ADVOCACY  & Poverty TRACK

This track will equip participants to act as advocates and community organizers, giving participants a biblical framework and teaching them to use their voice to amplify the voices of the poor.

It will include the opportunity to take part in a model advocacy campaign around the issue of child slavery, which participants can take back to their communities after Urbana.

Urbana 2009 Advocacy Track - Intro Video from International Justice Mission on Vimeo.

Overview

We are called to speak up on behalf of those without a voice. Proverbs 31:8-9 says, "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice." This track will be guided by leaders from World Vision, Sojourners and International Justice Mission who have made it their mission to "speak for those who cannot speak for themselves." The emphasis of this track will be on immediate and practical steps to becoming an advocate for the poor. Participants will learn from those who are speaking up and acting up in order to bring God's Kingdom more fully to those on the margins, both domestically and globally. Our hope is to inspire and to prepare participants to become voices for change, especially on behalf of those stuck in desperate poverty, and to live their lives in a way that makes a difference to the poor.

Who should come?

If you are longing for the kind of change that will make a difference in the lives of sex workers, child laborers, those suffering from HIV/AIDS and people trapped in poverty, you should consider this track. Not all of us are called to careers in missions or social work, but how can those of us who are not called into careers of service among the poor live our lives in a way that makes a difference in a world of such gross inequities? If you want to discover how to live in such a way as to be a blessing and not a curse to the poor, the voiceless and the marginalized, you should consider joining us in the Advocacy Track.

Track Director: Renea Livingstone

Renea directs strategic initiatives for InterVarsity in the Mid-Atlantic region. For the last 18 years she has been working with college students in the metro DC area, helping them learn the path of discipleship as they do their studies and internships in the very shadow of the White House and all those other important buildings. She is raising three wonderful young women (with a bit of help from her husband, Neil) and has already sent one away to college. She has a B.E.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, an M.A. in Theology from Fuller Seminary, a love for leading Bible studies, and a knack for finding time to read mystery novels. She firmly believes that nothing interesting happens before 10:00 AM, and is very glad that the Advocacy Track will be meeting at night.

Advocacy & Poverty Track Seminars

Recommended Reading

Haugen, Gary,  Just Courage: God’s Great Expedition for the Restless Christian, InterVarsity Press, 2008

Stafford, Tim, Shaking the System: What I Learned from the Great American Reform Movements, InterVarsity Press, 2007