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THE WORD
HAelping the oppressed is
vital to the Kingdom
long-awaited Kingdom of God had arrived. God’s Kingdom would offer something for all people and every area of life would now be under the lordship of Jesus the King. The Risen King affirmed the God-given dignity
of all of humanity inherent in their creation, including those who were rejected, marginalised, persecuted and demoralised.
Like Jesus we must affirm the God-given dignity of all humanity, writes Archbishop Joseph D’souza, International President of the All India Christian Council
radical transformation to my unintentionally ignored other
life and ministry happened scripture embracing the full Kingdom more than 25 years ago when of God. After that critical prayer
God captured my heart for the plight meeting, I, along with my colleagues, of India’s persecuted and most embraced Luke 4:16-21 as the way
marginalised. Having previously forward. Jesus had returned to his dedicated my life to Jesus and to a hometown of Nazareth and
life of outreach at the age of 17, I
did my best to introduce people to May we imitate Jesus in
Jesus and solidify their new faith. I believed Matthew 28:18-20 was my calling from God. I would go. I would make disciples. I would teach. I would baptise. It was meaningful work
our passionate advocacy
Jesus would go on to advocate passionately for the suffering, and
in his humility, his incarnation modeled a dramatic championing of the dignity of those the world deems low, unacceptable, or unworthy. Luke 4 was Jesus’s mandate to the early believers, the early Church, and the Church today. May we imitate Jesus in our passionate advocacy for those who cannot advocate for themselves. May we use our relative privilege to proclaim liberty, recover sight, and free the oppressed, saying together in unity, ‘Thy Kingdom Come’.
and I believe God was honoured and glorified by these efforts.
began speaking to the people there by reading a prophecy from Isaiah. He declared that the scripture proclaiming good news, liberty, sight, liberty, and the Lord’s favour for the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed had been fulfilled through Him.
However, in 1998, all that changed. Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons were martyred in north India. Christians in India awakened to the possibility that the safety they had enjoyed was at risk. Both religious and ethnic minorities across the nation faced tremendous trials.
This was no ordinary reading of scripture on the sabbath by Jesus. This was a proclamation that the
Seeking God’s direction and protection, we gathered thousands for prayer. People came from all walks of life, but the poor and disenfranchised were the first to arrive. We learned from them on that day that the message of God we had been proclaiming for decades was insufficient. We offered them the hope of a future in heaven, but these tremendously needy and persecuted people needed Jesus in practical ways in their present day.
for those who cannot
advocate for themselves
INSPIRING FAITH
‘Clay is moulded into a vessel, but the ultimate use of the vessel depends on the part where nothing exists. I wish to become such a useful nothing.’
Pastor Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned for 14 years in communist Romania in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1968 he inspired the founding of Release International, which today continues his ministry to serve persecuted Christians around the world in the name of Jesus.
In my enthusiasm to embrace The Great Commission, I had
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