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Last modified: Wednesday, July 8, 2009 3:33 PM CDT
Pastor seeks African genocide awareness
by Jennifer Johnson • Daily News
A Valley Christian Church youth pastor who recently lobbied against African genocide at the nation's capital wants to raise awareness of the issue here.
Stephen Bjorlin, 22, headed to Washington, D.C., on behalf of Invisible Children, a nonprofit dedicated to exposing the atrocities occurring in northern Uganda. The result of a 23-year long war between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government left nearly two million children displaced. One million still remain "lost" and the organization is pushing to save their lives.
About three weeks ago, Bjorlin joined at least 2,000 activists who urged congressmen to support a bill intending to end the atrocities committed by the LRA and aid its victims. If passed, the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act would force President Barack Obama to make efforts at capturing the army's leader, Joseph Kony, and gain funding to support the abducted children, said Bjorlin.
"A lot of people don't know, and that's the biggest problem," he said. "When people do know, they want to do something about it."
Bjorlin feels news media has not been covering the issue as thoroughly as it should.
"One or two people die in Iraq, but thousands of people die in northern Africa and you don't hear about it," he said. "I just want to raise awareness in the Breckenridge and Wahpeton area."
Bjorlin has been the summer youth pastor at Valley Christian Church after his father, Dean, accepted the job as pastor. For his own part, Bjorlin has been trying to educate kids by showing videos on AIDS or doing lessons on Africa and poverty at their gatherings. He initially got involved after seeing a documentary in college called Invisible Children: Final Cut.
"I just felt like I needed to do something, like a lot of other people," he said.
Later, he participated in a large-scale event called The Rescue, where 100,000 people latched onto a rope and marched throughout cities nationwide.
"We walked from downtown St. Paul to the capitol," he said. "A big group stayed the night to raise awareness about the kids who were abducted."
Bjorlin encourages everyone to get involved with their local government and other organizations that follow the same vein as Invisible Children.
"Sponsoring a child is also a huge thing that anyone that has an extra $30 can do," he said.
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