I know Zach Hunter. I met him and had dinner with him and his mom after a showing of the movie Amazing Grace, that great movie on the life of the Christian parliamentarian William Wilberforce and his success in passing the laws to ban slavery in England.
I read and appreciated his first book Be the Change. He asked me to endorse his second book. I said, "I love Zach Hunter's heart, and I love Lose Your Cool. Couldn't put it down." Years have passed and Zach is now 19, but he hasn’t lost his passion for ending modern day slavery. Here’s what he had to say in a new article:
A Christian Ethic of Social Justice: Will A Bible Fill An Empty Stomach?
When I was 12 I started a campaign to end modern-day slavery. I wasn't a theological prodigy. I was just an awkward, pre-adolescent kid trying to follow Jesus. I heard about people being bought and sold and abused day in and day out and I couldn't imagine Jesus being O.K. with it. So, I decided to do something about it. Now, seven years later, I'm still speaking around the world about the subject, and students have gotten on board helping raise money to set people free. My passion is to help my generation identify an area where they can end suffering.
Occasionally, I've received some criticism about encouraging this kind of passion in my generation. Mostly, it comes from people who share my faith -- I've even been told, "It's great what you and your friends are doing, but why aren't you just preaching the gospel when your whole generation is going to hell?" First of all, what a way to phrase your question -- have they really just predicted the eternal destiny of my generation? Second, I ask these people to place themselves in a specific scenario: What if you are volunteering in a soup kitchen and a homeless woman who hasn't eaten in days approaches you desperately needing something to eat and drink -- would you hand her a Bible and tell her, "Jesus loves you?" I doubt that she'd be feeling the love.
Read the rest of Zach's article.
Here are two pro-life, anti-slavery organizations we join Zach Hunter in recommending:
Free the Slaves
www.freetheslaves.net
The International Justice Mission
www.ijm.org
