Pan Dulce

Justice...We Can Make a Difference!

Today I have asked JoAnn Cole to share with us on the topic of "Liberty and Justice for All".  JoAnn is Director of Campus and Family Ministries for Buckner Children and Family Services, Inc.

Many believe that there is liberty and justice for all who live in the United States.  Sadly, there are great numbers of children and families that are overwhelmed with poverty, abuse, neglect and abandonment in our country.  They have very little hope for liberty and happiness in their lives.  Is this justice?

I believe that justice demands advocacy and action for those entrapped in hopelessness.  It is a privilege to serve in a ministry that allows me daily to work with individuals that value liberty and justice for all.  We have committed our lives to ensuring others experience the sweetness of liberty and help provide opportunities for them to pursue happiness.  Together we are responding to the call of justice.

Buckner National Operations addresses injustice with quality services, competent, nurturing staff and volunteers.  Caring foster families provide safe and loving homes for children that have been removed from their families.  Many foster parents view fostering as their ministry and have committed to helping children reach their potential.

Last year 455 children were provided families as they experienced crisis in their lives due to no fault of their own.  We will support 43 children in college this fall through Buckner scholarships that now have the confidence they can obtain their dreams.  By helping these students, we have a chance for better leaders tomorrow that will uphold the value of liberty and justice for all.  These individuals are impelled to help others because of the impact someone made in their lives.

Our Family Place program provides residence for single moms and their children while the mothers pursue their educational goals.  Twenty-three graduated from the program in 2008.  The graduates are now free from depending on public assistance and others in the program remain hopeful they will be also.

It starts with a desire to make a difference.  I appeal to you now, decide when and where you can respond to the voice of justice.  We can make a difference.

Pursuing Independence: a 21st c. model

I have asked Christine Haberkorn O'Malley to share with us on the topic of "Liberty and Justice for All".  Christine is the Strategic Initiatives and Alliance Manager for Buckner Children and Family Services, Inc.

In the early stages of their education, U.S. school children receive instruction about the birth of this nation.  It is a rich tapestry of strategic events, governing principles, and personal accounts.  These lessons are layered within my family history as witnessed through the diary of a twenty-two year old ancestor, Israel Litchfield. Eighteen months of his diary survives as a firsthand account of the early months of the American Revolution.

Israel joined the southern militia of the Minutemen in Scituate, Massachusetts and writes about his experience as a keen observer of democracy, a vanguard for spiritual righteousness, and a dogmatic judge for those who fall outside cultural boundaries of decorum and civility. Israel writes a condemnation of the monarchy-favoring Tories, “Let every Tory in Every town, their Sordid bad Principles quickly lay down making humble Confession for their misdemeanor their Character then perhaps will Look Cleaner” (Litchfield, I., 1774). Israel’s strategy for freedom begins with a national character that incorporates the understanding that justice is a pursuit not a past-time.  

Israel Litchfield’s narrative contains a prevailing view that is heavily weighted by an unflinching adherence to individual freedom that up until then was bound to a tyrannical monarchy. Israel’s perspective, filtered by a cultural lens, is entrenched in the ideals of freedom and hope that became the genesis for revolution, liberty, and promises for all.  This weekend we will celebrate the 233rd anniversary of our independence.  As a reminder of where we were, Israel’s diary serves as an imbedded personal narrative of U.S. independence that recalls memories of discarded tea, midnight rides, and musket carrying farmers. Israel’s story is a strategic assessment of how freedom and justice is a fundamental human right fought for by heroes for the glory of all.

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. retold this history of liberty and democracy in his landmark civil rights speech, “I Have a Dream.” In it, King linked the architects of independence with the emancipator of slavery, Abraham Lincoln, as the early authors of hope for a young nation and its residents. The Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation, in King’s words, “became a note that conveyed a promise and a guarantee.” King’s version of the narrative’s events, however, exposed the nation’s delinquent adherence to the democratic doctrine of “inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” King asked a nation of diverse people to listen and invest itself in the care of the nation by becoming part of the solution. His strategy linked all humanity regardless of color to the cause of human rights and inequality because we all become the beneficiaries of the dream.

Forty six years have passed and we now negotiate a complex world where awareness shifts in a moment and knowledge erupts unceasingly.  Technology links humanity in ways that is often immeasurable because there is just too much to know.   Strategy in the 21st c. is not merely a plan only to be measured by outcome, but it is a series of actions derived from understanding patterns that are interchangeable and interactive.  Outcome is no longer the end game; it is only the beginning of the next step. King knew this because the face of racism was not just about color.  He offered a new strategy that embraced the unseen goodness of all without prejudice and invited humanity to confront a subtle realm that is transformative and paradoxical. King called for a strategy of faith and collaboration that will “transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. “  This strategy called for old topics to become framed with new questions about reasons, causes, meaning, and interpretation.

