One of the most interesting questions that people ask me is to describe what I do. I explain to them that I am the Worship Services Coordinator for a multisite church working with both campus pastors, worship leaders, and creative and technology driven ministries. Sometimes I even impress myself with that description. That is, until this past week, when I had the awesome privilege of hearing Pranitha Timothy speak.
When Pranitha Timothy is asked to describe what she does, she answers, “I free slaves and work to restore them to a life of dignity and wholeness.”
Pranitha, the child of medical missionaries and a brain tumor survivor, is the Director of Aftercare at the International Justice Mission in Chennai, India. She has personally led over 50 slave rescue operations and then later served as the chief legal witness in court regarding those operations. This year, she was a featured speaker at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit.
(Check out her introduction at the Summit by clicking on this link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjlqZijPKeI )
According to the IJM website, the International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to secure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to ensure that public justice systems – police, courts and laws – effectively protect the poor. Read more about this phenomenal organization at www.ijm.org.
Pranitha and the International Justice Mission work toward four main outcomes:
- Victim Relief – Freeing slaves from the hands of their oppressors.
- Perpertator Accountability – Prosecuting those responsible for modern day slavery.
- Survivor Aftercare – Helping victims rebuild their lives following their release from enslavement.
- Structural Transformation – Strengthening communities to prevent further enslavement practices.
After hearing about Pranitha and the International Justice Mission, I turned to one of my colleagues and said, “I don’t do anything at all compared to that.”
God, thank You for extreme difference makers like Pranitha Timothy. Keep her safe, along with her co-workers as they work to set the captives free.
JohnJFrady.com 