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earlier this week, i mentioned that last friday, i had a chance to chat some with gary haugen, the ceo/president of international justice mission.? my friend ben introduced me to my friend jeff who introduced me to my friend bethany who coordinated this entire phone call.

as a sidebar, i think it’s interesting we all have known each other for months online, but only recently met in person at catalyst back in october.

as most of you know, the trip i took to africa in february changed my world.? to experience poverty and hope and life and death and fear and courage in eight days didn’t just leave me reactive…it left me transformed.

and just when you think your eyes have been open as wide as they possibly can be, you’re shown something new.? that happened when i read gary’s book “just courage.”

from the jacket:

“There must be more to the Christian life than this–more than church each Sunday and waving to my neighbors and giving some clothes to Goodwill when I go through my closet each spring.”

These aren’t bad things, of course. But they’re safe and comfortable and easy. And there’s a reason they’re not satisfying your desire for something more significant and meaningful–we’re created by God for adventure.

International Justice Mission president Gary Haugen has found that engaging in the fight for justice is the most deeply satisfying way of life. This book shows how we too can be a part of God’s great expedition.

after reading his book, and our conversation on friday, i’ve been left with some nuggets and then haunted with a question i’ll ask at the end.? here’s a bullet point list of some things gary said:

*We know how to bring evangelism, food, water, and housing to the poor. These are beginning to become mainstream.? We can do these things, and do them comfortably.

*What do we do about the problem of violence and the brutal abuse of power in people who are tortured, murdered, raped, or manipulated in violent ways? We are not familiar with these things.? We don’t know what to do.? We don’t feel empowered.

*Why is violence so intimidating? It’s intentional.? Not the result of bad luck or viruses or bad weather.? It is the force of humans intending to hurt other humans.

*Violence is scary.? It fights back.

*If you feed someone, you’re not going to be attacked by hunger. But when you attack violence, usually it’s going to fight back.? There is a test of courage that is special when fighting violence.

*Violence is not as powerful as we think. It happens because we are letting people get away with it.

*The oppressors of the poor are not brave.? It’s a crime of opportunity.? As soon as they sense a threat, they begin to leave. Gary told a story of how he saw one of the worst areas he had ever seen in his life on a visit to Asia.? Years later, the brothels where hundreds of children were traded and sold into the sex tourism industry, had disappeared and his fifteen year old niece was helping lead a Vacation Bible School in the same spot.? The violence had been confronted and it left.

*Violent people depend on lies and deception. If the world saw the truth about violence, they wouldn’t let it continue.

*We need to learn the truth about what’s happening and expose it.? We need to become hard-nosed truth tellers.

violence needs to be confronted with truth.? when you confront violence, it fights back.? millions of people are slaves to violent acts — slave and sex trafficking, murder, rape — and in order to end it, we have to acknowledge it, face it, and quite possibly, take a very large risk.

a risk that may cost some of us our lives.

and thus the black-and-white, extreme side of me asks…

would i die for someone’s freedom?

would you?