someone/something.” Passed that, and for Christians specifically, I think we often fall into 2 camps:

1. Those who view justice as some fringe concept mentioned from time to time in the Bible, but think that it doesn’t really apply to living our lives.
2. Those of us who do value the concept of “justice” but who may have a much more narrow definition of justice.

I fall into the latter. I work for a Christian nonprofit that even has “justice” in our name. But, as we describe ourselves, we are focused specifically on fighting against violent injustice against the poor. I think that’s what most of us in category #2 think of – battling against sex trafficking, land rights for widows, slaves trapped in brick factories, the wrongly imprisoned, etc. These are all crucial and totally encompassed in what God intends by the term. But Wytsma helps open our eyes to a much broader definition also.

I think the vast majority of Christians still fall into the first category. They neither understand what justice really means nor do they understand how much a part of God’s heart justice is and how He’s calling us to live.

Wytsma points out that there are nearly 2,000 verses in the Bible that are directly related to justice. It’s clearly a priority in God’s word. Wytsma illustrates justice as being like the idea of shalom, which he defines as “the intended state of peace and wholeness that all of God’s creation is meant to experience… an active presence of what is right, true, nourishing, joyful, and the like“. In short, it’s how God says things ought to be. Justice is the golden rule at it’s finest. It’s everything from feeding the hungry, to helping everyone get access to education, to stopping sex trafficking, to caring for the widow among us, to not gossiping about our neighbor. It’s about treating others as creations of our loving God.

He also shows the reader that the New Testament word used for righteousness & justice are the same. Eye-opener! We often emphasize the former & ignore the latter(because we don’t understand it).  We get so caught up in the idea of personal morality (not sinning, being good) that we often lose sight of the importance of doing good. But see this eye-opener played out here in one example:

Matthew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness [dikaiosune: being right with God and with others, justice], and all these things will be given to you as well.”

We are not told to seek His kingdom simply by not sinning. We are told to seek His kingdom first by being right with God and with others. This requires us to act, to go good toward others. To treat them as God intended all of His children to be treated. To give ourselves and our lives for others just as Christ did for us.

He gives many more examples, but the long & short of it is: “We can’t separate justice from the gospel any more than we can separate thunder from lightning“. We must be good & do good. We must “live uprightly and walk justly”. Micah 6:8.

One more eye-opener... Why did God cast judgment on Sodom & Gomorrah? What was so bad that God destroyed Sodom? Most of us will jump to immediate conclusions. But this is what God says, through the prophet Ezekiel:

“Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” Ezekiel 16:49

Does that sound like us today… going about our comfortable, prosperous lives? Ouch, right?

There is still a lot that I’m mulling over & re-reading, but I’m definitely feeling stretched from my former notions of justice & hope that you are feeling a bit inspired too.

I’ll leave you with two more great quotes from the book:

“Justice. Righteousness. God calls us to walk as He walks, to go where He goes, to care as He cares, and to walk morally by doing justice. True morality requires justice. God’s righteousness is predicated on His active pursuit of justice in the world, and He requires those who would seek and know Him to do the same.”

“Justice, however, makes demands at all times and in all places – not just where our attention is focused. It requires us to see beyond our own walls & make changes in our lives and perceptions of the world that go beyond moments of charitable giving. Charity can be intermittent, while justice seeks continuity. Justice can inform and challenge both what we see and what we don’t see in the world.”

And a random sampling of further scriptures to check out: Isaiah 1:15-17, Isaiah 58, Psalm 112, Psalm 146:6-9, Jeremiah 9:23-24, Luke 4:18-19, James 1:27

Definitely check out Pursuing Justice. You can still win a copy of the book from my previous post (through Sunday, Feb 24).

And I’m really excited to be going to The Justice Conference this weekend, which Ken Wytsma founded a couple years ago! I’m eager to continue the conversation.

Any immediate reactions or thoughts? How have you been challenged lately “to live & die for bigger things”?

Social justice

In Pursuing Justice: The Call to Live & Die for Bigger Things, Ken Wytsma explores these questions and so much more. This is a book for those who claim to be followers of the justice movement, for those who have been jaded by these terms, and for every Christian earnestly seeking to live out God’s call for their life.

