In a world marked by injustice, violence and overwhelming need, how can Christians bring lasting hope — without burning out? Gary Haugen, founder and CEO of International Justice Mission, shares powerful lessons from decades confronting global injustice — on staying spiritually grounded, finding joy amid darkness and cultivating resilience that endures.  

In this theologically rich conversation with NAE President Walter Kim, Gary reflects on how a biblical vision of justice — rooted in love and expressed through both personal compassion and systemic reform — has shaped his life and IJM’s mission. 

In their conversation, you’ll hear:

  • How a life-changing investigation after the Rwandan genocide led Gary to found International Justice Mission; 
  • The role of the Church to call rulers to protect the vulnerable; 
  • Practical ways believers can join God’s work of justice both locally and globally; and 
  • What gives Gary enduring hope for the future of the Church — and the work of justice.

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Today’s Conversation is brought to you by Every Woman’s Bible.

Read a Portion of the Transcript

Walter: [Could you] speak a little bit about — not just maybe the theoretical or the practical reasons of doing downstream and upstream work — but theologically, your vision of justice that forms the work of IJM?

Gary: Yeah, it really does, Walter, in beautiful ways. And that's why I love the Bible, because it really talks about both of these things. The downstream work is pretty straightforward. It's the command to love. That is, do unto others as you want, done unto you. So, if you were held in a brothel or in a slavery enterprise or someone you loved was, what would you want? You would want someone to get them out of that situation. You'd want them restored and you'd want the people who were committing that abuse to actually be brought to account. You'd want justice.

And so, the casework is driven by the Jesus command to love. You might imagine, Walter, like the most basic story is the Good Samaritan story. But imagine if you're going along the road to Jericho and the guy isn't laying there beaten, but the beating is going on right now. Like, what would you want done if you were the guy getting beat up on the side road? You'd want someone to help. So, the casework is driven by just that very straightforward command of love and justice, you know, where it says all over in the Scripture, but Isaiah 1:17 says: “Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan and plead for the widow” because that's what you would want someone to do for you.

But then upstream, if you think about it, what you can identify in the Scripture there's a clear mandate from God to the rulers that their job is to, first of all, protect the vulnerable from violence and abuse. If you go and look at every single one of the Old Testament prophets, they end up speaking a prophetic word to the rulers of their time, and they're always talking about two things. One is idolatry because the king has led the kingdom into idolatry, but secondly, they're not protecting the poor from violence. And it's super clear that that is the job and the mandate of the rulers. So, every church is in a community that has a ruler.

And the biblical mandate of that ruler, first of all, is to make sure that those who are weakest and most vulnerable are not abused by those who have more power. Ecclesiastes 4:1 says: “Behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed and they had no one to comfort them. But on the side of the oppressor was power.” And every time you turn to the prophets, you will see them.

Calling the rulers and the authorities to their biblical mandate of using their power to protect those who are weakest. So IJM is helping mobilize the Church in all these localities around the world to not only engage in the individual acts of love and justice, but to also have that prophetic role in helping strengthen the local authorities in actually carrying out their God-given mandate.

Gary Haugen

Gary Haugen is CEO and founder of International Justice Mission. Before founding IJM in 1997, Haugen was a human rights attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1994, he served as director of the United Nations’ investigation in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. Haugen has been recognized by the U.S. State Department as a Trafficking in Persons “Hero”, the highest honor given by the U.S. government for anti-slavery leadership. He is the author of several books including “Good News About Injustice” and “The Locus Effect.” He holds a B.A. in social studies from Harvard University, and a J.D. from the University of Chicago.

Walter Kim

Walter Kim became the president of the National Association of Evangelicals in January 2020. He previously served as a pastor at Boston’s historic Park Street Church and at churches in Vancouver, Canada and Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as a campus chaplain at Yale University. He preaches, writes and engages in collaborative leadership to connect the Bible to the intellectual and cultural issues of the day. He regularly teaches in conferences and classrooms; addresses faith concerns with elected officials and public institutions; and provides theological and cultural commentary to leading news outlets. He serves on the boards of Christianity Today and World Relief and consults with a wide range of organizations. Kim received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, his M.Div. from Regent College in Vancouver, and his B.A. from Northwestern University.