Economic Justice

Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.  For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living. - Psalm 116:7-9

It all started with a science experiment and a group of chicks.  I grabbed one chick and eyeballed it like I was a hungry hawk. When placed back in its box the chick played possum for about a minute seeking a way for self-preservation. Then back up the chick popped, demonstrating a cycle of fear and recovery.

I repeated the experiment, but this time with two chicks at the same time!  This time both chicks remained immobilized for about five minutes - another demonstration of the fear and recovery cycle.  

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

For Those Providing Essential Services

This week we lift up prayers for those serving our communities in many ways.  We are particularly thankful for their service during this time.   Join us in prayer.  

Elderly women from a near-by senior low-income housing building sat at the back of our church foyer, bending over boxes overflowing with apples, carrots, and onions. They unrolled plastic produce bags, rubbed the top edges to open them, and filled them with fresh produce. They talked and laughed as they worked. “Come on over,” one of them called, “You need to meet someone we invited to join us today.” The ladies were getting ready for the monthly food pantry at our church and had asked someone new to help. 

This is a reflection on human trafficking. 

This is a reflection on more than just human trafficking. 

Because, like many of our world’s justice issues, human trafficking is rooted in other systemic problems and challenges. 

"He put another parable before them, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.'” Matthew 13:31-32

Recently, a gal named Carly Pritchard sent OSJ the best kind of email. It was a creative kind of email, asking if she and the coffee company she worked for might be able to help raise some financial support for the work that the OSJ does.

Um, yes!

But who is Carly Pritchard? And why does she, or her coffee company, care about the Christian Reformed Church and its engagement with justice? We were curious, and thought maybe you’d be curious too.

We're excited to welcome Jeremiah Damir Bašurić as a Do Justice columnist! Jeremiah lives in Edmonton, where he pastors a multi-cultural Reformed church plant called mosaicHouse Church, works at The Mustard Seed, and hikes with his wife Sarah. 

Ever since I realized my name was in the Bible, I wanted to get acquainted with the book and the prophet Jeremiah. I read Jeremiah 4:23-27 the other day looking for inspiration:  

This year I took a leap of faith. I’m starting a new season of life and taking a humbling journey of hustling to be a social entrepreneur.

Created in God’s image, human beings were made with a unique capacity for developing structure and accentuating the beauty of God’s world. God’s intention was that we would be like his signet ring (see Haggai 2:23), representing and ushering in his justice and righteousness as the caretakers of this world, and of each other. We are meant to make his glory known.