The Isaiah Community

Justice in the World

We see now the same world Isaiah saw:  a world full of profound disorder, where those with wealth and power inflict poverty and pain on others.  We believe that this state of affairs is intolerable to God, and must be intolerable to us.  We want to imagine and bring into being a new way of living--a way of justice, generosity and peace, where oppression is destroyed and peoples reconciled. 

But Isaiah’s vision didn’t stop at cataloguing iniquities;  it moves on to express a huge, bold vision of a world transformed by God’s power.  We believe--fully and passionately--in that vision;  that the extraordinary claims made in Isaiah are not just possible, but the natural working out of a cosmic, infinite, uncontrollable love.   

So we view ourselves as grounded in hope, and believe that each of us is called to participate in the work of transforming the world in very practical ways.  We therefore support each other in discerning what those ways should be for each of us:  how we are called to live our day-to-day lives, and how we are called to engage with issues of social justice in our immediate communities and the wider world.

The Isaiah Community as a whole currently has four areas of focus, which have arisen out of the projects that some of us are currently involved in.  These areas of focus are Palestine, Zimbabwe, homelessness, and criminal justice.  At the moment our level of engagement as a community with these areas is that we support our members who are engaged in projects related to them;  we invite speakers to talk to us about them; we raise money for charities working in these areas; and we hold them in our prayers.  

Below members of the Community share their experiences of their involvement in these areas of focus:

Helping the Homeless - Sheila

Can you imagine what it is like to have no home to return to each evening?  Having a home is important to all of us.  However providing a roof over someone’s head is only one step out of homelessness.  More support is needed to help people put homelessness behind them once and for all.  Social exclusion wrecks self-esteem for the individual and denies society the untapped talent and potential that an individual may have to offer.

In the summer several members of the Isaiah community visited Crisis Skylight in East London which works to bridge the gap between existing services and the needs of homeless people enabling them to learn and develop the skills they need to regain their independence and move into employment.

Crisis believes that the Skylight model, already established in several areas in the UK, can pay a significant role in the long term solution to the issue of homelessness in the UK.

Learn more about the work of Crisis Skylight at the 6 pm Isaiah service on Tuesday 22 November or visit their website at www.crisis.org.uk.

Criminal Justice - Deidre

I currently volunteer with pact (Prison Advice and Care Trust) on their Basic Caring Communities project (BaCC), which supports ex offenders (Roberts) on release from prison for a period of initially six months but can be longer if he wishes. You leave prison with £46 and a couple of nights provided in a hostel – you may be luckier, but once out you are more or less on your own with perhaps a weekly appointment with your probation officer, no guaranteed accommodation, no employment and a world that has changed while you’ve been inside. The BaCC concept is simple - a group of people, four or five, together with the Robert (who has chosen to participate in the project) meet on a regular basis, usually once a week. Between meetings the group members are available by phone if needed on specific days and make contact with Robert on their day, meeting up if needed. The group members support each other as well as Robert. The support we provide for Robert is meeting him in prison before his release, meeting him at the prison gate on release, a listening ear, some social interaction, encouraging him to start to stand on his own feet, help with sources of advice and help with housing, employment, benefits and so on, and accompanying to interviews if he wishes. We support each other by praying for the group and each member and we share and update each other on our meetings and contacts with Robert. And we are supported by the project coordinator. I am newish to this – I trained in 2010 - and am still supporting my first Robert eight months after he was released from HMP Wandsworth. It is a humbling experience being part of someone’s life as they get things together again, sort their life out and face and deal with the problems of living outside prison. We have all grown in the process.

http://www.prisonadvice.org.uk/
http://www.prisonadvice.org.uk/bacc

Palestine - Frances

As a member of the Isaiah community I have recently returned from a trip to Israel and Palestine and heard the stories of Muslims, Jews and Christian living there. According to one statistic 60% of Palestinians live below the poverty line. Certainly I witnessed injustice while I was there and appreciate the ongoing prayers of the Isaiah community for peace,justice and reconciliation. The Palestinian people would love people to visit them. Going out there is one way we can show they are not forgotten.

Personally I feel a responsibility to share the stories I heard, to keep informed of the news and current situation, to write to my MP to ask that the state hood of Palestine is kept on the political agenda and then to support the many wonderful organisaitons working for reconciliation and justice e.g. ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitons), Rabbis for Human Rights, Musalaha, and the Olive Tree Campaign.

“Pray not for Arab or Jew, for Palestinian or Israeli, but pray rather for ourselves that we might not divide them in our prayers, rather keep them both together in our hearts.”