2. Ready To Act Justly

Aim

To teach young people that because God loves justice, He also literally hates injustice. To define what injustice is and looks like Biblically, locally and globally.

Preparation

Injustice quiz, newspapers, scissors, poster-board, glue, markers, shopping basket with 15 items, shopping basket with 5 items, Rhonda’s story, a timer, prizes, two youth actors.

‘Express Queue’ sketch

Prime two young people to improvise a scene as Shopper #1 and Shopper #2. Provide a shopping basket with 15 items and a shopping basket with five items.

Two people are standing in the ‘express check out 10 or less queue’ at Tesco with shopping baskets in their hands; Shopper #1 with 15 items, shopper #2 with 5.

Create a scenario with Shopper # 2 becoming very annoyed that Shopper #1 has 15 items at a 10- or- less queue. Shopper #2 grows from annoyed to outraged that shopper #1 would take advantage of the express queue.

End the sketch with Shopper # 2 stating: ‘I’ve never seen such an injustice in my life!’

Say: This is what injustice looks like to most of us in the UK and the Western world. But what do we really know about injustice?

Injustice Quiz

Now, have the youth compete to see who knows the most about injustice: Divide the group into teams, hand out the ‘Injustice Quiz’ (found at www.ijmuk.org under Youth Resources) and start a timer for five minutes. Assess how much the youth know about injustice by reviewing the answers and give a prize to the team who knows the most. On a white board, draw this diagram:

Lies+ Force+ Threats =Injustice

Explain that Injustice is the combination of force, threats and lies used by the oppressor.

Lies: tricking the victim. For example: The oppressor tells a young girl she will have a well paying job as a waitress, but instead sells her into a brothel.
Force: the constraining of a person to act against their free will- usually by physical coercion. The oppressor can use a blow to the head or a threat to starve the victim to scare them into complying with their demands.
This definition of injustice is described in the Bible.
Isaiah 32:7 ‘The scoundrel’s methods are wicked, he makes up evil schemes to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.’
Psalm 37:14 ‘The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy.’
Proverbs 10:11 ‘The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of wicked conceals violence.’

Discussion

Ask the following questions to the group. Ask for their opinions and refer to the following passages if helpful too.

How does God feel about injustice? (He hates it: Ask individuals to read: Psalm 11: 5, 7 ‘The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence, his soul hates… For the Lord is righteous and loves justice.’ Also read Psalm 10: 8-15. If time allows, read 2 Samuel 11: the story of how King David steals the wife of Uriah, Bathsheba and then murders Uriah in order to cover up his sin. 2 Sam 11:27 says, ‘…and the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.’ 2 Samuel 12: 9-12, Nathan speaking to David, shows us again how much God hates injustice.
What does God do about injustice? (He exposes it: Read: John 3:20
The injustice of King David is exposed by Nathan, the prophet. Read 2 Samuel 12)
What does injustice look like? (Forced prostitution, illegal prison detention, abusive child labour, land snatching, forced labour/not paying or underpaying workers, sexual/physical abuse, human trafficking, genocide, police corruption, public torture, organised government crime, etc)

Hands on: Newspaper Montage

Need: Newspapers, scissors, poster board, glue, markers. Collect local and international newspapers and bring in enough for each youth to have one. Split the youth into small groups, give a piece of poster board to each group and have them look through the papers, finding and cutting out stories of injustice. On one side of the poster board, have them glue on stories of local injustice and on the other side, stories of global injustice. Give them 20-30 minutes to do this and then have each group briefly share a few stories they found. Identify the injustice in each story and if possible, the force, lies, and threats. Ask them: How is justice brought to the victims of each story?

Story

12-year-old Rhonda was walking through a familiar field on the way home to her grandmother. As the pathway turned the corner of an abandoned shed, a man grabbed her, threw her down in the shrubs and raped her. When he was finished he put a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone, then left her bleeding and alone, tossed aside like a piece of trash in the field. The man had pulled Rhonda’s right leg so violently that it came out of its socket and Rhonda could not walk. She crawled on her hands and knees to the roadside where she collapsed, covered in dirt and blood. A friend found Rhonda on her way back from school, carried her home and washed her.

Rhonda could not hide the pain from her grandmother, who thought she was sick, but never told about the incident. For Rhonda, all was hidden in fear and embarrassment. She tried walking her usual mile to school but soon the pain became unbearable and the silence impossible. Despite overwhelming fears from the perpetrator’s threats, she told a teacher what happened in the field. When Rhonda’s grandmother learned that her granddaughter’s pain was more than a serious stomach flu she began pleading with police to investigate and spent her entire savings on Rhonda’s preliminary medical exam. She prayed to God for rescue asking why He had left them to suffer alone. Her pleas to officials fell on deaf ears until a magistrate told her to see IJM. IJM Kenya staff listened to Rhonda, documented her case and, with local authorities, have taken action against the rapist to ensure he will never abuse another child.

In May 2004, the perpetrator was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In their dirt-floor shanty, Rhonda’s grandmother offered a prayer, ‘Lord, I am worthless before the world but You are worthy. I am meaningless but You are our help.’ And with the same voice of confidence she tells us, ‘He answered my prayers by sending you.’ Rhonda is now receiving proper medical attention and continues to heal. IJM continues to stand with Rhonda and her grandmother, bringing hope where there was silence.

Think through:

Identify the types of injustice the oppressor used against Rhonda.
What threats did he make?
What lies did he tell her?
What happened to the oppressor?

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