A Little Is Enough

Lesson Four of “The Justice Mission,” the curriculum we’re going through in Sunday school, talks about the feeding of the 5,000. The lesson makes the point that the young boy’s lunch—five loaves and two fishes—wasn’t nearly enough to feed the thousands who had gathered to listen to Jesus. But Jesus took that insufficient gift and blessed it.

Not only was it enough for everyone, it was more than enough. In fighting modern-day slavery, we might become discouraged by the scope of the problem—what we have is so small in comparison.

During the class session, the students are supposed to indicate the extent to which they agree with several statements. I agree with all of them, and I think they are worth remembering—maybe even printing them out on a card to keep handy.

I have a little knowledge God can use to fight injustice.
I have a little anger God can use to end oppression.
I have a little passion God can guide to help the helpless.
I have a little influence God can use to involve others in the search for justice.
I have a few relationships God can energize to create a team of people committed to changing the world as we know it.
I have a bit of freedom to decide what I’ll study and how I’ll spend the rest of my life.

—The Justice Mission, ©2002 Youth Specialties, published by Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Mich., p. 76.

That Ain’t Right

The first time I ever hung out with my wife’s extended relatives, more than 25 years ago at a family reunion, I felt like a fish out of water.

These were small-town and farm families from southern Minnesota, Northern Iowa and the Quad Cities area. I was a kid from the sophisticated city of Minneapolis.

Some of them smoked. I had been brainwashed by my parents (in a good way) with the phrase “Smoking? Filthy habit.”

Some of them chewed tobacco. I had been raised on the story of the time my dad and uncle tried chewing tobacco, swallowed it and soon were throwing up.

Lots of these people cussed. My family simply doesn’t.

One of my strongest memories from that first family reunion is the conversation that went on most of the day among the men. One of them would tell about something that was wrong with the world or the United States or Cresco, Iowa. When he was finished, the others would respond with a chorus of “That ain’t right.”

Then someone else would tell about another outrage. Each story was greeted by the phrase “That ain’t right.” I found it fascinating. Since I felt so out of place to begin with, I imagined myself as a cultural anthropologist, observing the ritual of the men in this tribe as they bonded around a shared sense of right and wrong.

Tomorrow our Sunday school curriculum, “The Justice Mission,” includes an interactive reading of Job 24:1-4. Whenever an injustice is mentioned in the passage, the youth are to respond by saying, “That ain’t right!”

I never thought I’d be using that phrase in a Sunday school lesson, but it sure does fit when we’re talking about modern-day slavery and other forms of oppression. The passage reads as follows:

Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?
Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?

Men move boundary stones;*
they pasture flocks they have stolen.*

They drive away the orphan's donkey*
and take the widow's ox in pledge.*

They thrust the needy from the path*
and force all the poor of the land into hiding.* (NIV)

Every place where there is an asterisk, feel free to say (out loud) “That ain’t right!”

I love discovering the many Scripture passages that show how God hates injustice and loves justice. And I love the deep assurance that when He calls us to join Him in fighting for justice, He will equip us (has already equipped us, I’d say) to carry out that fight.

The Justice Mission

In Sunday school today we did the first session of “The Justice Mission,” the five-session youth curriculum I mentioned a few posts ago. Each session includes a short video followed by discussion. Today’s lesson was “Oppression,” and it was sobering. I felt like all of us were shaken by what we saw. In the video, four teens from the U.S. travel to India and see oppression and slavery firsthand. They grapple with the reality of it and actually take some practical steps to fight it.

For me, the most powerful part of today’s video was when the teens spoke with a young woman who, at age 12, went looking for her father, who had left home. At the local train station, two elderly women with another young girl offered her a job and convinced her to go with them. You can guess what happened. When they arrived in a different city, they forced her into prostitution. She had to service some 30 customers every day.

This kind of subject matter is pretty intense, and I’ve been a little nervous about presenting it to the kids. But then I think about how our Christianity so often can come across as divorced from real life, irrelevant and, for many young people, actually kind of boring. Maybe if they can see how God calls us to join Him in the great cause of defending, rescuing, redeeming and restoring people, that can help them hold onto faith through their high school, college and young adult years.

I’ve also ordered a dozen copies of Zach Hunter’s book “Be the Change,” and I’ll plan on leading the youth group through that in the coming weeks as well.

New Name

OK, it’s official. I’m changing the name of our group to the Carolina Clapham Circle. You can see the new form at left.
A few days ago, Allison, a student in our youth group, picked up a copy of “Be the Change,” by Zach Hunter (see also my post from May 20). Allison suggested that we could work our way through the book as a group.

I’ve read about half of the book already, and I’m hooked. I think it will make a great foundation for a 10- or 11-week study, perhaps paired with “The Justice Mission,” the video-based curriculum from the International Justice Mission.

The students in our group are great. They are really fun to be around, and it is amazing to see them growing in faith, love and compassion (and in many other areas as well). I pray that they will become men and women of God, following Jesus and helping others to follow Him. And maybe freeing slaves as well!

IJM Helps Free 17 Slaves

The International Justice Mission continues to do great things, or should I say that God continues to do great things through IJM. Here’s a news flash I received today.

It’s the same old pattern of someone incurring a debt and being tricked into slavery. But this time it looks like a positive ending, as 17 people were freed from a rice mill in South Asia.

By the way, I received a youth curriculum from IJM today: It’s called The Justice Mission, and it includes a dvd and a leader’s guide with five lessons. It is really well done, and I’m looking forward to doing the lessons either with the youth group or with the youth Sunday school class at Belair United Methodist Church.

The church is in Lancaster County, SC, where the Clapham Circle of Lancaster County will have its initial meeting this fall, if all goes well. If you live anywhere near here and are even vaguely interested in attending a meeting to see how you can fight modern-day slavery, please fill out the form at the left. There’s no obligation; this will just help me to track interest and make sure that people get info about the meetings.