The fifth lesson in the Seek Social Justice series is probably the most sobering. We traveled to Orange County, California to explore the story of Shyima Hall, an Egyptian girl who at age 8 was sold by her parents into slavery. She was brought to the US by her Egyptian owners and kept as a housemaid for almost two years before being rescued. It is a moving story about how our state and federal agencies work with the non-profit and private sectors to ensure that individuals have the chance to live in freedom. This is something that is easy for us to forget: it is only the enforcement of good laws based on Christian principles that enables us to live in a society in which social justice can actually happen.
Many other world governments actively support injustice and either enforce unjust laws or simply look the other way when injustice occurs. Creating a safe civil space necessary for ministries and non-profit organizations to repair broken relationships is really the best function of government. It is a role that God ordained for governments from the beginning, one that works best when governments are basing their laws on the laws of God – something our founding fathers expressed over and over again in our nation’s most important documents.
As an epilogue to the documentary, Shyima’s adopted parents are Christians who in turn brought Shyima into the church. Their faithful witness as foster and eventually adoptive parents shows how individual Christians are able to take the positive actions of the government and non-profit organizations, and turn them into something spiritually significant and eternally lasting.
