Hope

If I had to choose just one word to describe what I took away from working with International Justice Mission this Summer, that would be it. Hope.

Each day, I heard heart-wrenching stories of girls as young as 5 stolen from their families and trafficked into brothels to be sexually abused; stories of entire families forced by evil men to work as slaves in brick kilns and rice mills; stories of corrupt leaders accusing people of murder and throwing them into prison cells to waste away in silence. But the beautiful thing is that none of these stories I heard at IJM ended there. Each of these stories ended with God using simple human beings to bring rescue and restoration to the hearts, spirits and lives of those who desperately need it.

So, why do we never hear these stories on the nightly news?

As far as I can tell, this is why I’m studying journalism at the University of Missouri. If you had asked me 5 years ago where I’d be going to school, I probably would’ve told you somewhere out on the East coast, West coast or Colorado. And if you had asked me what I would be studying, the answer definitely wouldn’t have been journalism. Honestly, the journalism industry (at least in the mainstream) frustrates me more than it inspires me. But, since I was a little girl, something I remember my dad continually saying was, “People gotta have hope. You gotta give people hope.” And this is what God has pressed into my heart throughout the different experiences He’s blessed me with over the last several years – and it’s as if God has used this experience at IJM to capitalize on my dad’s words.

So, that’s encouraging! But, I really have no clue how that’s all going to look…and I’m learning that that’s actually okay! To be honest, this can definitely be frustrating (especially for people like me who would like to figure it all out), but right now it’s making me laugh. We don't always need to know exactly where the next stepping stone is; sometimes all that is required is the step, and the rest figures itself out.

As Gary Haugen writes in his book, Just Courage, “Deep within all of us there is a yearning to be brave. And like all of our deepest, truest and best yearnings, it comes from how we were made. Courage – the power to do the right thing even when it is scary and hard – resonates deeply within the original shape of our soul. Why is it so beautiful to see someone do the right thing when it is hard? Why, on the other hand, should there be such shame about our cowardice? Why should it matter so much to my inner being that I do the right thing rather than the safe thing? It’s a mystery. But there it is, pointing relentlessly to the nature and delight of the One who made me. In fact, the beauty and goodness for which we were fashioned by our Maker is more glorious than we dare to imagine.” (p.103)

So, this semester and for the rest of my life, I want to take hold of the beauty and goodness for which I was made. And maybe more importantly, I want to shine light on the beauty and goodness that exists on our planet in order to give hope to a world bogged down by the weight of depressing, immobilizing facts and figures. There is SO much hope -- it just needs to be highlighted.

"Wise shall be the bearers of Light"