Since I started in youth ministry almost 7 years ago, I’ve been a part of the Invisible Children movement.  I started out wanting to direct my group into some sort of aid/missions/activism project in order to remove them from the insulation of life on Hilton Head Island.  My church did not have the resources to do foreign missions work, so I suggested to  our group a few projects we could support from home and they chose IC.  Since then I’ve seen both the climate in Uganda and in my students change.  I’ve had students begin  to see the bigger world and their place in it, and with that see what God has called them to.  Because of Invisible Children, we’ve seen the end of Night Commuting  in Northern Uganda, the slow closing of Displacement camps and the return of the Acholi people back to their homes, the rebuilding of schools in Northern Uganda thanks to the efforts of high school and college students, and the development of jobs in Northern Uganda through the Mend campaign.  I’ve also seen students come alive with a passion to heal this world and find a reignited interest in Christ because Christianity became tangible through this movement.  Personally, I’ve had the chance to share Jesus in the halls of Congress with fellow IC supporters, welcomed strangers into my home, made life-long friends, taught my children that they are not the only children that matter in this world, spent all night praying with my wife, students, and friend  for the movement, the LRA, and Joseph Kony, and have seen the best of my family while camping for four days in a field in Charleston during The Rescue.   In short, I love Invisible Children for what they have done and are doing on the ground in Uganda, DRC, and Central African Republic, but I also love them for what they have done for my family and my ministry.

Now I realize that the Kony2012 campaign has its detractors and IC has come under fire for some of its business practices.  When I first heard about this I was upset, but did my homework to find out what was being said and if the allegations are true.  No, IC does not spend every dollar donated on the ground in Uganda, and no, this is not new information.  IC has described themselves as a media company in the past and it has been plain to me that some of the money donated to Invisible Children goes to getting the word about the LRA out to the world through films, tours, and any way that they can think of.  Beyond that, it is important to note that the bulk of the work done by IC is not done by paid employees but by passionate interns and volunteers both in San Diego and all across the globe.  These people are the heart and soul of IC and do not receive a penny.  In fact, they raise their own money in order to do this work.   Sadly, the detractors miss the fact that IC has been working to heal Northern Uganda long before Kony2012, and have done amazing things that prior to their first file “Rough Cut” probably would not have been accomplished. 

So, how should we as pastors, youth ministers, parents, and Christians respond to the sudden wave of fame that Joseph Kony has garnered?  This is obviously a very complex issue that did not start and will not end with Joseph Kony.  Uganda has been in turmoil since its independence in 1962 and faces systematic issues within its government and economic structure.  But this does not change the fact that there are still children held captive as sex slaves and child soldiers by the LRA, and it really doesn’t matter if it’s 20,000 or 200.  If 2 American children were held captive by an African war-lord we would all be outraged, and so we should be just as outraged that 200 African children are held captive.  Moreover, we as Christians are called to care for the least of these, and captive, scared, brain-washed children definitely count as the least of these.  And so, as Christian leaders, I believe that we should encourage our students and children to engage with this issue.  If our young people begin to care about the lives of others, this only opens new doors for the Gospel to flow through them.  We should encourage them to pray and act, and act in ways that God would wants us to.  Invisible Children offers great ways to be part of the solution, from their Tri campaign, to getting politically active, to helping rebuild schools, to aiding in the newly established early warning protection program.  Yes, we are very grateful that the U.S. government has heard our cry and is getting involved, but this is not Invisible Children’s only focus, so we can also encourage our students to support the Schools4Schools campaign and other on the ground programs and also to continue to share the story. 

                In the end, I believe that part of our life ministry is to listen to those we serve and find ways to interject the Gospel into their lives and passions.  If our youth are calling out for the rescue of child soldiers and the arrest of Joseph Kony then we should support them and allow the Gospel to flow through those moments.  Who knows what this will spark in their future?  Maybe this single viral video could be the spark that reignites the church’s place in the world and brings people to the healing power of Jesus in ways we could never have imagined!