Wytsma takes the reader down a path of understanding exactly what biblical justice really means, how the thread of justice is woven throughout Scripture, and into an exploration of what this means for us as Christ-followers today. We see that: “Justice cannot be divorced from God’s heart and purposes – it permeates them…” This is not something we can simply glaze over and cast to the side as a nice-to-have. “Justice is a necessary part of God’s call in the Christian life.”

Wytsma opens up for us what the Bible really has to say about justice, and it’s so much broader than I had ever thought about before (& I work in a justice-oriented nonprofit). In a nutshell (& then I might have to write another blog post later, or you’ll just need to read the book):

Justice is “a right and equitable relationship with God and with people”. It is the “single best word, both inside and outside the Bible, for capturing God’s purposes for the world and humanity’s calling in the world.” It is treating others as we want to be treated. It is being concerned with (& doing something about) everything from human trafficking, gender violence, and refugees to the hungry homeless person down the street. It is about the poor who don’t have access to education and it is about not gossiping about our neighbor.

The key is not just that we are concerned about these things, but that we are laying down our lives (following Christ’s example) and pursuing a lifestyle of justice in serving others.

In the book, there are also countless inspiring stories of amazing people around the world who are giving their lives away for the sake of loving and serving others. And, a unique feature to the book, it’s laced with short “interludes” (quotes, poems, interviews, & stories) that serve as reflections on justice from other voices.

Pursuing Justice really inspired me & challenged me to think about some things. I’m actually set on reading through it a second time, soon!

And I liked it so much that I have an extra copy to give away. Check out how you can win it below. I’ll randomly select a winner on Monday, February 25.

Earn 1 entry for each of the following actions:
1. Post a comment answering the question “What was the last book that inspired you?”
2. Follow me on Twitter & leave another comment saying that you do.
3. Tweet the following & leave another comment saying that you did:
“Book Giveaway: Enter to win #PursuingJustice, courtesy of @kabarnes: http://wp.me/pOdsW-lf“
4. Share this blog post & giveaway on Facebook & leave another comment saying that you did.

Contest runs from 2/14/13 to 2/24/13 at 11:59pm ET. Only valid for entries in the U.S.

I can’t believe it’s now been a year. So much changed last February.

We traded a 1900 sq. foot house with a yard for a 2-bedroom, 6th floor condo. A comfortable job for one that has stretched me in all possible ways. A fantastic church where we had put down roots to the challenge of starting over. A town full of people we knew to one where we were brand new.

It’s kind of crazy to look back and see how far we’ve come in 12 months. To see God’s provision through every step of the way.

I finished my MBA last spring. We’re not the newbies at our jobs anymore. We’re starting to take some leadership positions in getting involved in church. We’re making friends & building relationships.

I love the convenience of my metro commute and the low-maintenance of being in a condo for this season of life. I love the organization I work for and the incredible stories of people rescued and restored. I love the amazing plethora of options for exploring that this area & region hold. I love being within an hour of a lot of family members & being able to get together without a lot of planning. I love the group of people that we’ve gotten involved with at our new church.

It was hard to know a year ago where we’d be now. And I can’t help but wonder what year two will bring. I know one thing for sure… It definitely won’t be boring.

The view from here. (From our 6th floor condo.)

A woman smiles as she readies to return to her home village after living for months as a slave.

This is an amazing story of rescue coming out of IJM from this past month that I just had to share with you.

CHENNAI, INDIA – Today, nearly 150 children, women and men are celebrating freedom, rescued from slavery this week outside Hyderabad, India. More than 100 women and men – plus seven children as young as 3 years old – received official release certificates emancipating them from slavery in a brick factory.

The men and women shared how they had been physically beaten and forced to work 18 to 22 hours a day – sleeping for an hour or two and then resuming their back-breaking work in the brick kiln. A pregnant woman told how she had pleaded for rest when she was pregnant; instead, she was kicked by her manager. One man had raw wounds so deep that the bone showed through.

Their grueling work schedule permitted them little time to eat; the workers were so malnourished that after they ate their first full meal in a long time, many of them vomited. They had been trapped in the factory for three to seven months.

