Millions suffer from slavery every day. Even in our own nation, human trafficking is a huge problem.
The International Justice Mission is an organization that is dedicated to fighting slavery, violence and other injustices around the world. On campus, there is a group of students who are partnering with the IJM in order to bring about global change.
“We as a chapter work to support them [IJM] through advocacy, through awareness, and through action,” one of the founders of IJM Ouachita, Samuel Beary, a senior Christian studies major from Batesville, Ark. said.
This chapter has been on campus since 2014. It is currently the only IJM chapter in the state of Arkansas.
Hanna Schulz is the current president of IJM Ouachita.
“For me, it’s like a way to be able to get involved when you can’t actually go overseas and literally do it yourself,” Schulz said. “Because I know that a bunch of people are heartbroken for all the human trafficking happening around the world and we feel like we can’t do anything, but really, with IJM and with these smaller campus chapters, you really are making a difference and spreading awareness.”
Their biggest event, Stand for Freedom, is a worldwide student-led event that is held each spring. Students gather on their college campuses and stand for an entire 24 hours to bring awareness to the violence of human trafficking. The slogan for this event is, “One day for their everyday.”
“I became interested in this topic when I went to Passion in 2013,” Beary said.
At that Passion Conference, Beary learned about the “End It Movement.” This is a partnership of the major organizations whose mission is to bring freedom to those held captive by injustices. One day out of the year, they spread awareness by writing a red X on the back of their hands and post pictures on social media with the hashtag, “End It.” They invite all who oppose slavery to participate as well. Until this point, Beary had never heard of this particular movement or human trafficking.
“So, I was looking for an opportunity to get involved and came across International Justice Mission as one of the organizations that was working for this,” Beary said. “And I decided, with some other students on campus, O.K. let’s create a chapter, let’s get involved with this; mainly, just because I honestly feel like this is an issue that the church should own. This is an issue that’s a great injustice happening around the world. You know, we are called to be the light in the dark and the salt on the Earth.”
Schulz encourages anyone who wants to learn more about this issue or become a part of the movement to end it to join Ouachita’s IJM chapter.
“You should definitely do it because it’s not like a huge time commitment,” Schulz said. “We meet every other week for forty-five minutes max and it’s really chill. We have fun together but, we also discuss the serious topics and pray over all that’s going on in the world. I think that if you just have any heart for justice in general that you should definitely check it out.”
To learn more about the International Justice Mission, visit www.ijm.org; to learn more about the End It Movement, visit www.enditmovement.com; to learn more about Ouachita’s IJM chapter, follow them on Twitter (@ijmouachita) and on Facebook (Obu Ijm Chapter).
By Sarah Hays
Video by Nate Wallace
Photos courtesy of Sam Beary
