IMPACT
The group Interfaith Movement Promoting Action by Congregations Together (IMPACT) is a group made up of 28 churches in the Charlottesville and Albemarle area.
Second Annual Nehemiah Action
Nearly 1900 people from 28 congregations attended the second annual "Nehemiah Action" on March 10, 2008 at University Hall on the Grounds of the University of Virginia[1]. The City Council and Board of Supervisors both held special meetings allowing them to participate in the event.
In 2008, IMPACT will focus on education issues.[2]
The name "Nehemiah Assembly" is taken from the Book of Nehemiah in Bible. In this book of the Bible, Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem to help rebuild the ruined city walls, and he finds that the people are being taken advantage of by lenders who are charging heavy interest and who are making them sell their sons and daughters into slavery in order to make debt payments. In response, Nehemiah calls together a large public assembly to call the money lenders to account and to demand that they change their ways. In response to Nehemiah's challenge, the money lenders do change their ways. In Charlottesville today, we may not see this kind of blatant exploitation. However, tackling problems that have become rooted at the systemic level still requires bringing large numbers of people together, so that we can engage those in local positions of power to make changes.
Sources to use:
Notes:
- ↑ 'Response mixed to IMPACT's challenge at annual assembly', Charlottesville Tomorrow
- ↑ Dixit, Rachana. "IMPACT's latest project: Education." 21 November 2008. 2 January 2009 <http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/article/impacts_latest_project_education/31702/>
- ↑ [[1]]