Violence Against the Poor, with Gary Haugen

How can we  address the problem of violence against the poor? International Justice Mission exists to answer this question by protecting and rescuing victims, bringing criminals to justice, restoring survivors to safety and strength, and helping local law enforcement build a safe future that lasts.

In this episode, International Justice Mission’s founder and CEO, Gary Haugen, joins Mark Labberton to reflect on almost three decades of IJM’s fight against violence and slavery worldwide—and the spiritual formation that sustains it. Haugen shares the origins of IJM in response to systemic violence against the poor, the evolution from individual rescues to transforming justice systems, and the remarkable rise of survivor leaders transforming their own nations. Together they reflect on courage, joy, and faith amid immense risk—bearing witness to God’s power to bring justice and healing through ordinary people.

Episode Highlights

1. “Protecting the poor from violence is God’s weight, but it’s our work, and we're gonna seek to do it Jesus's way.”
2. ”In this era, I just think what the world is aching to see is the followers of Jesus who have a incandescent freedom from fear and a life-giving joy.”
3. “Most of this violence will go away if government does just even a decent job of enforcing the law.”
4. “Our first commitment is to help each other become more like Jesus—and from that strength, to do justice.”
5. “The greatest miracle of IJM is not only the results—it’s the freedom from fear and the joy with which they’ve done it.”
6. “God saw them in their darkness, and they now testify to the goodness of an almighty God who loved them.”

Helpful Links and Resources

International Justice Mission – https://www.ijm.org

Gary Haugen, The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence –

https://www.amazon.com/Locust-Effect-Poverty-Requires-Violence/dp/0199937877

Gary Haugen, Just Courage: God's Great Expedition for the Restless Christian – https://www.amazon.com/Just-Courage-Expedition-Restless-Christian-ebook/dp/B001PSEQR4

Riverside Church Sermon by Martin Luther King Jr., “Beyond Vietnam” — https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/beyond-vietnam

William Lloyd Garrison biography – https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Lloyd-Garrison

Rwanda Genocide Investigation (UN Historical Overview) – https://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda

About Gary Haugen

Gary Haugen is the founder and CEO of International Justice Mission (IJM), the world’s largest international anti-slavery organization. Before founding IJM in 1997, he served as the director of the United Nations’ investigation into the Rwandan genocide and previously worked at the US Department of Justice, focusing on police misconduct. A graduate of Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School, Haugen has dedicated his life to ending violence against the poor and mobilizing the global church for justice.

Show Notes

• The founding of IJM in 1997 as a Christian response to violence against the poor
• Gary Haugen’s formative experience directing the UN’s genocide investigation in Rwanda
• Realization that hunger and disease were being addressed—but violence was not
• Early cases in the Philippines, South Asia, and Peru exposing police-run brothels and child slavery
• IJM 1.0: rescuing individuals from slavery and abuse, case by case
• IJM 2.0: strengthening local justice systems to prevent violence before it happens
• Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Jericho Road” as a model for systemic transformation
• Formation of small multidisciplinary teams—lawyers, investigators, social workers
• IJM’s evolution from rescue operations to building sustainable justice infrastructure
• Twenty-year celebration: Liberate conference and the global IJM staff retreat
• IJM’s culture of spiritual formation: daily solitude, prayer, and community rhythms
• A Christian order of justice rooted in prayer, silence, and shared joy
• Spiritual formation as the foundation for sustainable justice work
• Experiments in Cambodia, the Philippines, and South Asia reducing violence by up to 85 percent
• Replication of IJM’s model across 46 regions to protect 500 million vulnerable people
• Goal by 2030: one million freed from slavery, 300 million living under protection
• Empowering survivor leaders: from victims to advocates and elected officials
• Stories of transformation like Pama in South Asia leading the Release Bonded Laborers Association
• The Kenyan case of Willie Kimani—murdered IJM lawyer whose legacy reformed police accountability
• IJM’s resilience: pursuing justice for six years until conviction of perpetrators
• Theological grounding: justice as God’s work, pursued in Jesus’s way
• Haugen on resilience: “It’s a marathon, not a sprint”
• Joy and freedom from fear as hallmarks of IJM’s culture
• How IJM balances global crisis fatigue with focused mission clarity
• Future challenges: technology-driven oppression—live-stream child abuse and forced scamming
• Global body of Christ as the essential network for courage and joy
• Sustainability and local leadership as the future of global justice movements
• Spiritual communities as the seedbed for future justice leaders

Production Credits

Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment magazine and Fuller Seminary.