By Luke Freeman
Today, 30 million people in the worldwide are living in slavery; however, this reality is rarely discussed. Last Thursday, Wayne Barnard, Director of Student Ministries for International Justice Mission (IJM), spoke to Milligan students about this and other injustices IJM is working to end.
According to its website, “International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.” It is headquartered in Washington D.C. and has 14 field offices around the world.
Barnard’s lectures were part of a series of events sponsored by the Cross Cultural Missions Committee known as Milligan’s Justice Week.
According to campus minister Brad Wallace, “Justice Week is five days of opening our eyes to the world around us, plagued by oppression and violence, yet being made new by God.”
Barnard spoke in chapel about the importance of student movements throughout history and how if students “make a decision to be different,” they can bring about change and help stop injustice. He also told the stories of several people who had been rescued from bonded slavery and forced prostitution with the help of IJM.
In a follow up lecture, which took place Thursday evening in Hyder Auditorium, Barnard explained how and why IJM works through local legal systems to rescue victims of oppression. He pointed out the importance of making sure perpetrators are prosecuted for their crimes so they aren’t able to continue harming innocent people and to dissuade others from starting these illegal operations.
“It was eye-opening,” said junior James Terry, “I knew about the sex trafficking issue but not so much about slavery.”
Although human trafficking is the form of injustice IJM is best known for fighting, they also work on cases involving gender-based violence, sexual violence, illegal detention, forced labor slavery, and illegal property seizure.
Barnard ended his lecture by talking about what college students can do to help bring justice to the world. He said that prayer was the biggest way in which students could contribute to the cause.
He also requested that students support the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, a bill aimed at combating trafficking in persons, protecting its victims, and ensuring punishment of traffickers. Students were encouraged to write their state representatives in support of the bill.
To learn more about the work of International Justice Mission, visit www.ijm.org.
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