24-7 Prayer USA: A Cry for JusticeAmanda Siebold - 5 May 2011
Amanda Siebold is part of the international Just 24-7 team and also helps lead justice efforts in the U.S. as part of the 24-7 Prayer USA team. Stay tuned for one last blog from the U.S. crew to round off the week-long feature of 24-7 Prayer USA!
Since its inception as a movement, 24-7 Prayer has carried a heart to engage with the broken and oppressed. I believe this very thing to be a natural overflow from abiding in the place of prayer. The Father loves to share His heart with us and show us the treasures that lay hidden in the hearts of our neighbors. He also loves to give us the creativity and passion to discover these treasures in everyone we meet.
This being the case, it is not surprising that the Source Boiler Room in Minneapolis, Minnesota is opening a home for women coming out of the sex industry. It’s also not surprising that folks at the Kansas City Boiler Room are in the habit of befriending single moms in their neighborhood, sharing the love of Jesus with them and promptly baptizing them in the nearest bathtub or fountain.
What I love about the way we “do justice” as movement is that we are not simply doing good things for others, but rather we are bringing the only reality that can actually change anything—the life and love of Jesus. We may not force it upon people whilst caring for their physical needs, spiritual and emotional needs (that is rather unlike his love anyway), but it is the central theme of our lives. It is the compass, the beacon, the hope we have to offer and we cannot help but extend it.
I live in Boston, Massachusetts and my friends and I have been getting to know a couple who started an organization that brings believers together from all over the city to address issues of injustice. I will be helping them to coordinate a 24-7 prayer room focused on reaching out to the vast immigrant population in our city. We are also coming along side this group to help bring fair trade products to our local markets in greater abundance.
It is such a blessing to be able to walk out this calling to justice with so many incredible men and women of God. I challenge you to seek out a justice effort in your area and to take up the call of being light in a dark world.
So come on, let’s change the world!