#PowerSexMoney - Speak Up

[Music] welcome to power sex money hello everyone welcome to power sex money where we talk to real people with real stories that help us find real solutions to life my name is bryan navajo one of the pastors at waterloo church and it's my honor to be your host now today we're going to be talking about justice and our call to you is to speak up you know justice is close to the heart of our god in fact psalm 89 14 tells us that righteousness and justice are the foundation of god's throne and as we're told the church justice is a core value we're passionate about speaking up on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves we've been doing this since 1992 as we've rescued some of society's most vulnerable women and children and it's been such a joy seeing what god is doing in their lives in the body of christ we have so many friends who are also involved in this great work and some of our friends are with us today the international justice mission and i'd like us just to appreciate the work that they do to watch this video together [Music] international justice mission is a global leader in trying to protect the poor from violence ijm has teams all across the developing world local national teams of lawyers criminal investigators and social workers who take on cases of violent abuse and oppression against the poor cases of sex trafficking or police abuse or illegal detention widows and orphans being thrown off their land or sexual assault against children and our advocates not only take on these cases and bring rescue to the victims but actually work to bring the perpetrators to justice we also make sure that the survivors then get good after care so they can live lives of strength and and where they can thrive again but then we also are working through our local teams there to begin to transform what's broken in the local law enforcement system such that it doesn't protect the poor from violence and we can actually now see it's possible to change the local law enforcement system so it goes from a place that's protecting those who are violent to actually protecting those who are victims of abuse into actually bringing rule of law and bring a capacity for the poor to be safe enough to thrive [Music] welcome back to parsec's money once again my name is bran honored to be your host today and we're talking justice and our call to you is to speak up we want you to be a champion of justice now as you talk about justice there's been a lot happening all across this nation we're going to go back to when we went into the lockdown much of last year reports suddenly came out of violence happening within homes lots of abuse happening and today we want to get to the bottom of the challenge how big and how how what's the extent of or and the magnitude of this challenge and what are the solutions how do we help how do we become part of the solution and so to help us understand that and a lot more are two gentlemen that i'm going to be talking to today and i'm going to ask them to introduce themselves and we'll start right here well nice to be here with you pastor brian joshua gabby is my name and i'm privileged to be one of the pastors at water church giving oversight to family and counseling absolutely such a joy to have you the passex and money pastor josh but i have heard that you you love soccer yeah and uh so what's the team well the team is the united team yeah man you and i yeah that's the only team yeah it doesn't make you cry no it doesn't make you cry i'm sorry i said no fans but you know what's interesting is they call them the red devils and you're a pastor but you still support them nonetheless yes yeah because you in order to defeat the devil you need to be where he is i'll leave that interpretation pastor josh but over to our guests today as well thank you pastor bryan my name is byron muanje i am a lawyer and i work with international justice mission and i serve as senior coordinator legal partnerships fantastic nice to have you on the show today uh byron i do you love soccer what is that one thing that away from your work you love to engage in i think i love soccer as well what team do you support i support asthma thank you jesus the gunners you guys are gunners and and you're gunning straight to the top i believe in a couple of seasons yeah someone once said that you once you've got the championship you come back right up to to to take over the premiership definitely definitely no it's a joy to have you byron and pastor joshua thank you so much for joining us today on par sex money so we're going to dive right into the conversation we're talking about justice yeah we're asking people to speak up yeah i'm asking them to speak up and to be champions of justice because a lot has been happening within the four walls of the homes we're hearing stories of lots of abuse we're hearing about violence within the homes domestic violence and we want to understand how serious this issue is and i'll start with you byron in interacting with this issue in iowa's international justice mission tell us what are you hearing what is on the ground how bad is it in uganda thank you pastor bryan of course it has always been an issue violence against women and against children there was a research done by unicef working with the minister of gender general laboratory development in 2015 and some of the findings were that 35 percent of girls and about 17 percent of boys are sexually abused before their 18th birthday and for the girls about 25 percent of those have it by the 13th birthday if you read the uganda police crime report of 2020 it will show you that there was an increase in these vices during covert time so for example you have about 14 000 murders arising out of domestic violence so that is how bad the situation is on ground wow that that's a green picture that is just terrible sad to hear especially what's happening towards the women and the children and we know they're the most vulnerable group because that's what the statistics on the ground are telling us pastor joshua as you give leadership to the family and counseling ministry at watoda church you've definitely over the last 18 months interrupted with this issue and the gravity of it just talk to us about what that is currently looking like right now well the of