20 Questions with John Paul Vicory
1. Name: John Paul Vicory
2. Age: 24
3.Hometown: Denver, Colorado
4. Where you are on the planet right now: Physically, Seattle, Washington, but there are pieces of my heart all over the world.
5: Favourite Book: After the Bible, it has to be The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
6. Favourite Movie: I don’t know, favorites come and go. I watched Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon recently and remembered how much I liked it… Nerdy, I know…
7. Favourite Band: again… favorites are fickle… for now? Um. Lydia
8. Favourite Food: Something New!
9. What you wanted to be when you grew up: I didn’t really want to be anything. But now I want to be someone who makes a difference, whatever that looks like.
10. Your ‘day job’: I work at Northwest University in their Marketing/Media department… Most days I spend in the wonderful world of Adobe CS4.
11. Your dream: My dream is to get together a group of artists, photographers, and journalists who travel the world in search of those who are alone, rejected, depressed, hungry, oppressed, and enslaved and show them that they are not alone; that there is an army of people waiting to help them.
12. What you do for fun: Take photos, play the occasional basketball game, enjoy time outside, and learn about God’s creation.
13. What opened your eyes to the reality of human trafficking: The first time? I was in Egypt and learned that young nomadic camel herders were abducted or sold to race across the Arabian desert; most of whom would die in the race and never be seen again. But that was just the beginning.
14: What you are doing to change it: Writing. Speaking. Giving people a glimpse into that world with the photos I have taken. I am also letting the Lord equip me for more work in the field.
15. Specific justice issue you’d like to address most: There are too many to just name one. HIV/AIDS, Orphans, Human Trafficking, Unjust War, and Prejudice… to name a few.
16. Country you consider to have the greatest need: Each nation has issues, some greater, some seemingly smaller. Israel/Palestine has to be pretty high up there.
17. Literature/ media you recommend to help people get acquainted with the issues: The Bible, Peace not Apartheid, Not For Sale, Revolution, A Voice for the Voiceless Prayer Book, Sex and Money: A Global Search for Human Worth, Just Courage, Research Papers, blogs, and websites.
18. Heroes you look to for inspiration: Christ, Gary Haugen, William Wilberforce, Jimmy Carter, David Batstone, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, and Brennan Manning.
19. Organizations, groups you know of effectively addressing the injustice of human trafficking: PhotogenX, International Justice Mission, Vera Institute for Justice, Not For Sale Campaign, YWAM, The Home Foundation.
20. How the modern-day slave trade will be abolished: I firmly believe that it is the mission of the Body of Christ, His Church, to be united on all issues of injustice. It is up to us to do whatever it takes to make the mission of Jesus Christ in Luke 4:18-19 our own. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that the captive will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” We need to wake up and realize that we have a responsibility when we make Christ our Lord. Our life isn’t ours anymore. I think once that realization hits and people start getting it, the world will never be the same.
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Visit John Paul’s photography website.
