COVID-19 Update from IJM CEO, Gary Haugen
Friends, I know you’re getting a lot of information about the COVID-19 pandemic today. I, too, am monitoring the latest news and feeling the unfamiliar pangs of helplessness. These are uncharted waters, to be sure. I am grateful for you and am praying that you and your community are healthy.
While none of us can answer all the questions that linger about what’s happening right now, I want to update you on the work that we’re so deeply, mutually, invested in – the work of International Justice Mission.
First, the staff of IJM around the globe are continuing its operations where our teams are able to do so, continuing to fight on behalf of those who need it most. People in poverty are the most vulnerable in situations like this, so we continue to work for them.
Second, IJM has a COVID-19 task force that has been monitoring the situation in coordination with local leadership and government officials on the ground in all the communities that we serve around the world. We are following the guidance issued by the World Health Organization and local health experts, doing everything we can to support the well-being of the clients and staff.
Finally, the entire family of IJM staff and supporters are committed to fervently and hopefully praying for a swift end to this pandemic. In our work at IJM, we’ve seen time and time again that even in the midst of dire circumstances, there is still the clear presence of God who is guiding, comforting, and surprising us with hope. This is true today, and I invite you to join us in prayerful expectation.
As we sit together in this uncertain season, not knowing what the days and weeks will be like, I hope we feel a special empathy for the most vulnerable in the world for whom unspeakable helplessness is a familiar feeling. Yet we know that they are not hopeless, because you and the entire IJM community will not quit. We will continue to do everything in our power to bring light into the darkest places, proving that justice is unstoppable.
Warmly,
Gary Haugen
P.S. For real-time updates, follow IJM Canada social channels.