course what happens aside it definitely happens with the people in church which because a church is not just the buildings but the people that are in church and yes there are issues that are reported where men are beating women where children are thrown out of home they're starved and then they're different abusers molestation by some by parents um by next relatives and the rest so it's a big it's a big deal and so some are going to depression um some yeah they denied fees some are sent off to get married and you see there's also this thinking that well if you have no job you can do you can use your body so they are sold off into some form of marriages and then the other issue is um some are being forced to watch um stuff that is not right for for children i mean it's not also right for adults because pornography is never right for anybody yeah so there's that um child neglect in in many different ways so kids call in sometimes you discover things as you talk to them in different ways so it's it's a grim situation yeah and then the the other challenge is how do you report your dad how do you report your mom how do you report your big brother so those are some of the issues that do arise and then some are being divorced women and guys want to take advantage they want to make sure that if i throw you out i want to get custody of the children as a guy and then when it comes to property they say how much did you put in here i think you put in nothing so as you can disappear and [Music] and i think some lawyers have also not been very helpful because who is giving me more money so will adjust the the judgment whoever is giving more money so those are matters of injustice yeah wow yeah that is that breaks my heart um and it's a difficult situation i'm talking about a nation where 50 percent of uh of our population is children yeah who are under the age of 15 yeah and you're hearing those numbers you're hearing that kind of situation within the place where we expect people to be safe and the home is traditionally that place of safety but what we're understanding now is that it's no longer that safe here and uh i think we need we need to address that first of all the people need to understand and you've painted the real picture um i'd like to ask how do we or what what are the real causes because kovid must have only amplified something that was already happening um let's start with you byron again just share with us what are some of the causes the triggers of this this thing that is really destroying our families and our homes thank you pastor bye and i think the family is at the core of this and i think kavi is helping us to ask the question is the family really a safe place so what kovid has been able to unearth one of the things is that you have power been living together but have been strangers they live at the home they live in the home at six a.m children are taken to school man goes elsewhere woman goes to work and then they come back still as strangers and there goes now they have to relate for 24 hours it is a strange relationship they don't know how to relate with one another should have been relating with the television and with peers now they are before parents you know who are serious who are disciplinarian are all this so you find that those family dynamics have exposed the fact that we've not been having true relationships between partners but also between parents and children most parents are delegated responsibly to schools and peers and television and other other media sources and so now we're realizing that we need to think cs about our relationships is the family standing right our relationships right then of course there's a lot of dysfunctional family when you look at cases of defilement you either find close relatives on the other hand you'll find complete strangers who is the abused person a maid a girl who is on another village so many kilometers from her home because she was an open probably her guardians would not take care of her she comes from as far as busagh and how she's finding herself in chittenden italy so things like that you find such a girl you know vulnerable to abuse from all these gangsters around so i think the family is cool that once the family is not stable then relationships are not stable and that gives room to abuse how responsible are parents in protection of their children during the day now that we are having children at home all through the day how are we protecting them so those have been the guts that have raised the room but also i think coffee has helped us to really realize how we are as human beings the question of power for men so maybe this time out at work had really denied women a chance to know who their men really are now that they are present and the masculinity comes out demanding for things or maybe the demands coming from the woman expectations which the man cannot meet and out of that conversation arises violence that starts through verbal then it becomes emotional then physical and sometimes leading to death so i think it all starts from the family the dysfunction of the family and then the abuse of power by by the leaders of the leaders of the family and and that is particularly sad because pastor joshua as as men as fathers as leaders of the home we are called to create that safety now what we're hearing is the leaders of the home are the people who are bringing about the chaos and that that is quite sad um and and in dealing with this what are some of those other triggers that you found i'll say the dysfunction of the home and the abuse of power that are triggering some of this abuse that's happening yeah um maybe there are three things i would focus on their weight but one is the we have promoted wrong belief systems and from the belief system the culture has come wild so when you say the man is the man that in itself is a statement that gives man extra power that he can abuse to do things that are not right or sometimes when the man doesn't feel that power he is um kind of misled to think that the way to re reinstate his authority is by being violent which becomes a problem and of course some teachings definitely say women are simply to be seen not to be had again children again as simple decorations in a home there's no conversation because they believe that children are