Over the course of the past year, especially this semester, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to live out justice and to be an activist. I have been trying to figure out where that fits into my goals and in my life, and whether my impact will be directly helping individuals or working to change social structures.

I feel more called to work directly with people, but I also feel the overwhelming importance of making political and structural changes in order to stop the problems in the first place. It seems overwhelming to know even where to begin, and I am hoping that this conference will help me to find direction in how to implement action in my everyday life upon these issues that surround me and fill my thoughts. I’m also incredibly interested in hearing what politicians have to say about the issue of poverty and how they hope to work to overcome an issue that permeates our entire society but somehow remains so often overlooked.

Erika Fox is a 2007 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and is attending Pentecost 2007: Taking the Vision to the Streets as an emerging leader.