A day with IJM

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. They have 4 facets to their work: rescuing victims, prosecuting perpetrators, providing victim after-care, and working towards policy change within the legal systems of countries where slavery abounds. Kevin met the Director of IJM Europe, Terry Tennens, at the Christian Associates leadership conference in Portugal this past February. Kevin's interest in bringing justice issues to Crossroads was sparked. He spent many hours during the last several months recruiting and meeting with a team of Crossroaders who have taken the vision on with a zeal. Many team meetings as well as meetings between our team and various attorneys and government officials culminated this past weekend with a visit from Terry Tennens along with the COO of IJM, Scott Lewis (from Washington D.C.). They spent a full day with several local pastors, Europol, and the former chair of the Christian Democratic Party of the Netherlands. The day ended with Terry and Scott in our home for dinner, joined later by our Crossroads team. By the end of the evening our committee was given the green light to pursue next steps in setting up an affiliate office here in the Hague.

To quote Peter Luttik, a key player in our Crossroads IJM team, "the excitement about what we discussed last friday doesn't seem to ebb...". That sentiment is shared by many others as well. Kevin feels very privileged to have played a role in what may become a pretty significant force right here in The Hague in the fight against slavery.