children there's simply to be abused whichever so they're wrong belief systems when because when you believe wrong you will definitely act wrong um we've said it again and again that the god that we worship ultimately then influences the character of the community and so when we have wrong beliefs and we say it even in driving on the road you you notice you want a bigger car so that you can bully each other the women's cars you know the cars they call those women's cars so they there's that domination aspect yes it becomes my beliefs if i have a gun i have this it becomes a whole problem if i have money i'm the king and so sometimes when money shifts from the man to the woman hey there's going to be a problem so they say the the wrong beliefs the second i believe is the the broken nature of man you know you are taller than me and maybe i've been told a real man is your height so i live the rest of my life suffering with with my height i'm not confident in who i am and you know hot people hurt others so the man has been disappointed um maybe even the wife and family asked for a matchbox and the guy is totally broke cannot afford to pay for a matchbox or 50 chilling so he feels offended and he's feeling short and capable i mean he just bursts out into wrong actions because his heart and again is one of the things that has been found if we were abused when we are still young stories covered up nothing was said most likely we will abuse others you find most people who are beating up their wives they saw their mothers being beaten they themselves were beaten so there's that cycle so if i'm broken i will reproduce something that is broken because i reproduce myself then the the the third thing that i'll say is um poor education and i think that's why we are getting here if i don't know how to resolve a conflict i will simply do whatever i think is is right so for some people say if you're wrong i will slap another one fight um others bribe others escape so these days it's even funny um culture men never used run away from homes but now men i think are escaping more than than than women and they go to be small boys in other women's homes so there's also violence of women versus women and so they have a broken nature lack of education on how we can deal with issues and yeah the wrong belief system wow i mean and this is not to bash the guys okay this is not to bash the guys but the numbers from from our conversation before we came on hours i think one in every 10 i think is violence of a woman you know beating up a guy and generally men do not open up about those issues and like like you told me byron i think when you're coming to that point of where maybe they've decided to end the marriage then uh these issues begin to come up oh i was also beaten and i was also yes but what we're picking up is that predominantly it is the man abusing sure because the culture internationally everywhere i mean we've just said this taliban thing saying don't mention the women they should be fully constructed or hidden they have no sense in in there but i also know even christians have taught that women should not speak in public and so we've used some of that we don't see many women leaders in church also which is a problem because at the bottom we are saying yes god created man first saturn tempted the woman so we have a theology that puts a woman on the other side and a week women will do nothing yeah just produce our children and raise us up and um give us good sex and yeah life is good that that that that can be a problem because um of course culture drives values and if you have the the wrong kind of culture and the value system is already flown yeah and and it is sad um that that we are hearing these stories even in the church they are not just in community but they are also in the church where couples are coming to blows you know they're really fighting and there's damage that is being done and uh could you help us understand real quickly and we probably have about three minutes for this but fear fear because people are afraid you know we're telling people today we want you to be champions of justice yeah to speak up um byron why are people afraid i think thank you passable and i think uh pastor youth has already alluded to that because of the societal norms men are viewed to be stronger than women women are weak and so it does not appear so wrong for a girl to be abused if a woman loses her husband and the paternal relatives come and take over the property it should not be so much of an issue in fact when they report to police the police officer will have find her time report you know recording that statement they will say this is a mere family issue can you go and say to it so if it's about a woman it is not so because of that women are in a weaker position and so it is difficult to face that stigma how do you report your grandfather how do you report your father how do you report your uncle your guardian who is paying your school fees but also if i'm a human resource manager at my workplace i'm a boss to so many others how do i come up in public to say at home i'm being battered so these things are happening and because of status because of our brain sometimes even because of the church culture we we emphasize the unity in marriage and the permanency of marriage and so on and the outlook about marriage so how do i come out as a my woman to say i am being battered by my husband so that fear because of what society how society we react but even how even those who are supposed to respond will react increases the fear how will police receive me so those are some of the issues that create the fear the stigma that comes in the place of the victim the system seems to promote more the perpetrators than the victims when a woman goes to report a case they will say what did you do that is the first question of that what did you do that caused your husband to assault you which which seems to say it is okay for a man to do it it is you that provoked so that is the kind of state we are in so there is a stigma that that comes with it and so people are afraid to open up and and will come back and talk about the permanence of marriage in all of this because the bible is clear you know god hates divorce so what what are some practical things that can be done and we'll do