I have to tell you a little story about Jesus and his fingerprints on ISA.
On our last trip to Thailand, we stopped through Israel and met two incredible organizations. One of those organizations was KitePride. They do incredible work by providing job opportunities for survivors of sexploitation through repurposing kite surfing sails into fashion bags. As we were talking to Matthias, the cofounder, he constantly referred to ISA (I.S.A.) as Isa (sounding it out as a word instead of using it as an abbreviation of individual letters.) It wasn’t the first time someone pronounced the acronym differently, so I thought nothing of it.
But then again, he looked at the ISA brochure on his desk, seemed to be pondering something, and predominately tapped his finger on the acronym for International Saints and Abolitionists and said, “I love what you did with this! How long did it take to figure out this acronym for Isa?” We looked at him perplexed and asked what he was talking about. He repeated it, and we still didn’t know what he meant as he referred to ISA as “Isa.”
He looked at us intensely and again tapped his fingers on the letters that spelled ISA and said, “Don’t you know that Isa is the name for Jesus?” Our blank stares must have given it away, so Matthias went on to explain, “It really is Arabic for Jesus, and as a Christian organization that deals with trafficking, I think it’s really amazing that you added in the name for Jesus in your organization as it allows us in the Middle East to know that you have a Christian stance and are Jesus centered.”
When we told him that we had no idea that the Arabic word for Jesus - was Isa, and he was even more amazed! It was as if the Lord had stamped his name all over our nonprofit without us even knowing it. We are excited to work more in the Middle East in the future (Lord willing) and to assist with anti-trafficking efforts, but it seemed that the Lord was already giving us His approval.
We have felt called to do ISA, and with our 5-year birthday on June 15, 2023, we are excited to see how the Lord continues cultivating our vision and mission as we venture globally. It is an amazing opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a hurting and broken world, but we could never have imagined that the Lord would have literally stamped his name on our organization.
Whenever we use the term ‘ISA,” we are reminded that we are on a mission for Jesus to the world. It is true that only Jesus can give us true freedom, but as we strive for freedom for all, we are reminded that it’s more than social justice to us. It’s Jesus’ justice. So thank you for going along on this journey with us and supporting us through prayer and finances. We couldn’t do this without all of you!
We know Jesus has us right where he wants us, but it was a little reminder that Jesus is all over ISA.
Comentários