Strategy is a conduit that explores relationships between mission and objective by balancing social need and individuals with responsible management. Buckner’s strategic history is a microcosm for revolutionary values that seek to improve the lives of diverse people. It is no wonder we often talk about building a heritage for future generations through alliances. This weekend we not only celebrate our independence, but we also acknowledge the changes that have been made along an often rocky path. Strategy is not static mandate, but a transitioning force that compels us to move forward.  Dr. King called forth a nation to unite, a message that evokes the essence of independence and justice for all so that “all men become equal.” Buckner’s mission devoted to improving the lives of vulnerable children and their families calls for new knowledge and strategic execution. This is the Buckner revolution for justice in the 21st c. that will declare independence on behalf of the “least of these.”

Taking Liberties with Justice

Today, I have asked Greg Eubanks to write about Justice and Liberty for All. Greg is Director of Service Offering Development for Buckner Children and Family Services, Inc.

Clients served by Buckner have not enjoyed the blessings of liberty in their lives.  Our children, living in foster homes and orphanages throughout the world, arrive with the knowledge what it is like to live under the oppression of abusive treatment.  Families come to Bucker with experience telling them that liberty is limited by economics and the injustice of diminished opportunity.

What our children and families come to understand, however, is the power of hope over circumstance.  They know this because they experience it through Buckner.  Young women in Ethiopia are receiving vocational training and loans to begin their own businesses.  Youth in foster care are graduating, and becoming alumni of the system which introduced them to a new future.  Families living in colonias of the Rio Grande Valley are experiencing the domestic tranquility of new construction, thanks to Buckner mission groups.

All of this is possible because Buckner employees, donors and volunteers decided to take liberty with justice, serving the forgotten among us.  Far from the idea of any one individual or one nation, we know that justice is an individual proposition.  As such, Buckner works intentionally, and creatively, to provide an array of services to meet the unique needs of each vulnerable child and family.

My work at Buckner is focused on developing these service offerings, which make up our integrated continuum of care.  From humanitarian aid to educational programs, community-based intervention to family foster care, microfinance to adoption of every stripe, Buckner strives to take liberties with the status-quo approach to social justice.  There is not just one need, and there is not just one solution.  Rather, we involve a host of diverse individuals, working together with Buckner to meet needs and impact lives.

For those reading this blog today, I would invite you to join us.  Perhaps you represent a church looking to be relevant in your community.  Maybe you are a student searching for meaningful service opportunities.  Or, you could be a family with the means and desire to be a family for a child.  Buckner has a service offering through which you can connect with someone who needs you.  As both an individual nation and a global community, we still have huddled masses among us yearning for freedom from their overwhelming circumstance.  How will you answer their cries for justice?

 

“With Liberty and Justice for All”

Today, I have asked Jeff Jones to write about Justice and Liberty for All. Jeff is Director of Operational Effectiveness for Buckner Children and Family Services, Inc.

It’s such a familiar phrase. We all love that part of our Declaration of Independence. It really acts as a description of the freedom we enjoy in the United States of America. I wrestle with this often as I look around my immediate world. How well do we evidence a desire for all to experience liberty and justice? Do we find ourselves inadvertently thinking that people living in developed countries with power, wealth, and democracy, are more deserving of liberty and justice? Think about it.
 
These truths are not confined to our U.S. Constitution. Ideas of liberty and justice permeate the Word of God.  The prophet Micah explains what the Lord wants from His followers, “To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8).

A few weeks ago I experienced the joy of visiting the Holy Land. I stood on the hillside where it is believed Jesus spoke the Beatitudes to the crowd gathered near the Sea of Galilee. In Matthew 5:7 we find our Savior’s perspective on how we approach the subject, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Social justice did not originate in the hearts of our beloved “Millennials.” Many of these young people simply remind us of its importance.

Recently I watched one of my favorite films, “Braveheart”. As Sir William Wallace of Scotland is on the gauntlet for his execution and is being tortured, the last words he yells out with the only strength he can muster is “Freedom!” I take it for granted on a daily basis, the fact that I live in a free country where liberty is foundational and the rights of the People are paramount. Those who are suffering do not typically live with such certainty. Whether due to an authoritarian government or the fact that their own family has neglected them, they don’t know the peace of freedom and justice.