that in the session that's coming but pastor joshua real quickly just to wrap this up we're talking about the fear that causes people not to open up about what's really happening what's going on in the mind of the victim what's really going on in the mind of the victim um i remember working at this place as i was beginning to to work and there was this lady married to a violent man and in the conversation yeah she indicated she was aware of that but she kept saying i'm here because um there was trouble where she came from i think there was war and she was the eldest girl left with her siblings and they had no resource says i'm hanging in here because this man is providing all the resources i need covering my siblings also so she's afraid if i step out of here that is the end of any provision uh in allies so you know i'm reminded of the witness protection they they feel they i can't run anywhere if i record my father i'm i'm finished so they they're afraid because of real things and i think that's why again our response needs to be we must get ready to to dig in our pockets and provide safe havens i think that's what's called a place where sun is okay will help you and i think that's what we're doing uh with with world or rescuing people make sure we put you in a home and um make sure you take care of your education your medication and support you in housing because those are real needs when i'm thrown out i need to eat prayers like we read in gems will not put food on my table but if son is going to put food on my table maybe our bill is afraid yeah and so people are also afraid because of what they stand to lose yeah so that the fear of society and the fear of of what i'm going to lose are some real things that are stopping people from speaking up but what we're recognizing friends is that this is a real issue and that's something we must not only talk about but something we must address the family is falling apart there's stigma left right and center so people are failing to step up and probably you are witnessing this in your community but we're going to watch a video right now a transformational story of a lady whose life has been changed because right here at watoto we're passionate about stepping right into the midst of that situation and bringing about real transformation for the glory of god i want us to watch this video and once we return we're going to be talking solutions what do we do [Music] my name is jennifer moy i was abducted in 1996 when i was 14 years old i came back in 2002 when i went back my mom rejected me [Music] he told me jennifer forget me you are not my daughter [Music] i was alone [Music] that's why i forgive my mom [Music] [Applause] [Music] i grow and sell tomatoes [Music] i engage my community i was empowered to be a leader my dream i want to pay my children into school i'm living my dream because my son is going to university now i'm helping to empower other women like me [Music] [Music] and prove that what total neighborhood is making a difference [Music] what a beautiful story see what god can do when we speak up when we stand up for justice and here at waterloo church we get a front row seat seeing god transform lives and literally dignity is being restored to lots of vulnerable women and children and we are glad to be part of that story and in this next segment we want to talk solutions we've understood how bad the situation is on the ground women and children are literally being exposed to abuse in their homes one talks solutions what do we do and so i'm still with pastor joshua pastor family ministry at watoto and mr manje byron who is a lawyer at ijm let's start with you byron and talk to us a bit about how people can work together with you to be part of the solution and really be champions of justice in their community thank you pastor brian and let me quickly first tell you what we do as igm so of course we are a team of lawyers social workers community activists that work to protect people in poverty from violence and we have four approaches that we employ one is strengthening justice systems so when we know about these cases we work with the actors that are managed by law we work with the police we work with the judiciary work with the prostitutions to ensure that cases are responded to together with social workers like this probation social welfare transfer that they work together in a multidisciplinary way to respond effectively and quickly because cases of violence need quick response if you want a girl who has been abused today to appear in court five years later in court to tell the story coherently not achieve that so the second thing is to rescue and restore survivors to safety so rescuing involves like what pastors shared taking them to shelters connecting them to shelters where they are safe but also having counsellors to take them through psychosocial uh transformation whether they're in a good shape they're bold they can avoid the shame and stand up in court and testify they can record the statement sometimes not easy to record the statement immediately after the abuse the third is bringing criminals to justice so we believe that it is not sufficient to restore the victim it is important to create deterrence by working with police and arms of government to ensure that there is deterrence by those who have committed these crimes to be brought to book and then finally finally we we scale up the demand for uh for for change so what we do is that we work with our survivors and we also rally around champion justice champions to continue demanding for this change and advocating for this change and i want to say that there is hope the theme of this talk is speak up we want to say that the days of keeping quiet are gone if you are abused you need to speak up and start with the nearest person in whom you can confide it could be your guardian it could be your neighbor it could be your pastor it could be your lc chairman or if it's a woman the person in charge of main affairs the person that will lead you to the justice system that will help you the person that will lead you to police to begin investigations so please speak up and report starting at that level and when police picks up then other persons will come in it is also important to know who the probation and social welfare officer is for