punching injustice in the face

During the past weekend, middle schoolers and highschoolers from across West Virginia came together to connect with each other, connect with God, and fight injustice. Why?

The 58conference was a weekend dedicated to learning about God as our defender and provider, and learning how to stand up for others around us who can't stand up for themselves. It was pretty cool to see all these tweens and teens learning about "punching injustice in the face" from Johnny Justice, our resident injustice fighting superhero.

The kids did a 30 hour fast to understand what it is like to go hungry. And trust me, that is a long time with no food, especially for kids in those ages. And they had a really profound time breaking their fast together (more to come on that one).

The participants had an opportunity to connect together and learn about God in large and small group settings. They had the chance to perform a service project in the local area. The had the chance to collect food for a state wide food drive to help those who can't afford food in our state. They had a chance to learn about many different kinds of injustice in our world that they may have never heard about before, from groups like Invisible Children, Dry Tears, and Nuru.

It was amazing getting a chance to interact with the kids, especially since some of them are dancers for KidSTUFF that I know pretty well. There are countless stories of how they were impacted, but I want to share one.

One of the girls was really affected by the fast. But, she was also affected by hearing about the young children in Africa who are so dehydrated that they can't cry when the two guys from Dry Tears spoke. And hearing about the AIDS crisis from a breakout session with the group Acting on Aids. On her way home, she told her mom that the next time she asked to get a toy or something for her, for her mom to remind her of this weekend. She wants to start saving her money in a jar that she would spend on herself and send it to kids around the world in need. Did I mention she is only 11?

How amazing that even kids and teens are seeing injustice in our world and doing something about it. What about the rest of us? There are so many ways to fight injustice locally and internationally. What are you doing in the fight?