For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to help people overseas. As a missionary kid, I
was exposed at a young age to atrocities the majority of the world experiences on a daily basis. I
thought my goal of helping people abroad would be accomplished via full time missions. Then,
the Lord spoke clearly to me about going to law school. The Center for Global Justice is the
reason I came to Regent. I was astonished by the plethora of opportunities that I would have to
make a tangible difference in the lives of so many people from the get-go as a 1L.
The Center has been the most encouraging part of my time at Regent. I was able to complete an
internship with the International Justice Mission (IJM), the organization I quite literally dreamed
of working with since I was young. The thing that encouraged me most while working with IJM
was seeing the sheer number of people who are committed to global justice. We hear so much
about the horrible things happening around the world, but very little about the righteous. While
working with IJM, I heard stories of specific instances of kids being rescued daily, perpetrators
being arrested, policies being changed, law enforcement officers being equipped, and corruption
becoming replaced by accountability.
For so long, I thought that to make any difference in the world I needed to prosecute war
crimes at the Hague or do something really big to make an impact or focus all my energy on
international human rights. In my mind, I believed domestic advocacy regarding international
issues to be important, but not my passion. Last summer, I was able to work for the Attorney
General of SC last summer on a specialized unit for internet crimes against children. Many of the
images downloaded are of children from regions like Eastern Europe and Asia. This overlap
astounded me as I realized I could advocate for global justice in my own city.
Without the Center for Global Justice, I would not have had the opportunity or the
financial means to explore these passions. I am thankful for the direction and clarity the Lord has
provided through Regent so that I can use my gifts to make an impact on the world, beginning
with my backyard.
Written by Lauryn Eason, a Center for Global Justice Staff Member