those who live in kampala every division has a probation and social welfare officer so those help with matters of children so when you know the probation officer and then you know the police that is a good starting point to report of course there are also issues we must learn about if a girl has been defiled it is important to run quickly to a medical facility to get pep we have a sad story of a girl who was a who was born in rusoga was a maid somewhere in kasokoso she was abused taken to a health facility given pep and told to go back home in musa she didn't have enough money so she goes back to busaga and not have enough money from the bus park to her home so she talks to a mother about a guy who takes her home but finds no one at home and the buddha guy goes with all her things including the pip so she was not only defiled she also ended up as hiv positive so it was important to learn to run for pep and most of the health centers around kampala have people so sick about that we have uh we are working in partnership with a number of agencies and one of them is saudi saudi used to be only a child helpline but now they respond to both cases of women and children who suffer violence the toll-free number is one one six saut is a soil word that means shout i think it means shout so speak out if you are not sure of your lcs they might be compromised or the police reach out to that number toll free 116 and report about a girl or a boy who has been abused or a woman who has been abused we have worked with the cid at chiboli there is a department that deals with women children and sexual offenses and we've been able to establish a temporary shelter but also an interview room where a victim can testify without any fear in a private space and is able to tell their testimony once one of the challenges we meet is that because of the trauma that is occasionally on the victims they tell the story to the to the first person and then to the police officer and then to the prosecutor and then to quote it is sorry traumatizing and sometimes you find inconsistencies in the story and you think the person is a liar yet they are simply traumatized to have this place where you go and tell your story once it is recorded and saved on a file which can be given to the prosecutor to build on that story to ask further questions so that is those are some of the ways you can reporting to police uh using that toll-free line going to chivoli and making advantage of anyone who can help you to reach the agents of justice and when you find a blockage at the first step there are always other hierarchies for example you got a police post and you find the police officer is compromised he's saying this is your husband can we talk about it and for and and you forgive him you might want to go ahead to a police station or to the region there are hierarchies don't give up because of going to the first stage right there are some of the ways that you can respond the point is that you need to speak up about it right not keep quiet there is help absolutely thank you byron and and just before we close we'll make sure to get um your contacts and you'll be able to share them we'll put those on the screen so that you're able to get in touch with the folks at igm they're doing an incredible work by the way and there will be people that will be very very very helpful to you in that process pastor joshua yeah the situation is bad families are falling apart because of these strained relationships where there is abuse um and and and emotional abuse abuse and as the church we are positionally you know advantaged to be able to help people and i'm sure you have a barrage of people coming to you so yeah will you talk to us about the place of the church in being a solution and how we can give people a platform to open up to speak up so that we find solutions wow um again i'll go back to the three things that i talked about countering that if the culture in the world is wrong we need to replace it with the kingdom culture and i think the church is placed to preach the gospel teach the word of god because the bible is clear we are all equal created in the image of god so that transformed the way i look at the person the way i'm going to treat them and like we said justice is key in god's heart so one of the best ways to show myself to be a christian is to pursue justice and hold people accountable hold myself accountable so we must be preaching the truth sharing the truth and helping people know what is right and so it's key that churches believers share the truth everywhere they live out the truth and we are not simply copying some culture from anywhere but the bible ultimately decides what we're going to believe and practice and so which defines how we raise our children what we teach them how we conduct our relationships manhood yes so it's important what defines a man all those are key things so kingdom culture fast to replace everything i know cultures are good they have unique facilities or issues about them have some truth but we don't want to hold on to any lie we want to expose it and deal with it deal with it like i mean i told my children when we were growing up we are told that rats give you money for plucking your teeth i said mine we are not here to raise rats even though it will be the year of the rat in china no you don't raise rats so because you've saved me money to of paint the dentist i'll give you money thank you and also it helps you with your with your face if you pluck your teeth at the right time so teach the truth all right so that's important then healing the broken-hearted because remember the broken break others hearts and people heart others so that's why we have the counseling and working with people to find healing and you're probably stretching with and not having money how do you trust god to be your source how do you deal with the anger issues in your heart so we provide counseling and we help people see you know christ is a solution find your healing instead of seeking revenge walking in forgiveness um and how do you look at the troubles and the trials you've gone through and make sure things are um you see it from christ's way and and find healing find a place where you are helped don't sin again that's why i say speak out if you're hurting you're in pain and don't