Around the world tens of millions of the most vulnerable people are left without protection from the injustice that marks their everyday. Whole communities of the world’s poor are left to fend for themselves as a plague of violence robs them of their freedom, dignity, and agency. One of the starkest examples of this is the reality of modern-day slavery. Today 40 million people fashioned in the image of God languish in the evil of slavery.

But this is not who they are- they are not statistics and their stories are not of victimhood alone. They are Cassie: who after years being sold online has risen to use her voice as one of her nation’s leading advocates for children trafficked online. They are Kumar: whose years in backbreaking slave labor in a brick kiln did not kill his desire to learn and who is getting his masters in social work. They are Jyoti: who is breaking the cycle of violence that she suffered in a Mumbai brothel by leading IJM’s teams back into the brothel district and aiding in the rescue of 40 other young girls.

Cassie, Kumar, Jyoti point us towards the truth that violence and injustice don’t get the last word. Hope and dignity and justice are possible- not only for individuals but for systems and nations. The work to get there belongs to all of us.