No More Band-Aids: Shannon Sedgwick Davis Wields Law to Halt Genocide | Christianity Today

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No More Band-Aids: Shannon Sedgwick Davis Wields Law to Halt Genocide

Why the president of the philanthropic Bridgeway Foundation says money alone won't fix the problem.

Mark Moring | posted 8/04/2011 10:06AM

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When Navy SEALS killed Osama bin Laden, many believed the world was rid of its most evil man. Not Shannon Sedgwick Davis. To her, that man is Joseph Kony, head of the notorious Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), known for unleashing unspeakable horrors on innocent men, women, and children in central Africa. The LRA wipes out entire villages, forcing children to kill their parents and then taking the kids away—boys to be soldiers, girls to be sex slaves.

Davis—an attorney, a former worker for International Justice Mission, and current president of the philanthropic Bridgeway Foundation—says money alone won't fix this problem. She visits areas in the wake of LRA attacks, where she's seen "children with their faces blown off, knowing they're going to die." Davis asked herself, "Do we [at Bridgeway] really mean what we say with our mission statement—a world without genocide? I can't continue to just put Band-Aids on bullet holes." She now meets with U.N. generals, U.S. officials, and other leaders, hoping to stop the madness. "We need to be about ending mass atrocity and this particular evil. That's 90 percent of my work with Bridgeway these days."

Davis is also a board member of several organizations, including the Elders, Humanity United, toms Shoes, and Ben Affleck's Eastern Congo Initiative.

Question & Answer

What do you know of Joseph Kony?

He has set the bar for evil. He blindfolds little boys and makes them shove guns up their moms' vaginas and pull the trigger. Then he takes the blindfolds off and makes them look at the destruction. Stories like that forced me to a crisis point of wanting to take action, and I have been living and breathing that for the past three years.

You've asked the United Nations for help?

Yes. After the 2009 Christmas massacre [in which the LRA killed 321 people and kidnapped 80 children], I met with the U.N. and learned that there had been about 150 LRA soldiers in the area, compared to about 12,500 troops between the U.N. and armies from Uganda and Congo. I said, "You had 12,500 and you couldn't stop 150?" They laughed out loud, and that's when I knew I had to break out of the box of the philanthropic world. As a Christian, it's a box I can't stay in any longer.

So, what have you done?

I have worked with others to get about 30 radio towers in the region so people can communicate with each other about the movement of the LRA. They can warn each other of potential attacks and take cover or defend themselves.

What else are you doing to that end?

Other stuff that I won't talk about, and we're trying to get equipment to the right places so people can protect themselves and possibly bring an end to this—not weapons, but places where they can hide from these murderers.

Is the U.S. government helping?

Not enough, even though it would be much easier to take out Kony than bin Laden. But they say this issue isn't in the interest of our national security. It's in my interest that these children aren't hacked to death anymore. I'm not going to be mad at the U.S. government. I'm just going to work around it.

More: BridgewayFoundation.org, 2myboys.com

Hometown: San Antonio, Texas

Church: The Park

Family: Sam (husband); Connor, 5, Brody, 2 (children)

Reading now: Conversations with Myself, by Nelson Mandela; Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, by Eric Metaxas

On your iPod: Mumford & Sons; Switchfoot; Peter Gabriel

Favorite movie: Good Will Hunting

Favorite Bible verse: Micah 6:8

Favorite website: bbc.co.uk

Your hero: Gary Haugen

Note: This article has been edited for clarity since its original publication

Related Elsewhere:

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No More Band-Aids, August 2011, Vol. 55, No. 8, Page 80

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Displaying 1–5 of 6 comments

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Robyn W.

August 05, 2011 10:23am

What an admirable woman!

John of Perth homesjc@iprimsu.com.au

August 04, 2011 10:34pm

Get an arrest warrant from the World Court, and threaten all banks with cutting off their internet connections and other electronic communications, if they manage fund for him or his organisation. It has eventually worked for the Serbs. But we need to have cooperation by all of the big governments of the world, and that may not happen any time soon. As the US has declared that corporations have freedom from disclosure of who actually supplies the monies, how do we know if this group is buying political influence in the US to reduce any chances of censure?

Original Anna Anna

August 04, 2011 6:06pm

The U.N. is a waste, their "military units" have been known to engage in rape, murder & torture themselves and the U.N. higher ups do nothing but keep their "military units, the peoples' "protectors" in the same spot. In fact their units many times are made up of the enemies of the people being "protected". Have you ever noticed the UN puts their "refugee camps" with no military protection in spots away from the people who need it so they are walking miles and days to get to it instead of putting many camps where the people are with military units around the camps. And they never move in and stop those doing the massacre while the genocide is going on. They move in years later when it's safe and look like rescuers instead of co-conspirators. It's only the church rescue groups and non-church rescue groups that go in 1st until they're ordered out by those in power or the fighting puts their lives in danger which thanks to the U.N. happens a lot more than the outside world knows.

George E

August 04, 2011 3:21pm

What! Money alone won't fix this? But there must be a law that could be passed, or maybe you could put up a 31st radio tower! Perhaps camouflage blankets for everyone, or another meeting with the UN. I appreciate your concern, but come on -- get a clue. Sorry, but this level of naivety is so frustrating.

Grady Walton

August 04, 2011 1:55pm

I'm fine with being mad at my U.S. government for inaction because it's "not in the interest of our national security." If you ask me, this is one of the main reasons America has lost its way and God's blessings are being withdrawn. Our nation has not enjoyed blessings from God to only pursue our national security interests; which often really means our commerce interests. Of course we can't settle every problem around the world, but maybe our national security interest would be better served by taking action now and then simply because it's the right thing to do.

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