Emily Parker spoke with Ben Cooley, the founder of Hope For Justice, about his new book 'Impossible Is A Dare', his quest to put an end to the modern day slave trade, why he and the charity are successful, and what inspires him to do the impossible.



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Emily: How has your perception of God changed over the years?

Ben: It's an interesting question when you see such darkness in the world. I've been into situations where I've seen women, girls 14 years old, sold into the sex industry. One of the hardest things I've had to do is to cope with the jubilance of church and the excitement and the victorious nature of our songs and our anthems. We are winning, we are glorious, and we are the kingdom that will never be shaken, right? But how do I match my theology with the broken world, with children that are being sold into sex trafficking, or into domestic servitude, or forced labour and that kind of gross darkness? One of the things that I've personally learnt, and I hope this marries with people's theology, is that the God that I worship is in both. There is that scripture that says, 'Full of grace, full of truth,' and He's both. He's in the victory, but He's in the brokenness; He's both. It's just hard for me as a mere human, someone that struggles with the fact that I'm in two different worlds, of total brokenness and total jubilance, and sometimes that's a difficult track to walk.

Emily: You finish the book saying, 'Here's my dare to you: I dare you to end trafficking; I dare you to use your freedom to free others and I dare you to stand with us to see the abolition of the slave trade.' Why do you think that daring people is so challenging, and why do you think now is a better time than ever to stand, to get involved and see slavery end?

Ben: Because it's on our watch. It's our time and our turn. A lot of people are sat there thinking, "I don't know what cause to do; there's so much need in the world." They almost get paralysed by the need. My end was just pick one thing; if it's ending slavery, pick it, do it; jump in, delve in, give up your job or find a new way of working so that you can help end slavery. Whether you're in the corporate world, whether you're in the charitable world, just pick something, just do something. Edmund Burke says, 'All that's required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.' For me, I just want someone to do something and if it's about ending slavery - do it! We need you; we need your voice, and your skill. We need your efforts to increase the rescues and the restoration of victims of modern day slavery. I think for me, the dare aspect is going, "I dare you to do something" and so my plea is that this book isn't just about a word; it isn't just about oh, that was nice entertainment. I haven't written a book to entertain people; I've written a book hopefully to spearhead, to inspire people to get out and do something, and I hope that that does that in the most humble way possible.

Emily: Ben, that's brilliant. How can we find out more about Hope For Justice and buy a copy of the book?

Ben: You can go to hopeforjustice.org and find out what we do. We do lots of programmes that people can get involved in; volunteer opportunities and regular giving through our guardian programme. If you want to buy the book, I think you can buy it at hopeforjustice.org or you can head to impossibleisadare.comCR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.