By: Emmery Johnson
During my internship with Advocates for Law and Justice, I lived on a Youth With A Mission (“YWAM”) base in Harpenden, England. The legal internship operates from the YWAM base. YWAM is a missions organization with bases located throughout the world; the Mission has a focus on bringing the Gospel into the seven spheres of society. The seven spheres are the law and government, family, church, education, arts, economics, and media.
I was encouraged to see how God is raising up people to go into all the spheres of society to bring His Kingdom. Even more specifically, I was profoundly impacted by the number of lawyers and advocates God is bringing to YWAM to help build His Kingdom. I met such incredible lawyers who have a heart for missions and the law; before this internship, I did not realize people had a vision of combining mission and the law. I came to law school with the dream of doing missions and using the law as a tool to carry the Great Commission into the nations. For a long time, I thought I would have to forge my own path in learning how to do missions and the law. This summer opened my mind to the fact that I was not the only one with this dream. God has and is raising up lawyers to go to the nations to bring His Kingdom. I met many people who have had years of experience in using the law as a tool to bring God’s Kingdom. I was able to ask many questions I have pondered for quite some time and establish relationships with lawyers who will be mentors for me as I follow God’s call to use the law as a tool to bring God’s light into a hurting and broken world.
During my internship with Advocates for Law and Justice, I had the pleasure of visiting the United Nations in Geneva. We had the opportunity to observe the 18th Session on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Going to the United Nations was an incredibly transformational experience for me. I never thought I would get the privilege to sit in on a session at the United Nations after my first year of law school. The Session was based on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was signed in 2007. Indigenous peoples from the countries that signed on to the Declaration came to the Session and shared how well their countries were implementing the rights outlined in the Declaration. I enjoyed hearing the firsthand experiences of the people living in the countries and observing the forum that helps address some of the injustices that indigenous people still face. Not only did I enjoy attending a session, but I also enjoyed being in the place where many nations come together to address international legal injustices and human rights injustices. I hope to go back to the United Nations after I begin practicing the law; this experience gave me insight into one of the many ways people can use their legal career to bring about holistic healing worldwide.
This post was written by a student at Regent University School of Law. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.