Over the last few weeks, we have seen God move in an amazing way through you, Village Church. As a result of our Women’s Conference and Freedom Sunday weekend, you have stepped up to support the work of ending the injustices of slavery and human trafficking all around the world to the tune of the equivalent of 500 Freedom Partners through International Justice Mission (IJM)!
Your outpouring of generosity to this cause will not only make a tangible difference in providing freedom for the oppressed, but it also fulfills the vision of the kind of church we want to always be – selfless and generous.
To put this into context, IJM and our Global Impact team prayed that God would inspire at least 100 of you to step up and become a financial partner in this work. Our dream stretch goal was to ask God if maybe 200 people would catch this vision. But that seemed crazy. Yet as you do, and as God does, those numbers were blown out of the water. Over 300 people signed up directly from Village Church, and many of those people became Freedom Partners for amounts over and above the $50 monthly amount. A generous donor committed to matching up to 200 Freedom Partners, and this is why we can say that over one weekend, we were able to bless IJM with over $300,000 in support for this calendar year. But because these are partner commitments and not one-time gifts, the support coming from Village Church is ongoing and will continue for years to come! IJM says that this is completely unprecedented and by far the most they have ever seen a single church do.
Thank you!
Already, we are hearing some amazing stories of how God is using this outpouring of support. One of our prayers is to lead the Canadian church in this fight for God’s justice, and churches across the country have seen what has happened at Village Church and are asking IJM how they can do the same. Stories are pouring in about individuals not even affiliated with the church seeing this partnership reported and celebrated on social media and have reached out to IJM to ask how they can partner with them for justice. The amount of support Village Church has committed equates to 20-30 more rescue missions that IJM is able to conduct in the field just this coming year! Hundreds and thousands of people oppressed and caught in bonded labour slavery, sex slavery, and human trafficking will be freed and restored because of your generosity. Perpetrators will be held accountable and jailed. Legal systems will be strengthened to ensure that slavery can become a thing of the past.
I am so grateful to Kaitlyn Weinberger, our Global and City Impact Director, and Pastor Jeremy Johnson for their work on this; their heart to see the church become a leader in our country, for what is right and just for those caught in one of the worst human experiences one can ever imagine – sex trafficking. I am grateful for IJM and the work their team does to fight for those who need it most. I am grateful to God that he would care for the oppressed and use us to help. But I am also extremely thankful for you. You have shown the heart of God not only to those who need help, those doing the incredibly hard work, but also those around us who look on as witnesses.
Love you all and your heart for the world!
Pastor Mark Clark