Dear Family and Friends,
As many of you already know, I am headed to South Asia to work with International Justice Mission ("IJM") for the coming year. I want to invite you to partner with me in prayer and financial support to fight the injustices of sex trafficking in South Asia.
THE ORGANIZATION:
IJM is a Christian, human rights organization that fights injustices around the globe through the professional skills of investigators, attorneys and social workers. My office in South Asia exclusively handles cases involving sex trafficking. The process begins when IJM investigators communicate the evidence they gather to local authorities, and coordinate raids to free the vicitms from the brothels. Subsequently, IJM attorneys prosecute the facilitators of these evils under an Act opposed to sex trafficking. Following investigative and legal action, the victims are assigned IJM social workers/aftercare specialists to assist them in coping with the shadows of their past. Through this process, IJM restores both physical and spiritual life to the hopeless. Because IJM is a fundamentally Christian organization, it understands that the employees undergo tremendous spiritual transformation and growth, and that God guides the development of IJM. Accordingly, there is a mandatory thirty minute Bible study daily, to ascertain that the focus of every IJM office remains on God.
THE TASKS BEFORE ME:
Undoubtedly, this opportunity is beyond the scope of any of my previous missions experiences. While duration (approx. 10 months) is the most obvious difference, several other differences are settling in my mind. First, the aid is different. Rather than construction, direct evangelism, or teaching orphans, I willl be rendering legal aid and prosecution skills to be the hands and feet of God's justice. While I am not likely to be the one bashing down the doors of the brothels, I will be rendering legal skills just as vital to the process. Primarily, I will be drafting various legal documents addressing specific legal questions concerning the prosecution of sex traffickers and the protection of the victims. Additionally, because I am fresh off the pounding of an effective legal education , IJM has requested that I teach legal writing and advocacy skills to native attorneys. Finally, I will undertake any and all unanticipated legal challenges that come my way.
A second difference involves the victims. Those sought after by this ministry suffer atrocities beyond the gloom of poverty. They suffer not only the need of poverty, but also daily rape, oppression, degradation, and involuntary imprisonment.
Finally, all of this will take place in a corner of the world largely devoid of followers of Jesus. For example, India is 80% Hindu, 15% Muslim, and only 2% Christian. Through these challenges, I hope to beter see the world the way Jesus does. He offers compassion for the oppressed and hope for the abused. He hears the desperation of each girl whose life consists of the unimaginable. Fortunately, He is also a God of justice. For me to be an agent of such a cause is an awesome responsibility, and I cannot undertake it lightly. I am trusting in God's Word that He will lead me, strengthen me, and guard me in a darker world than I have ever known.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
I will now speak candidly about my request of financial support from you. In order that IJM may operate as efficiently as possible, legal fellowships with IJM remain unpaid. Accordingly, I am forced to request your financial support for the coming year. However, if present financial conditions render you unable to give, or if other reasons evoke hesitancies in your mind, then do not give. I assure you that I will understand and that I do not intend to compel your gifts. On the other hand, if you are able and willing to give, I offer my sincere thanks and commit to laboring to further the kingdom. In another section of my blog there are directions on exactly how to give. Please, find these directions and follow them exactly. Also in this section is an itemized chart of the expenses I expect to incur during a year in South Asia.
Regardless of whether you are able to assist me financially, I appreciate the support you have already shown me in the past. Above all else, I would encourage you to investigate the website www.ijm.org, the other documents I provided, and remember to pray for the victims, IJM, and myself for the duration of 2009.
Sincerely,
Rich.
