Isaiah 1:17 – “Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”
In case you’ve lived under a rock this year, IJM is the newest social justice club to hit the Lipscomb scene.
International Justice Mission (IJM) is an international nonprofit that battles injustices like slavery, sexual exploitation, and violent oppression around the globe. As Lipscomb University’s Campus Chapter, we are called to be the hands of feet of IJM right here in Nashville. Our goal is to increase awareness, raise funds, and lift prayer for our brothers and sisters suffering from injustice.
Since launching in fall of 2009, LU’s IJM Campus Chapter has taken on a variety of projects to give a voice to the voiceless. You may have noticed events like The Silent Movement, a BYOiPod silent dance party right outside of the Gathering one fine Tuesday morning, or the Human Wrong Benefit Show just before Spring Break. Thanks to the collaborative works of IJM, SGA, and Campus Ministry, students were able to send advocacy emails to their congressmen, snag some free food, and earn chapel credit while taking in some of Nashville’s finest live music. 100 students also designed their own tie-dye IJM advocacy t-shirts. So the next time you see someone walking around with the word “enslaved” or “sold” across their brightly colored shirt, don’t hesitate to start up a conversation!
Then there was the triumphant finale of IJM’s first year at Lipscomb. On Saturday, March 27, LU’s IJM Campus Chapter joined forces with chapters from Belmont and Trevecca to host the first annual IJM Dance Party Nashville at Rocketown, a trendy venue downtown. Once the doors opened at 6pm, over 175 justice lovers cascaded in for what proved to be a beautiful night of awareness raising and fellowship. Through generous donations, we were able to raise over $750 which is going directly to fuel IJM’s efforts. We also gave justice lovers the chance to write advocacy post cards to U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, which are soon to be hand delivered by IJM staff in Washington, D.C. Most importantly, this was a priceless opportunity to connect passionate students from different schools in Nashville. We’re very excited to see how these relationships will blossom as intercollegiate projects emerge in the near future.
As the first year comes to a close, IJM will be holding officer elections Monday night, April 19, at 10pm. This final meeting of the school year will be held in Swang 108, so feel free to drop by and see what IJM is all about. If you have a heart for service and social justice, then you’ve found the right place.
To learn more about IJM, visit www.ijm.org
If you’d like to get involved with Lipscomb’s IJM Campus Chapter, please email Brooke McAllister at mcallistba@mail.lipscomb.edu or Jake Morgan at morganjd@mail.lipscomb.edu!