The children who were strong enough to carry bricks were put to work. Mana,* a 3-year-old girl, worked beside her parents for eight hours a day, turning bricks in the hot sun to ensure that the moisture evaporated uniformly in the heat. At first, the government officials could not believe that a girl so small could have worked. But they were convinced when Mana demonstrated the careful turning motion she used, over and over, to turn brick after brick every day. Thirty-four other children were rescued, and none of them had been allowed to go to school. The youngest was only 4 months old. The adults and children were kept under strict watch, not even allowed to go the marketplace without a manager accompanying them.

They were trapped, slaves in every sense of the word.

Last year, IJM began training NGOs on techniques to identify and document cases of forced labor slavery – rampant throughout India. Jana Jagriti Kendra (JJK), based out of South India, is one of the partner human rights and development NGOs that received the training. On January 5, JJK called IJM for help with a forced labor slavery case.

A slave had escaped and found JJK, begging for help. Based on JJK’s initial investigation into the case, they believed three families were trapped inside the brick kiln. A small team of experienced IJM staff flew from Chennai to Hyderabad early in the morning on January 8. They met with JJK staff and district government officials to plan the operation.

The government assembled a rescue team with police, plus support staff from both IJM and JJK. When they arrived at the brick kiln around 8:30 p.m., it was pitch black. Men, women and some children were still working. They dropped their tools as soon as they realized the team was there to bring them out of the abusive brick kiln.

Dozens more started to emerge, desperate to leave the brick kiln. Instead of three families, 36 families – 149 people in total – piled into trucks and drove out of the factory into freedom.

Out of that dark night, a new day was beginning.

The government official in charge directed everyone back to her office so they could document the families’ stories and issue release certificates. Immediately, the officials ordered meals for the families, making sure there was bread and milk for the children. The simple food of rice and curry was served on golden-colored paper plates; it was the first decent meal they had had in months.

IJM staff provided crisis care and helped the government document the stories. Many of the men and women recounted awful abuse and showed wounds of physical brutality. Working through the night, the government determined 114 men, women and children would receive official release certificates – legal documents that emancipate them from slavery and entitle them to government benefits for forced labor slaves.

“After their first night out of the brick kiln, I asked them what they had liked the most,” said Anu George Canjanathoppil, IJM’s Director of Google Interventions Project. “They said, ‘Sleeping.’ That one word response hit me hard. Their lives had been totally controlled by their master. Their labor was for his profit. Even sleep was not their own.”

On January 10, 2013, the government officials presented the release certificates, plus 1000 rupees (about $20) – the initial installment of the monetary compensation they will receive to usher in a new life. For some, it was a moment they thought would never come.

Thanks to government leadership, lives are forever changed.

The rescue operation brought freedom to nearly 150 people, changing each individual life forever. It also demonstrated the importance of partnerships to bring about systemic change, the kind of change that can bring rescue on a massive scale. IJM will continue to advise JJK as they help provide aftercare services to the 36 rescued families, who returned to their home states by train.

Many of the families were in tears as they waved to the rescue team from the train heading home. Before leaving for her village, one elderly woman wanted to bid farewell to the team. She jumped off the train and fell on her knees, saying “Thank you. Thank you for saving me.”

A criminal complaint is now pending against the owner and manager of the brick kiln, and the men may face criminal charges carrying prison-time under the Bonded Labour Abolition Act and Child Labour Act.

IJM’s Anu George Canjanathoppil commended the government officials who acted quickly to bring rescue to people in their district who needed it: “Their resolve is proof that a functioning justice system can protect the vulnerable from exploitation and abuse.”

And for the 149 people who are now safe in their own villages, the government’s resolve means their lives will never be the same.

*A pseudonym has been used for the protection of this IJM client.

One of the houses we built

Today marks the 3-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, and it’s been 2 and a half years since a group of us spent a week there building 2 houses. A week that changed me forever.

I am grateful for the reminder today to go back & read through the string of posts I wrote about our time there. I am sitting here on the verge of tears for so many different reasons.

It was the most consistent physically demanding week of my life. It was flat out really hard. But the people we encountered and the scenes that we saw are forever etched in my heart.

I was going to write about the people we met in Haiti, complete with pictures, but I stumbled across that exact same post that I wrote on the 1-year anniversary in 2011. Check it out here: Remembering the People We Met in Haiti.

