After the birth of her first son Kirby, now 7, Sara entered into what she herself called a faith crisis for a good year and a half, trying to come to grips with the evil of the world her new son was facing. It’s not an uncommon process for a new mom, but it brought forth uncommon fruit: the much acclaimed Add to the Beauty album, calling listeners to add to the goodness of God on the earth. But that was just the first part of her process, and the Lord used Haugen and his work to take Sara to the next level of consciousness. “I feel like I’ve been grooming and grooming my personal faith in Christ,” she confesses. “In the same way that I’m a consumer of other goods, I’ve become a spiritual consumer. There’s been something lacking in me, and I’m very grateful to people like Gary and Sarah Cohn (Vice-President and a founding attorney) who have been patient in teaching me. Their attitude is one of excitement that people are joining in, not condemnation. Their heart to help us find the usefulness of our lives has inspired me as much as their work. I wanted to have the same attitude with my listeners, to say, ‘Look, friends, at what God is doing. As we cast our lot with Christ, who casts His lot with the poor, we get to enter into the workmanship of God.”” 

Sara calls it ‘crawling out from under my rock,’ but she shares how her friends and mentors in IJM had to have the same experience as well. “I’ve heard Gary say, ‘the poor will save us from our lives of trivia.’ He’s an American Christian, from a middle class home, so he had to wake up, too. He said there were people in his own life who led him through his process with encouragement, saying ‘look what we can do when we become the hands and feet of Christ.’ I was striving for that spirit in this album, because there’s nothing greater than figuring out the good news of your own life.”

“When we enter into other people’s suffering, we get perspective on our own suffering, which is sorely needed. We feel the redemption of our suffering. I’m meeting many people who are feeling this restlessness in their hearts, who are tired of consuming and consuming. Maybe I’m just putting expression to what we’re all feeling,” she adds.

It’s a question of perspective. After reading some of the case studies available on the IJM website and taking in the statistical horrors, I realized the incredible uphill nature of this marathon battle IJM has so willingly entered into. Sara addresses the nature of the battle in one of the new album’s most powerful songs, “The Long Defeat,” whose lyrics propose a new understanding of triumph:

      “I have joined the long defeat/ that falling set in motion/ and all my strength and energy/are raindrops in the ocean/ so conditioned for the win/ to share in victor's stories/ but in the place of ambition's din/I have heard of other glories….I can't just fight when I think I'll win/ that's the end of all belief/ and nothing has provoked it more/ than a possible defeat.”

“American Christians, along with our culture, tend to value ambition above all things,” says Sara. “But success doesn’t always look like we think it will. The disciples argued about who would be the greatest, and Jesus wrapped a towel around His waist to show them. These stories become so clichéd to us, just part of our grooming, but what that may look like is that you may pour your money into what looks like an unlikely place, for spend your time on someone who will just go back to drugs anyway. But even though it may be a real possibility, we’re called to go and do the hard things anyhow.”

Sara mentioned Dr. Paul Farmer in our discussion of ‘success,’ who works in Haiti, the world’s poorest nation to fight against tuberculosis. His methods, very personal and one-on-one, have been criticized for inefficiency, as he has been known to spend a day walking into the jungle to reach one man not taking his medications. But Dr. Farmer has, in fact, almost eradicated the disease in that area. When questioned about his methods he said, “I have joined the long defeat. I would love to win, but not at the cost of turning my back on any. It’s not worth it,” he added.

Another name mentioned by Sara is that of Elizabeth, a young woman she met through IJM, one who had been rescued by them, in fact. The oldest of seven children living in Southeast Asia, the teenager had just finished her sophomore year of high school and decided to take a job in a neighboring community to save money for Bible college. But tragically betrayed by a traveling companion, she was instead kidnapped and sold to a brothel owner in a foreign country where, unable to speak the language, she was forced into prostitution.

After eight months, an International Justice Mission operative was able to secure her freedom. While retrieving her belongings, they saw Psalm 27 written on the wall above her mattress in her tiny room: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?’ It is Elizabeth, and this faith force that could not be extinguished in these worst of all conditions, that inspired one of the new album’s most astounding tracks, “In the Girl There’s A Room.”

       “In the girl there's a room/in the room there's a table/on the table there's a candle/ and it won't burn out/in the woman there’s a song/in the song there is hope/in the hope revolution….Oh, tell me what you know/about God and the world and the human soul/how so much can go wrong/and still there are songs.”

“I felt like I was in the presence of royalty when I met Elizabeth,” says Sara. Fortunately for this young woman, now a bright college graduate, there were committed believers, willing to be the hands and feet of Christ, who saw the rescue of one young woman as a success worth fighting for. Sara Groves, Gary Haugen, Sarah Cohn, and many others investing in God’s work at the International Justice Mission share the Lord’s heart for the value of each life. If you sense a similar call on your own heart, please visit the IJM website and find out how easily you can play a role in the rescue of the poor and oppressed. Remember, at all times and in every circumstance, Love is still a worthy cause.