Post by: Deanna Longjohn
Over the summer I had the honor of interning at International Justice Mission’s headquarters in Washington D.C. IJM is a faith based non-profit that works to fight violence against the poor. They specifically work in the issue areas of human trafficking, police brutality, land grabbing, and Intimate Partner Violence. The summer was a blessing to me in so many ways. The internship encouraged me to grow spiritually and stand firm in the Lord. My internship helped me grow in humility in the face of difficult work and it helped me to grow in confidence in the Lord. Most of the work that I was able to do was far removed from the situations of violence but the work opened my eyes to more of the horrors of human trafficking and land grabbing to be specific. Through meetings and learning about the work my eyes were opened to more of the long lasting effects of human trafficking. I also learned about the violent crime of land grabbing. Land grabbing typically looks like widows having their land stolen by other people in the community. Without a home for protection or land to work, these women are defenseless and cannot provide for themselves. Widows in many countries are actually the ones who take in the orphans. When widows have their land stolen, not just them but also the orphans suffer.
While learning about this crime my thoughts were drawn back to the passage in Psalm 68:5 that defines God as, “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:5, ESV). God is the protector the widows and the orphans. He calls us to become more and more like Him. Caring for widows and orphans should be one of our highest priorities. We should spread the word about this terrible crime of land grabbing. Before interning for IJM I did not know much about land grabbing and I did not know about the detrimental effects of the crime. My internship helped me to learn about the crime and what can be done to end land grabbing.I am very thankful to the Center for Global Justice for the ability to intern for IJM over the summer. The internship helped me to grow personally and professionally. Through the internship, the Lord taught me much about Himself. If you would like to learn more about International Justice Mission please follow this link here: https://www.ijm.org/
This post was written by a Center for Global Justice Intern. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.