If you want to read a quick sampling of posts from our week there, here are a few of my favorites:
We Came Back Changed
Haiti Wrecked Me
Redefining Scripture: Psalm 46

So today I reminded to pray for the country, for the aid workers who are still so diligently working, for Pastor Joseph, Fabianca, Simone, Katianne, and so many others. I can’t help but wonder how they are all doing today.

Here’s a quick blurb from my “Haiti Wrecked Me” post that I’m copying in here, mostly as a reminder to myself:

Haiti wrecked me. At least for a little while…

It has now been exactly one month since we’ve been back. I find it a struggle to keep that fervor that I had 4 weeks ago. Why is it that an experience so significant, that we felt like changed us so much, can start to slip away so easily and so soon? It scares me a bit. I don’t want it to fade. I don’t want to be coerced back to my normal patterns. I want to hold on to that feeling and the preoccupation I had with figuring out what I could do to make a difference. The knowledge that our “stuff” doesn’t matter. That there are so many people in this world hurting and in need, and that we can do something about it…

We are only given one chance here on earth. I want to make it count…

“Everything we live through leaves some mark on us.” -Unknown

The fun part was, as I was thinking through possibilities, several of the things that came to mind were things I’ve already been incredibly blessed with doing. I guess I’m off to a good start.

Watching the sun rise over the Grand Canal in Venice in 2002.

Already checked off the list:
Watch the sun rise over the Grand Canal in Venice Hike the Grand Canyon
Eat a picnic lunch in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower
Live abroad
Backpack across Europe
Get on National TV (crowd shots during Leno, GMA, & MTV’s TRL!)
Tour the Holy Land
Go on a footsteps of Paul tour
Do mission work in a third-world county (Guatemala & Haiti)
Have a cool “how’d you meet your spouse” story (a tiny snippet of it is here)

Still to Come:
See Machu Picchu
Feed a giraffe
Stay at an all-inclusive resort somewhere
Ice skate in front of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree
Learn to use a DSLR camera (starting on this now)
Travel to Australia
Get a couple’s massage on an exotic beach (is that super cheesy?)
Have kids, maybe adopting one
Visit an IJM field office
Go on a safari

So now all I can think about is taking a trip… where to next?

What’s on your bucket list?

*****

In 2013, I’m claiming the word “Grow“.

2012 was a year of everything new – new state, new job, new industry, new church, new friends. I was thrown in & tried to embrace all of the opportunities & challenges alike. It was a whirlwind. Now, with almost a year of the craziness under my belt, I’m going to focus on growing in 2013. Taking it to the next level.

• In my job – It’s time to stretch myself even further (if that’s possible!) & get to the point of being more proactive than reactive.
• With church/service – We’ve settled into a church. Now I want to grow into my place of service & deeper involvement there.
• In relationships – We’ve started to make friends, but it’s time to grow them deeper.
• My personal life – I want to grow in pursuit of interests outside of work. (There wasn’t a whole lot of time for that last year.) Example: We bought our first DSLR camera. I signed up for an online tutorial course to learn how to actually use it now.
• Spiritual life – There is always a lot of room for growth here! I need to focus on growing my relationship with God through Bible study, a bigger focus on prayer, and living out my faith.

So those are just a couple of examples. It’s time to grow. Feel free to hold me to it.

What are you focusing on in 2013?

Just in time for the new year, I randomly decided today that the blog needed an update. A new look and name. Something a little fresher. So I started changing it. It will be a work in progress as I figure out all of the features of this particular layout, so please pardon the continued changes as I move things around, but I like it already.

A while back I had toyed with the idea of changing the name (from “Live. Love. Serve.”) but I couldn’t think of anything better & it fit well enough, so I left it.

But times are a-changing. I needed something a bit more generic to fit all of my ramblings. The blog title is now simply my name (makes sense…) with the current tagline of Living with Eyes Wide Open.

I was partially inspired by the below quote that I had used on a recent post.

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”
~Jawaharal Nehru

Also by my last year’s focus on embracing life’s opportunities, adventures, & challenges alike.

Without living with our eyes wide open we can’t notice the adventures that await us, the possible friendships to be made, the issues in the world where we can stand up & make a difference. There are so many places to explore & small things we can do to help others. God is calling each of us to live life fully. To rise up to the calls He has placed on our lives. But we have to be ready.

Let’s strive to live with our eyes wide open…

*****

January Blog-A-Day Link Up! Today’s topic was “New”. I’ll be posting on some of them. I can’t guarantee I’ll make it every day though! But check it out!

