President of International Justice Mission is Speaking in Portland This Sunday

Gary Haugen, President of International Justice Mission, will be speaking at Sunset Presbyterian Church this Sunday, March 26th, at 9 am, 11 am, and 5 pm. Childcare is provided during all three services for infants through preschool.

Andy and I are pumped about hearing him. We're loving reading his book Good News About Injustice. We're going to the 5 pm service. Come! We'll save you a seat. We can all go out to a kid-friendly restaurant afterwards. :-)

Here is an excerpt from Good News About Injustice:

The battle against oppression stands or falls on the battlefield of hope. No one knows this better than the oppressors. They know that they never have enough power, lies or loyalty to withstand the onslaught of even a fraction of the power, truth and courage that humanity could at any minute amass against them. Therefore they rely on, utterly depend on, the inaction of despair. They know full well that their preeminence depends on most people in their community, their nation and their world doing nothing. This is the essence of Edmund Burke's conviction about human history: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

The oppressor knows that the primary reason we do nothing is because we have lost any hope of making a difference. It is not that we lack power, compassion, courage or knowledge. Rather, we lack a sense of hope that allows us to take what we have into the fray. By sheer inertia, therefore, we lend our own weight to the downward cycle of despair. Our lack of hope keeps us from the frontlines of engagement. And our absence only makes the oppressor look stronger, compounding our own despair and that of those who might otherwise be prepared to fight.

But as faithful Christians through the ages have demonstrated, we don't have to be this way. We have access to a hope that changes everything. Great people of faith - William Wilberforce and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - and lesser known giants like Dr. Bushnell and Rev. Murphy changed their communities, their nation and their world because they found the hope to seek justice.

Our friend Steve is being challenged by this book too. Check out his latest post - God Hates Injustice: Do We?