At Buckner, we meet children and adults who deserve to have justice served in their lives, but do not see it come to fruition. We are called to advocate for them when we are able. Often I am reminded that I can’t always right the wrongs, but I certainly can play a part in giving mercy to those who need it. Our Savior gifted us with eternal life that we don’t deserve (grace) and kept us from the punishment we do deserve (mercy).

As we discuss liberty and justice this week, so many children come to my mind. I guess the one thing I can provide in this blog is a first hand account of how this mercy is being given to kids who deserve justice and don’t typically find it. For example there is a girl who I met in Guatemala about a year ago. Analiz (not her real name) had come to the orphanage after experiencing years of abuse. Men in her own family had taken advantage of her sexually for years and robbed her of the innocence God gave her. Emotionally battered, she hugged my wife who sat with her letting the tears stream down as Analiz buried her face in Jenn’s shoulder . That day Analiz was hopeless. She knew she had no power to bring justice to those who had hurt her and she wanted to die. I felt my own frustration rise as I felt powerless to help her. She couldn’t make sense out of the words my wife gently spoke to her, words of promise and hope in a Savior who loves her so very much.

I visited the orphanage again in October. Analiz met me with a wonderful smile and opened arms. She remembered me and asked how my wife was doing. The mercy she had felt was evident. She had experienced love that was unconditional and began to understand hope could be found in her own life. I discussed her case with our director Chiqui, who informed me that Buckner was investigating the possibility of having Analiz come and live in our transitional home. This spring, while I was at our management retreat, I was given the wonderful news that Analiz was home! Since there is no one in her own family who will love her, I am so grateful she has a new Buckner family. The beginning of hope realized!

Though we cannot ensure that justice will be carried out in the lives of those we serve, we can play a part in giving mercy and love in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in whom we find our ultimate justice and freedom.

 

The Voice of Justice

Today, I have asked Scott Collins to write about Justice and Liberty for All. Scott is Vice President of External Affairs for Buckner.

Buried near the end of the Declaration of Independence, long after the opening words so familiar to Americans, is one of the most severe grievances our forefathers had with the British crown. “They too have been deaf to the voice of justice…”

As citizens of this great country, we pause next week to remember July 4, 1776. It’s a time of food, fireworks and family. We celebrate the “self-evident” truth that in the eyes of God, we are all created equal and that among our rights are “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

And as the Declaration of Independence was intended to separate our nation from Great Britain, the Constitution was intended to unite us as a nation. The Preamble of the constitution lists six reasons for its writing. Second is to “establish justice.”

Where is the voice of justice today? What is it saying? As Americans, have we become deaf to the voice of justice?
 Listen to what it is saying:
* Half of the world’s population – nearly 3 billion people – lives on less than $2 a day.
* The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the poorest 48 nations is less than the wealth of the world’s three richest people combined.
* The world’s most developed nations consume 86 percent of the world’s goods.
* More than 30,000 children die every day because of poverty. That comes to 11 million children under the age of 5 each year.
* 17 million Africans have died from the AIDS pandemic.
* Another 25 million are infected with HIV with no hope of overcoming it.
* 15 million African children have already lost one or both parents due to AIDS.
* There are more than 740 million people living in sub-Saharan Africa and the average life expectancy is 46.2 years.
* Nearly 14 percent of all children in this region of the world die before reaching the age of 5.
* In the United States, half a million – 500,000 – boys and girls languish in our foster care system.
* In Texas, three children die from abuse every day.
* In 2007, 17,536 Texas children were removed from abusive homes. That’s 48 children every day; two an hour.

Where is the voice of justice for these? My fear is that if the rest of the world were to write a Declaration of Independence from the United States, they would accuse us of being “deaf to the voice of justice.” That would be unfortunate and unfair.

We live in the most giving nation on the planet and in history. Americans gave $307 billion to charity last year, according to Giving USA. Americans are born with the DNA to give. Some use it; others ignore it. Could we do more? Of course. But there is a growing spirit of getting involved and getting our hands dirty.

The voice of justice demands action. As an American citizen, I am compelled to respond because I believe there can be no “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” without justice.
When you hear the voice of justice calling out, try responding:
Get involved. Think globally, but start locally. There are multitudes of opportunity right where you are. And there are multitudes of organizations already at work, from churches to civic clubs and non-profit groups.
Expand your horizons. As you become involved locally, you will become more aware of needs beyond your geographical sphere of influence. Use that awareness to hear the voices around the globe crying out for justice.
Advocate. Awareness of the plight of the poor and disenfranchised leads to advocacy. Be a voice of justice for those who have no voice – especially orphans and at-risk children. There are 143 million orphans in our world today.

Every day, school children stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America. The final words that leave their lips offer a definition of our country – “with liberty and justice for all.” Justice demands we listen.