try to be a ninja cowboy never dies i remember that's what you say when you're growing up no um be real real men cry yes cry out and because if you don't cry out they will assume you are dead or there is no problem so speak out if there are issues pray you don't know what to do ask questions nicodemus came to jesus in the night and said hey i want life but i know how do i have eternal life so learn that so find healing find healing because some of the abuse is emotional um psychological it may not be physical punches but things that have been spoken to you about your name and all these different things let's find truthful um gospel spirit-filled counselors to help us in that then the issue of education the right education how do we deal with conflicts how do we deal with that but then also what are some of the should we call mitigating things you can do because you moved into this man's house you're not married but you're being a called a wife you are not you are simply a visitor um in that place yes you're a mother to the children but there's no security guys you say you love your wife but you have no written will so write write your will be transparent you've bought secret things because all the things will turn out to be an issue so we must learn to do things right legalize your relationship make sure there's protection you have a family doctor also have a family lawyer um clarify matters i think those are some of the things that we keep teaching and again um we do have believers lawyers like him and the kingdom culture says you serve jesus using your profession so pro bono services um when there are issues like i said we had this lady okay she was going through a divorce but the judgment was biased towards the man we said no we have legal friends that can't see the loopholes because i'm blessed i'm married to a lawyer and he said no there are loopholes here talk to this registered lawyer and deal with this and um she sent a speaker and said you know what there was fairness the judgment was um reviewed and overturned and now i'm able to put up my own house all right and i'm ready to move in yes i may not go back to the gentleman but me and my children are now in a better place so let's look after that i remember when i was still giving oversight here in tinder i'll tell guys please you as a christian you must feel guilty if the police is drawing out kids that have been malnourished and they're in your community it's you don't say you brought your tithe and offering no your eyes must be open and that's what the bible did be open and that neighbor's kid that is malnourished there's an issue that neighbors a wife that is being do something make friends connect with them and so as we have the neighborhood cells we have the marriage cells i remember i told you this one of the church members the gentleman was beating his wife and i like what the cell members went to him looked him straight in the eye said she may not have the capacity to return but if you cause her pain will cause you pain and take you to police [Laughter] he had to learn that she's secure so again don't believe jesus don't live in secret live in community live in community and be transparent because again some people are asking are you a wife there are your house help what are you so how do we help so clarify your mother and so churches often church is everywhere and it's not just the pastor on the pulpit it's the body of believers at work there in the community absolutely and community is absolutely key don't do life alone you need people around you you need people to talk to pray with because sometimes um like like pastor joshua said it's not physical it's emotional it's just the things that are said it's it's the way you are treated you know and and some of those things to navigate them you know you need you need people to talk to and the bible of course tells us that in the multitude of cancer there is safety there okay and so it's important not just for the decisions you're making but just how you navigate life every day if you're caught up in such a situation and i would like to also you know pastor joshua just to ask you you know because the family is being attacked you know the family is being attacked it used to be a safe place it's no longer a safe place what do we do as heads of family as parents to ensure that the family is a safe place what do we do just real quickly if we can touch on that what do we do to make sure our homes are a safe place where we safeguard you know you know prevention is always better than cure yeah stop these things from happening what do we do in those scenarios um i know some of us are happy when you have perimeter walls and uh cameras and everything yeah you can keep away some stuff but from within it's important that there's i was going to say home constitution but a set of rules that even you as a father or mother are the first person to obey nobody is above the law at home we've agreed on the laws that govern at home we have our own curfew when our phones go off and everything and also when it comes to transparency my phone can be opened by my wife and by my children they know my password and everything in that way i'm safe if i ever put the wrong video there i can't say hey who put there no i am sure because i don't want them to watch pornography i also don't watch pornography i won't say because i'm this number of years old therefore no whatever is wrong is wrong we have the family rules they are set and then the the place to talk we all talk freely and i apologize when i'm wrong my children apologize when they're wrong and if there's an issue that's arising we deal with it um together as a family so i think it's important their home rules are there they are governed and also um we have values that i said i mean that has to do i think with the with the so the rules as well so look out because again uh sometimes the behavior of the children begin to indicate where it is there's a problem yeah like if kids have begun to do a lot of weed not a lot and they start taking weed there are some moods that they they start showing and that's why we need to to be present or if something has been done to them you need to give them assurance that when they speak they'll be protected they want to be executed because pray they brought shame to you