Aisha Oyarekhua is a civil litigation attorney who partners with nonprofits to provide free legal services for low-income families. She has been serving with the Christian Legal Aid of Los Angeles for 10 years and this year was voted the Volunteer Attorney of the Year.
I grew up in Nigeria where polygamy is legal in parts of the country. My mom married my dad as his third wife. My parents divorced when I was 3, and I ended up living with my mom, who was from a poor family. The child support laws in Nigeria are very different than those in Western countries. Although my dad was wealthy, he wouldn't pay for my education.
In Nigeria, there's a huge disparity between attending public and private school because the whole country is so run down by corruption. My mom struggled to send me and my younger sister to public school. Public school is free, but schools lack supplies with which to teach, so parents must provide everything. My class had no chairs, and my mother had to save up to make me a bench and desk that could seat three students. I was able to invite two of my classmates, who couldn’t afford to make a chair, to sit with me.
When I was 9, my dad wanted my sister and me to come live with him in his house with his two wives and other children; it was the only way he would pay for my education. My mom would tell me, “This education could change your life.” She was right. But it came at a huge cost because there was a lot of maltreatment and injustice that I endured in my father’s home.
It was during that period that my sense of justice developed. When my sister and I lived with my mom, we didn't know we were poor, because there was love and acceptance. But when we moved to live with my dad, we were not accepted and loved. Even though he was well off and we had more material privileges, we never felt welcome. I disliked how I was treated unjustly, and I also disliked when I saw other people being treated like that.
By the time I was graduating high school, I knew I would go to college to study law. At some point, that career became a calling to me.
A HEART FOR TRUE SERVICE
My mom became a Christian toward the end of my time in college. She prayed for years for my sister and me to know Jesus. Eventually we became Christians, and she did the work of discipling us to grow in the Lord.
I became an attorney in Nigeria, but after practicing for some years, I didn't feel that I was serving justice. I sensed that God was calling me to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves.
Eventually the Lord brought me to California. I took the California bar exam, and I have spent the last 10 years partnering with nonprofits to provide free legal services for those living in poverty. As an attorney, the juvenile justice system has always been on my heart. Many times, there was nobody to advocate for the kids I worked with because they couldn't afford attorneys. I've been working with incarcerated youth for almost nine years now and became certified in anger management training to help minister to them and get to the root of the many issues that keep them stuck.
BECOMING A JUSTICE AMBASSADOR
Although I have always known about Prison Fellowship®, I felt I should get involved after reading the book Born Again by Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson.
I had always wanted to do discipleship in prisons, but because of my other commitments, that was not practicable—and the pandemic put a pause to going into prisons. During COVID, I received an email from Prison Fellowship about becoming a Justice Ambassador. I realized that although my commitments and COVID were keeping me from traveling to prison every week for visits, I did have the time to be a Justice Ambassador. I went through the training and have been a Justice Ambassador for four years now.
While serving as a Justice Ambassador, I was asked by Prison Fellowship to help volunteer for an Angel Tree® event, which I have continued attending over the last few years. Through that event, I learned about Camp Agape in California, which is affiliated with Angel Tree. It’s a four-day, free camp for kids whose parents are incarcerated. Volunteering there has been powerful.
I have also been able to speak to my senators about eliminating the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. I was able to share my personal experience with the young people that I have worked with who ended up in prison. I spoke about their uncles, their grandfathers, and their great-grandfathers who were in prison and had been sentenced differently than wealthy people who were using the same drug but in powder form.
A VISION FOR CHANGE
I would like to see more advocacy on behalf of the incarcerated. Every year at my church, I preach a message on second chances. Last year I gave a message on Second Chance® Sunday. I try to create more awareness about Prison Fellowship and its resources. I want to continue to advocate for laws that create a more just society, because often people who are in prison can't advocate for themselves.
I think people get overwhelmed at the state of injustice and think, "What can I do?" But Mother Teresa said, "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
As believers, we should advocate for people who are incarcerated, because the Scripture says in Hebrews 13:3, “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” Jesus cares about those in prison. He wants to reach them. He died for them.
Prison Fellowship makes it easy for anyone to get involved, because you can become a part of something that's going to impact the lives of many people. That’s how we change the world one person at a time.
RAISE YOUR VOICE!
We encourage Christians who are experienced in advocacy, looking to learn more, or interested in increasing their involvement to apply to the Justice Ambassador program. Justice Ambassadors' voices can be an effective tool to inspire the Church, change the culture, and advance justice that restores.
Become a Justice Ambassador with Prison Fellowship today!
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