This blog is written by 19 year-old Rebekah, a member of this year’s Team on Mission (a gap year programme run by the Irish Methodist Youth & Children’s department). 
Rebekah writes about her heart for justice and the experiences she’s had so far in her life that have shaped this.

One of the gifts I received for my birthday this year was a simple wooden coaster with the words, “do justice, love mercy, walk humbly” engraved on it - words taken from the Bible - Micah 6:8. I loved this simple little gift, because this verse has been really important to me for some time. For me, it’s a really simple reminder of how I want to live my life: I want to be someone who stands up for justice, who loves others and who does all that without boasting or drawing attention to myself – just walking humbly alongside others.

But why should young Christians, like me, be interested in justice issues, here in Ireland or across the world? 

In Matthew 25 Jesus outlines the way we should treat others: we should give help and show compassion to people, no matter who they are, because when we care for them, we are caring for Jesus himself and when we ignore the suffering of others, it’s as if we are ignoring Jesus himself. Jesus was born into the family of a village carpenter, not the palace of a rich and powerful king and soon afterwards, his family were forced to flee their country for fear of persecution. By modern definition Jesus and his family would have been classed as refugees. 

As a young person, seeing so many injustices across our world, I often feel helpless because I don’t have lots of qualifications or experience or money to help. It can feel very frustrating and upsetting to see the magnitude of so many problems and to think about how little I can do. There have been many times over recent months when I just haven’t felt able to watch the news anymore because I feel frustrated that I can do so little to fix the problems which are being reported, which affect so many people across the world.

But I’m very sure that ignoring these problems, just because they seem huge, is not what Jesus wants his followers to do. So how do we begin to respond?

I think the first thing we all need to do is increase our awareness of what is really happening in the world. So … turning off the news is not a great idea. There are so many ways that each one of us can stay informed about what’s happening across the world, through following reliable online news sites on our phones and through subscribing to receive updates from organisations like Methodist World Development & Relief, Tearfund and UNICEF.

A second thing to do is find ways to get behind the news headlines, to connect with the stories and experiences of real people across the world. That has been really important for me, in my faith journey so far. I think that I first “woke up” to justice issues when I was in primary school. The school I attended was very multi-cultural and I heard first-hand stories of families who had had to leave their countries because of religious or political beliefs. Some of them were asylum seekers who were having to go through legal processes to be allowed to stay in the UK. This began to make me more aware of people who simply didn’t have the same privileges and opportunities that I never even thought about and it started to make me aware that there was a lot of injustice in the world, which was affecting real people like those in my school.

Another big influence for me was my youth leader at church. She was deeply involved with a charity called Waakisa which works with young women in Uganda, helping them through un-planned pregnancy by providing healthcare, health education and on-going care. As I listened to my youth leader share the real-life stories of young women in Uganda, it struck me that many of them were the almost the same age as me. I realised that whilst I have had access to free education all the way from age 4 to 18, the reality for many young people across the world, especially girls, is that they simply don’t have that opportunity, especially when it comes to secondary education. I realised, from hearing the stories of those young women in Uganda, that there are so many obstacles for women and girls to overcome, in order to have access to a full education. As I learned about these situations, it really struck a chord with me that this just wasn’t right. I asked myself, why should girls have less opportunity simply because they are girls? It just didn’t seem fair! As a 13-year-old, I felt that I couldn’t really do much apart from learn more about the situation and the factors which caused it – and that’s what I have attempted to do in the years since. Getting involved with organisations like Methodist WDR can help us to connect with the stories of real people who are suffering injustice, across the world.

A third thing we can do is get involved in helping others, through taking practical action.

In sixth form, when I had the opportunity to join a study visit to India with my school, I jumped at the chance. Through a long-standing partnership with the charity ASHA, which works in the slums of New Delhi, many groups of sixth formers have had the life-changing experience of travelling to India, to learn from and work alongside some amazing people. ASHA works to give hope to people living in slum areas, by supporting them to fulfil their potential, regardless of their background, caste, or religious belief. One of the big issues ASHA has to tackle is illiteracy. 80% of people living in Delhi slums are illiterate, largely due to the fact that instead of going to school, young people start work at an early age, in order to support their families. However, children and families involved in ASHA projects grow up aware of their right to an education and understanding the huge difference that education can make in their lives. When we were in India, we had an opportunity to share in teaching some English and Maths, as well as playing games and doing craft. It was such a privilege to meet all the children and the amazing people who work for Asha, including women who live in those slums, who are so determined to make things better for their children and their community. The people we met live very different lives and face hardships I cannot even begin to imagine, but they were just so thankful for the enriched educational experience they were able to access, through Asha’s programmes. I’m very aware that the work we did during our visit to Delhi was such a small contribution to a huge, on-going task. I am heart-broken by the reports of how Covid-19 is ravaging so many communities in India and I realise that the study visit which I learned so much from in 2019 would be impossible to undertake now and perhaps for years to come. 

But there are still so many ways that each of us can get involved in taking practical action to help overcome injustice. Again, the Methodist World Development & Relief website and other websites can give us lots of ideas (have a look here). We can also volunteer at home, whether that’s through a social action project in our church, or through helping out at a local foodbank, for example. We can all find ways to help others in our own communities, even through what may seem like very small acts of kindness and through joining in on-line fundraising, campaigning, and advocacy. And as Christians, we should never forget or underestimate the power of praying for other people and situations that we are passionate about, which God has placed on our hearts.  Our prayers need to reach far beyond ourselves and our families, to situations of need and injustice across the world.

Every small action helps. An old proverb tells us that it is … “Better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness”. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells us, “When you did something to help the least of these, you were helping me”.

As I live my life, I want to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God; and I hope and pray that you will be inspired and challenged to do the same.