196. Pursuing Justice in a Violent Land (Part II) — Kurt Ver Beek & Emily Cole

In Part I, Ross Halperin and I laid a foundation for the work of ASJ in Honduras under the leadership of Kurt Ver Beek and others. In this episode, I am joined by Kurt himself to discuss his exchange of letters between Nicholas Wolterstorff in a wonderful book, Call for Justice: From Practice to Theory and Back, which looks at the meaning of justice and the work ASJ.

Kurt is joined by Emily Cole, who has focused on Latin America most of her career and remains a passionate advocate for the well-being and development of that region. I speak to them about a number of things, focusing on the structural details of working in the area, including the difference between social justice and community development, the importance of long-term missionary work, the significance of elections, working with the government, and more.

Kurt and his wife, Jo Ann Van Engen, are currently the directors of Calvin University’s Justice Studies Semester, which studies the concept of justice in relation to history, economics, politics, sociology, and development in Honduras. Both are founding members of the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ) in Honduras. ASJ seeks to do justice in Honduras and inspire others around the world to seek justice in their own contexts. For more.

Emily Cole is a lawyer and an advocate, writing about poetry, human rights, and community development, with a focus on Latin America. For more on her work on covenantal pluralism, go here. She also recently wrote for the Journal of Christian Legal Thought considering the role of the poetic imagination in Latin America. Read it here.

Both are Fulbright recipients, with a focus on work in Honduras and Ecuador, respectively.

Cross & Gavel is a production of CHRISTIAN LEGAL SOCIETY. The episode was produced by Josh Deng, with music from Vexento.