March 28th, 2008
I Just Want to Do Something
Last April, I wrote in [this spot](http://www.helenmartin.com/2007/04/14/seeking-justice/)
about [International Justice Mission](http://www.ijm.org/) (IJM) and their very good work. I have learned a lot since we read [Terrify No More](http://www.ijm.org/resources/store) for our women’s book club at church, and I have not ceased to be impressed and inspired by the brave men and women who are standing up for some of the most cruelly oppressed souls on earth through IJM’s work.
As I read [The Hiding Place](http://www.amazon.com/Hiding-Place-Corrie-Ten-Boom/dp/0553256696) as a babe in Christ, I could imagine myself risking everything side by side with Corrie Ten Boom. Now that I have kids, I wonder if I would be too scared to hide Jews in my home. As I ponder over the history of slavery and the Underground Railroad, I ask if I would have opened my house to fleeing slaves. Then I wonder, if I had been raised a southern lady back then, maybe I would I have kept slaves, and perhaps I would have even used passages of Scripture as my justification.
Farther back my mind wanders… would I have stopped and poured oil and wine into the wounds of the injured man on the side of the dangerous road? Maybe I would have been too fearful of the consequences. Maybe I would have said, “What does helping him have to do with missions and evangelism.”
I can’t really say what I would have done had I lived in some historical yesterday, but “today has enough evil of its own.”
Literal slavery exists on every continent of the world; little girls in Southeast Asia are trafficked by force on a daily basis and in appalling numbers into the vilest trade imaginable. Widowed mothers’ homes are taken from them illegally in Africa. Rape is rampant in Bolivia. Now that I know about all of this, I just want to do something about it. My response isn’t intended to define the gospel; it’s not the gospel. But it is definitely because of the gospel.
The story of the Good Samaritan did more than tell us the meaning of the word “neighbor.” Jesus also used it to teach us what loving our neighbor looks like. The Samaritan man put another’s need above his own; with very few words, at a cost to himself and at a risk to himself. And Jesus called that “love.”
I just want to know my neighbor when I see him, and share that love, wherever I find him. I’d like it to be because it is not in me to do otherwise.
Please pray for [International Justice Mission Benefit](http://www.ijm.org/benefits) that’s scheduled to take place on Tuesday, May 27th at the [Hyatt](http://minneapolis.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp) in downtown Minneapolis. (My) [Sara Groves](http://www.saragroves.com/saragroves/) and her husband, Troy, are again co-sponsoring the event with Christian author and speaker [Susie Larson](http://www.susielarson.com/), and her husband, Kevin.
Once again, I plan to be there; both volunteering and hosting a table with my beloved, Ken. I so hope to see God move in the hearts of those in attendance with a simple and straight-forward message of hope from His heart of justice.
The keynote speaker is to be [Gary Haugen](http://www.ijm.org/whoweare/garyhaugen), the founder of IJM. Meeting him at last year’s event was a very moving experience. He signed my copy of his book, and ended the inscription with this, “You are doing something about it.” If I am, I just want to continue.
(Please visit www.IJM.org to learn more.)