Go Beyond

A few weeks ago my friend Kelly Isenberger told me that she and her family will be moving to Norway. It was one of those moments that caused my heart to sink a bit because I love the Isenberger family. I had the opportunity to get to know Kelly on a trip to Kashmir. God did a wonderful work in her life on that trip, affirming her love for the nations. When I led our missions ministry to enter the justice arena in 2009 to help champion the rights of human trafficking victims, Kelly was among the first I recruited to serve on our justice ministry team. She coordinated our prayer initiatives and kept our team abreast of the most urgent prayer requests from our justice partners. Kelly also suggested to me that we consider hosting a Just Run for a Just Cause. Chris and Kelly are runners and participate in a number of local running events, so it made sense to consider using a run as a platform for making our community aware of the plight of the oppressed.

Kelly did a great job of mobilizing our team and numerous volunteers to offer our community a Just Run. Our first event in 2010 attracted more than four-hundred runners and walkers from throughout our community. Almost one-thousands participated in our 2011 run. Kelly also led us to add a new educational component last year — a justice wall that uses a timeline to tell the story of how victims are trafficked and abused and how some are rescued and restored. It is a compelling visual that has also been used by others in our community at their justice ministry events. I am grateful for Kelly’s vision and involvement on our justice ministry team. We will all miss her. Yesterday evening, we presented Kelly with a token of our appreciation for her work on behalf of justice, something that we hope will remind her that she served the purposes of God well while living in Katy, Texas.

One important thing we have stressed at Kingsland since promoting God’s passion for justice is the importance of educating the next generation. Many of our families have used our Just Change “piggy-banks” to save money to invest in the support of our aftercare home in South Asia. Kids have also invested birthday money, their allowances, or money raised from special projects. Last June, Chloe and Morgan, the Isenberger’s daughters, set up a lemonade stand at the pool where their swim team practices and raised $56.00 that they brought to my office in a zip lock bag. Chris and Kelly and other parents at Kingsland have done a really good job of speaking to their kids about a tough issue in age-appropriate ways. I am confident that many of the champions for justice in the next generation will come from the ranks of Kingsland kids like Chloe and Morgan.

So, although I hate to say goodbye to the Isenberger family, I am confident that God has new adventures for them on the Scandinavian Peninsula and that they will spread the message of justice among their new friends and neighbors there. Thank you Kelly, for championing the rights of the oppressed. Godspeed to you and your family. I will miss you.