At the beginning of 2012 I wrote a post called “Embracing 2012“. Embrace was my one word to focus on for the year, instead of all sorts of different new year’s resolutions. 2012 was my year to embrace a new season of life, with all of the challenges, obstacles, and opportunities that would come with it. You can read that original post here.

So how did I do?

It was quite a year, full of all of those things listed above: challenges, obstacles, and opportunities. Moving to a new state, adjusting to a new lifestyle, learning a new job, finishing my MBA, being lonely & trying to slowly make friends, settling into a church, and growing immensely spiritually…

Here’s what I wrote I would try to do at the beginning of the year & some reflections on each:

1. Embrace the obstacles we’re experiencing right now as a way to grow in our faith and put our full trust in God’s plan for us. Check & check – sort of. I could have done better on the “full trust” part, but it was definitely a season for witnessing God’s abundant faithfulness. In every obstacle we faced in getting to our new season, God took what we thought would be a good solution, pulled the carpet out from under us, and then blessed us with far more than we could have imagined – getting our house rented, finding a new place to live, finding Cason a job, etc. You can read a piece about that in my post called “He Said ‘Trust Me’“.
2. Embrace the challenge of a new job (in a new industry) with an organization that does amazing, life-altering work. I hope I have done well here, but it hasn’t been easy. IJM is indeed an amazing organization. I am a bigger fan now than I ever was before and am blessed to be there. But it has been a stretching, challenging year. Being thrown in to the deep end & figuring out how to swim. I have learned so much and am eager to begin year 2 now with these months under my belt.
3. Embrace the difficult times ahead that will inevitably come with all of these new challenges, again, as a means to grow us personally, professionally, emotionally, & spiritually. As stated above, there have been some challenging times, in all of these areas. More on all of that in my recent post: Catching up with the Barnes. In hindsight, I really do wish I had written more throughout it all. It looks like I managed to only get 18 posts written this entire year. I just couldn’t find the effort to get things written. Another thing to try to remedy in 2013.
4. Embrace the opportunity to live a new adventure, to meet new people, experience new places. We’re getting there. I’ve done a fairly decent job in this area, but I’m continually surprised at how many months we’ve been here and the things that we haven’t done yet (certain DC sites, traveling to other relatively nearby cities, etc). I guess that just means there is more to in the months ahead.
5. Embrace a new season of life and see how God will use us in it. It has been a year of much transition. God’s blessings have been abundant and His sustaining strength amazing to experience. I haven’t yet discovered my place of service outside of IJM. I spend so many hours dedicated to that work (& really do view it as a ministry also) that I really haven’t had it in me to fit something else in. Hopefully in 2013.

So here’s to 2012 – a good year full of transitions & blessings! Next week I’ll write my “one word” post for 2013.

How was your 2012?

Straight out of Scripture: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” James 1:27

These beautiful videos can do a better job at introducing you to the topic than I could ever hope to. So please take a few minutes to watch them…

“I envied death.”

As soon as Grace’s husband died, the threats began.
More powerful members of her village announced that they were throwing her and her children out of their home. They would take it as their own – and she would have nothing. Grace had nowhere to turn. Without her home or her small patch of land, she would have no way to protect or provide for her children. She couldn’t provide shelter or grow food.

But today, Grace is safe and secure. She is home. Watch her story now to see her remarkable transformation.

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Go Deeper into the topic with these next two:

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What is Property Grabbing?

In Uganda, land is life. But in Mukono, Uganda, 1 in 3 widows will become a victim of property grabbing. When a widow’s land is stolen, she does not have a home, food for her children or dreams for a future.

Watch how IJM Uganda has helped more than 650 widows and orphans recover their land since 2008.

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How Does IJM Provide Aftercare in Uganda?

When a widow in Uganda is a victim of property grabbing, she needs more than just her home back. She needs to rebuild her family’s security, dignity and hope.

Watch how IJM Uganda provides aftercare and meet some of the staff who walk closely with these women and children through life’s pain and joys.

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Please join me in praying for our IJM heroes in Uganda who are doing this work & for the widows & children that they are helping. IJM just opened recently our 16th field office in Northern Uganda in order to be able to help even more people. Learn more at IJM.org.