because again sometimes the young girls maybe they've been impregnated by your your your brother and so how they say and they have been threatened but they need to know that you will protect them and you will deal with their problem and they will be safe absolutely and i think that's critical friends it's critical for us to recognize that we must create this place where justice is is is is celebrated and where people know justice is accessible so if the children are going to come to you it's because you've created an environment in your home where you know they have audience and and they know you'll hear them and they're not afraid to talk to you and i want to challenge every community leader you're watching this listen we're to be champions of justice so our people can speak up and access justice we must never get in the way of justice but actually make justice available this is so critical because it brings about the healing of communities brings about the healing of families and brings about the healing of individuals and so speak up stand up for justice that is our responsibility that god expects of us we're going to be closing in a few and we want to hear your parting shots i'm going to start with you byron um as you as we close this conversation on justice telling people to speak up what would be your parting shots thank you pastor brian so i want first to speak to women so 51 percent of women in uganda 51 percent through their lifetime suffer physical and or sexual violence from their partner so you don't want to be a part of that statistic you want to start to speak up confide in someone who leads the justice system so you can receive help but to the general board of believers micah 6 8 tells us that he has told you o man what is good and what does the road require of you to seek justice to love mercy and to walk humbly walk humbly with your god so this justice month and this freedom sunday please seek out those who i need seek out those who are abused and speak on their behalf we want to bring an end to violence against women and children fantastic fantastic pastor joshua wow um there is a scripture in matthew 23 jesus speaking the faces what are you teachers of the law and pharisees you hypocrites you give a tenth of your spices mint deal and cumin but you have neglected the more important matters of the law justice mercy and faithfulness you should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former so as we live in the day and the time give your tenth your breakthrough your seed and every other thing it's important that you do all those different things but jesus says do not neglect the more important matters of the law justice mercy and faithfulness this should be the hallmark of our lives that i am just i'm merciful and faithful and just in that i see christ having paid the price for me and i need to pay the price for the others to participate in this freedom bringing freedom to the rest of the people but also being muscular because people will offend us people will grab our land people will do evil things but i'll not seek revenge but through justice how can i extend mercy to to these people i don't use my power to overrun other people so i use my power to serve other people and says faithfulness faithfulness to god faithfully to his word faithfulness to his teaching i think when we commit to that there's going to be justice in the land absolutely absolutely at watoto our vision is to to see healing come and if healing is going to happen there must be justice and the picture for justice is what we see on the cross at calvary man had sinned and we're all sinners inherently but god but god in his love placed all his wrath on his son jesus who died in our place because god is a just god sin had to be punished and jesus took that punishment and what we've received in turn is grace that all we have to do is put our faith in jesus and we shall be saved see god is a just god and when we reject his son jesus ultimately we will face the consequences of our actions which is hell because god is just and justice starts with a heart transformation when you accept jesus as your lord and savior he changes your heart you begin to live a life of love loving god and loving your neighbor and that's where justice starts it's about loving god it's about loving your neighbor and wanting to treat them the way god treats them it starts with a transformed heart and my question to you watching past sex money today is are you born again are you born again because jesus faced the wrath of god on your behalf he wants to transform your life so that you too can be a champion of justice on the earth so why don't you pray this prayer real quickly after me surrender your heart to jesus and maybe you're recommitting your life do it do it right now let's pray together dear jesus thank you for loving me i recognize that i am a sinner and i have offended you i need a savior jesus you are the only savior thank you jesus for taking the punishment of my sin in my place i now receive you now believe in you as my lord and savior make me a child of god i pray in jesus name amen and amen you prayed that prayer your sins have been forgiven you've received grace it's like you've done nothing against god you're now fully forgiven now go and live a life of love love god and love people write to us connect with church.com and let us know that you've made that decision but also do write to us connect with us.com once again and if there's anything an issue that you're facing and you need to speak up you need to talk to somebody we're going to make sure that we're in touch with you the number that's appearing on your screen is one you can call so that our family and counseling ministry at watoda church pastor joshua anti christian his wife and the team will be able to come alongside you and help you but also the information from the international justice mission is coming up on your screen right now please speak up get in touch there is hope because there is help listen go out be a champion of justice by speaking up from parsec's money it is good night and god bless you [Music]

Channel: Watoto Church

Views: 706

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Id: esp-K9wVR2c

Length: 52min 24sec (3144 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 17 2021