Upcoming event at L.A. Public Library (Central)

[ALOUD] at Central Library
Wed, Oct 28, 7:00 PM
ALOUD and Vesper Society present

IRENE KHAN
The Unheard Truth: Poverty and Human Rights

In conversation with David Kaye, Executive Director, UCLA School of Law International Human Rights Program

Khan--the first woman, first Asian, and first Muslim to serve as the Secretary General of Amnesty International--sheds a much needed light on the rights and powerlessness of the poor.

Irene Khan, the first woman, first Asian, and first Muslim to serve as the Secretary General of Amnesty International, has brought a strong focus to socioeconomic rights and violence against women around the world. She spent 20 years at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and was appointed in 1995 as the Chief Mission to India, becoming the youngest United Nations representative. Khan was awarded the Pilkington “Woman of the Year” Award in 2002, as well as the Sydney Peace Prize in 2006.

www.theunheardtruth.org

David Kaye is the Executive Director of the UCLA School of Law International Human Rights Program. He teaches International Human Rights and directs an International Human Rights Clinic. For more than a decade, Kaye served as an international lawyer with the U.S. State Department, responsible for issues as varied as human rights, international humanitarian law, international litigation and claims, nuclear nonproliferation, and U.S.foreign relations law. He was a legal adviser to the American Embassy in The Hague, where he worked with the international criminal tribunals and acted as counsel to the United States in several cases before the International Court of Justice and the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal. From 1999 to 2002 he was the principal staff attorney on humanitarian law, handling issues such as the application of the law to detainees in Guantanamo Bay and serving on several U.S. delegations to international negotiations and conferences. The State Department honored him with four of its prestigious Superior Honor Awards.

Prayer = Advocacy

Prayer is such a simple act of faith, and that’s probably why children are so good at it. And that might also be why we don’t always think of the ministry of prayer and the ministry of justice as being related. Prayer is too often viewed as a necessary, but passive, thing that we as Christians do. However, the more I engage in the ministry of prayer and the ministry of justice, the more I see that they are indeed related!

When we refer to people who pray for others, we often use the word “intercessor,” which basically means someone who stands in the gap on behalf of another. Isaiah 59:16 says, “The LORD looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. He was amazed to see that no one [intercessor] intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him.”

God did the interceding for himself, but he really wanted human intercessors. God values the human touch. He has called us to be his hands and feet to bring about justice and righteousness in the world. And one of the ways we do that is through the ministry of intercession.

The Holy Spirit, the Great Intercessor, empowers us to help others through prayer in their time of need. As intercessors we stand in the gap for those who are spiritually, emotionally or physically oppressed. We plead for their rights — the rights given to them as human beings made in God’s image. We feel their pain and empathize with their weaknesses. When we intercede for someone, we are actually speaking to God on their behalf — giving voice to their need. Intercession is a ministry of justice — because it brings people into a right relationship with God, with others and even with themselves.

So one way you can engage in the ministry of justice is by committing to being an intercessor. Pray compassionately for others. Go ahead — do justice to your prayers.

_______________________________

An excerpt from "A Letter From Marion Skeete, Pastor of Prayer Ministries" in the Fall issue of "Seasons," Lake Avenue's Quarterly Newsletter.