The Christian Imagination

So, I participated in The Rescue with some friends, a nationwide rally in support of the Invisible Children of Uganda. On a cold and overcast day, a crowd primarily consisting of teens and young adults gathered at Cheesman Park in Downtown Denver. Most of them had just walked 2 miles from Civic Center Park, to symbolically be abducted for the evening, like the child soldiers of Uganda. We spent time writing letters to our senators, calling the media and our government representatives, and meeting one another. The primary goal of the evening was to get a politician or celebrity to stop by and pledge support to do something about the LRA and free the child soldiers. A representative from Mark Udall’s office stopped by. You can see most of their words on the video I took below.

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There’s so much wrong that needs to be made right in this world, and it can feel overwhelming to try to do anything. Some may question whether anything with the LRA will change even now. You know what though, anytime you get 1000 young people together to rally about something that matters, that’s significant. And writing letters and attracting media attention for important issues is significant too. As I said to a friend, “It’s more than I did for the world last week.”

The Invisible Children folks are running their 3rd rally this Saturday, April 25th, 2009. The difference, at least for me, is that I will be participating in this one. This one is called The Rescue. The 30 minute video on their website gives a very helpful overview of the history and what has transpired the last 3 years.

Their Press Release gives the following details:

For 23 years, the region has been consumed by conflict. Despite a ceasefire called between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and Ugandan government, efforts toward peace were stalled on several occasions by Kony’s refusal to sign the final peace agreement. In early 2009, the Ugandan government and surrounding countries launched a military operation intended to defeat the LRA and capture the rebel leader. The LRA retaliated by murdering and displacing thousands of civilians, while abducting hundreds of children to fight amongst its ranks. A war originally contained within Uganda’s borders has now evolved into a widespread regional crisis, prompting massive international attention.

The RESCUE is a radically unique event, unlike Invisible Children’s previous events ‘Global Night Commute’ and ‘Displace Me’ that had 150 000 collectively sleeping in the streets across the country for the displaced people of northern Uganda. The RESCUE requires participants to ‘abduct themselves for the abducted’. Thousands of people will travel by foot to a location in each city that will become their ‘LRA’ base, where they will refuse to leave until a senator, politician or public figure ‘RESCUES’ them by making a public statement on behalf of child soldiers.

The guys who started Invisible Children, Jason Russell, Laren Poole and Bobby Bailey, are all professing Christians. Invisible Children, the organization, is not Christian. Some Christians are concerned about that aspect, that sharing the gospel isn’t part of the goal here (as I understand it). While I agree sharing the gospel is of utmost importance, sharing involves more than words, and there’s also the simple matter of us living out the gospel. And taking care of the fatherless, the widow, and the orphan, is part of that. This campaign, run by guys who are talented, passionate, and really, nobody in particular, has had an impact, despite people questioning whether their good intentions would amount to anything. And this campaign has the support of many people from all walks of life and belief. Maybe it is indeed possible to change the world…