Image by Sharon McCutcheon

ABOUT US

PSALMS 10.18

"THE ORPHANS AND THE OPPRESSED WILL BE TERRIFIED NO LONGER, FOR YOU WILL BRING THEM JUSTICE, AND NO ONE WILL TROUBLE THEM."

"If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God”

~ Dwight L Moody

Our Mission

to increase awareness, mobilize communities, and empower child-centered advocacy 

Our Purpose & Vision

to protect kids who have been abused, neglected, exploited, abandoned, or forgotten. So that every child is loved, chosen, wanted, and cherished.

WE TRUST AND PARTNER WITH A JUST GOD, THAT FIGHTS TO

protect kids

As advocates encounter the injustice and brokenness surrounding child abuse and endangerment, they need to know that Jesus is the Just God, who saw and heard what no one else did, and that He will avenge the wrong. It is easy to become bitter and angry as you come face to face with the injustices that many victimized children experience. These emotions can become very heightened when circumstances touch on the pain points of our own injustices. Knowing how to navigate, process, and dialogue with the Lord through these emotions is central to a peace-driven advocate.  

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The primary role of any individual seeking justice in the life of a child, especially within unjust systems and circumstances, is to prioritize being a VOICE, that speaks with a child-centered focus! Not a voice that talks about what we want or how we feel, but a voice that speaks for the protection and interest of the child alone! Not a voice of timidity or fear that gets drowned out by the noise of opinion, but a voice that speaks with boldness, clarity, and authority using a Biblically-Based Strategy. 

Girl and stuffed animal

to be a Voice for

the Voiceless

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. Proverbs 31:8-10

WHY IS THE MESSAGE OF GOD'S JUSTICE IMPORTANT TO VICTIMS?

How the Hope of God's Justice Brings Comfort

When we think the wrongs done to us don't matter to God, we cannot recognize our true worth. Our hearts were made to cry out, “Who will fight for us?” A cry that can often be suppressed in our human attempt to be godly or a cry that can be misdirected to those who are unable to bring the justice we long for. No matter how hard we try to bury that cry, it will fester like a wound unless we come to know Jesus as the source of the justice we so desperately seek. Without the revelation of God as Just, we have no real response to the darkness and torment human beings are bringing upon other human beings. Human language is not supposed to adequately describe the things that hell has invented. Left with the age old question of why there is suffering and injustice in the world. Causing a bankruptcy in our faith and witness as we struggle to limit the power of God to the modern version of Jesus as meak, mild and timid. To go into the aspect of God’s justice can cause us to be uncomfortable, if we think of it from an incorrect perspective that God is angry or harsh. It is this fear that causes us to tame-down the power of the gospel, and dismiss the most needed benefits of Jesus as our Just judge. It is actually His fierce and devoted love that causes Him to long to bring forth Justice. Only when we have come to know Jesus as Just will we have adequate answers for the most broken people we encounter each day, people who are crying out for Justice yet who do not know the one to whom they can direct their cry. *Portions taken from the book, A Cry for Justice by Shelley Hundley. Used with author's permission.



What does it Mean for God's Justice to Come?

God's message of comfort includes His commitment to those who suffer. Jesus wants to heal our hearts with the revelation that He is just, and He wants to give good news for the oppressed. Reminding people of Jesus's tears without acknowledging His power to act on their behalf presents an incomplete representation of His attributes. No one, except Jesus, is worthy to bring judgement on the wrongs that have occured. The Father's standards are too high when it comes to who will stand as the judge of all humanity. No one can say is Jesus is unsympathetic, being fully man, tempted and tested as we have been, yet uncorrupted by absolute power. His justice is to lift the week rather than crush them, because He is righteous. As Isaiah 42:3 says, “a bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench; He will faithfully bring forth Justice”. As the perfect carrier of Justice, Jesus will not be indiscriminate with His judgment, accidentally bringing wrath or losing his temper. He sees the struggling individual who cries out to Him as a “bruised reed” that He will not break. He does not stop being merciful in order to bring forth Justice. He does not suspend one attribution to express another. He is righteous and just and He is perfectly merciful and kind every step of the way. Jesus’ fierceness as depicted in Isaiah 63 is 100% consistent with the God who is love itself. In fact, it is because of His great love that He fights fiercely against everything that keeps us from experiencing His love. *Portions taken from the book, A Cry for Justice by Shelley Hundley. Used with author's permission.



What about Forgiveness?

We need to know that Jesus saw and heard what no one else did and that He will avenge the wrong. Through the heart of Jesus, we can come to understand a God who says what happened to us was significant and that someone must pay. Yet in his mercy Jesus offers Himself as the solution and the recipient of the just punishment. Knowing Jesus as our just judge will not turn us into spiteful Christians who constantly speak negative words of judgment and condemnation. The exact opposite is true. When we understand that Jesus is just, we realize an equally important truth… we are not! Understanding Jesus as the answer to the justice we seek, allows us to truly comprehend forgiveness in a whole new way. Forgiveness is not about Jesus looking the other way, but about us trusting our case to Him. By forgiving what seems impossible to release, we can make the mercy of Jesus famous and see His perfect justice brought forth. *Portions taken from the book, A Cry for Justice by Shelley Hundley. Used with author's permission.



Why Jesus Fighting for Us is Something a Just God Must Do?

The lingering question remains, who will fight for me? When we believe there is no Justice and no one will take an account for what happened to us, we feel an inherent sense of worthlessness. We think if no one cares about what happened to me, then I must not be worth much at all. These feelings of worthlessness can affect even those who haven't experienced the trauma of abuse or other physical pain. The Bible says feelings of worthlessness can come on the people of God when they are not rightly taught that God takes an account for wrongs. In Jeremiah 23, the Lord urges His people not to listen to this destructive teaching that says those who despise the Lord and do wrong will somehow be blessed and have peace. I know Jesus will bring Justice, not just because it is the right or legal thing to do, but because it is something a Just God must do. When people are harmed, when the weak are crushed, when children are abused, Jesus takes it personally. He holds deeply the injustice we have suffered in His heart, Isaiah 63:4. *Portions taken from the book, A Cry for Justice by Shelley Hundley. Used with author's permission.



OUR STORY TO TELL

We have many personal stories we could tell, but the cumulative story we want to share, first, is how our GOD DID NOT FAIL! The miraculous happens! Even amid the most broken situations and systems, God is moving despite it, and the supernatural is happening! He is famous for making beauty out of ashes, and the brokenness is NOT too much for Him! Later we will tell our unique stories, but for now, the most crucial testimony we have to share is that GOD FIGHTS FOR CHILDREN, and he does the impossible! At 10.18 Strategy, our burning desire is to share these stories to build faith and help individuals with the practicalities of how to Protect Kids through action and advocacy. The Lord is not done fighting for kids….there are MANY MORE STORIES TO COME!!! 
 

In the Service of a Just God,

Katie Fetzer & 10.18 Strategy Team