Sara Groves - Interview with INO Records' Sara Groves

We met Sara recently in Nashville. We got to chat with her about what she has been up to lately...

MQ: I read in CCM magazine that you went to Africa recently. Would you like to talk about what you saw there?

Sara: It was my first trip to Africa. I've represented Africa for a while as an artist. I've talked about the AIDS issue, sponsoring children through world vision - my aunt Esther is in South Africa working with AIDS, education and things like that. I think the first thing that was exposed in my heart was sort of a self-contratulatory attitude about me helping Africa, you know? I've never had an experience where every day I saw something that I thought, "That changes everything" - that completely rocked my whole worldview. So, it was just a series of things like that. It just was life changing. I think the one thing - the biggest piece that I came back with was - there is a huge difference between charity and justice. I think I was acting out of a heart of charity, "I am going to help Africa" - and God really broke my heart in that regard. God showed me that there is a tremendous injustice. We are just talking about basic humanity and basic rights and basic things. I could go into a whole other can of worms - but I think that is what had the largest impact on my life. Then Rwanda itself has so many dynamics in the genocide and the reconciliation. And in what Rick Warren is doing now with the peace plan. That's an entire other world of thoughts for me. But I think that was the number one thing - the difference between charity and justice.

MQ: I see your 'Seek Justice' shirt. I first heard about that last year here - with the whole issue of like slave trading going on today. We are so locked into a modern day mindset. But, this is still going on today.

Sara: 23 million slaves in the world today. I see International Justice Mission doing three things.They are freeing bonded slaves - literally freeing people, setting people free! Unbelievable! For us in America, to not be paid for our work is unheard of. Even at the lowest paying job, you are paid hourly or some kind of wage. To not be paid at all, is just unheard of. And yet, that is the standard for much of the world. So, they are freeing slaves. A lot of times, those slaves are going to work doing what they were doing, but for themselves. If they were good at making bricks, then they will open a brick factory. But, then they will pay their family and friends and their community for that work. The second thing is land entitlement in Africa. A lot of times widows are pushed off their land. There are a lot of widows due to the AIDS pandemic. So, they are dealing with injustice issues all over the continent of Africa - oppression and things like that. Then of course, human trafficking in young girls who are caught in these brothels. It is just hard to get your head around that. There are a lot of organizations that have bought girls out. But, IJM is going and shutting the brothel down and prosecuting those that run the brothels so that they cannot go get other girls. It is just unbelievable! My life has been changed by my work with IJM.

MQ: It was so eye opening to hear news or an update on that - it's not the news on tv. You just don’t see that. So, to see this become an issue - like you said - it changes everything. You form your worldview based on your views, and your friends and family and this comes in and rocks everything.

Sara: The thing I love about IJM is that they give us an outlet and a sense of hope. They're not just saying, "Look how bad it is." I was just with Gary Haugen in San Diego and he was saying, "People know it is bad - even if they have not heard all the details." I think that is why in America, people are like, "Protect our own. Let's build this mini kingdom because who is going to take care of us?" There is a sense that the world is hard - that it's bad. What he discovered is, "I give them one ounce of the bad news and eighty pounds of hope." And the hope is that God is raising up literally an army of people that have said, "Look! I don’t care what it takes for me. I am going to respond." At the IJM fund raiser in Washington D.C., we were doing music, and Gary was talking about how it was the anniversary for Rosa Parks chatting with Sara Groves action in Montgomery, he was saying, "I guarantee you that this was not the first time that Rosa Parks was looked down on or persecuted or spoken ill of. This was not the first time she was mistreated. But, for whatever reason, at that moment, it came clear: "This is what we have to do." And she could not get out of that seat if she wanted to. And Gary was just saying, "This is our time. For whatever reason if it has been unclear how we as a church should respond. Now it has come clear how we should respond." So, for me, as a stay at home mom - a mobile stay at home mom ... a bus bound stay at home mom (laugh), IJM doesn't just want my money. They say, "You, stay at home mom, you are an abolitionist. Your kids are student abolitionists." And to me, that's empowering. They don't just want my money, they want to educate me about justice - about advocacy, and about worldview - about God's heart for the poor. So, I am fired up! I feel like I have found my place in this world when I met IJM - as far as something I can get behind with all my heart, support. It's just an incredible organization and move of God.

MQ: That's awesome. For anybody, it is great to know that we can make a difference, given all that is going on. It's encouraging to know and be reminded of the truths of God that he is holding it all together, we are not doing this on our own. We are just going to find out where his heart is beating ...

Sara: - Yeah!

MQ: - and on what issues, and just let Him work through us.

Sara: Right! Get our marching orders. I am an artist. I am not a lawyer. I am not going to do what Sharon Cohn does. I'm not going to do what Bob Mosier does. I'm not going to do what Ted Haddock does. But each one of these people in the body of christ - that to me, is my favorite thing in the whole world to see somebody who found that peace that God gave them and they are doing it with everything that they have. They've found that spot. So, IJM is like that. And that's just one part of the body.

MQ: I see a trend these days and it's people just wanting to do something that makes a difference. I hear the word revolution a lot on CD's and songs, and just movements.

Sara: Yeah...

MQ: And it is not used in a superficial way. It is what we have been talking about. "I want to make a difference. What is the power of one life?" ...

Sara: Right.

MQ: - in my church group, in my community, in my country, in my world. It is just encouraging and it's hopeful. It is good to hear about IJM and another aspect of that. Thank for sharing that with us. I wanted to ask you about your new album “Add to the Beauty”. What is the theme of that title/song. How does it relate?

Sara: It's this whole conversation. Donald Miller says he writes a book and then it teaches him. After he writes it, it teaches him. I feel like 'Add To The Beauty' has done that completely. When we made 'Add To The Beauty' - when it was being mixed and printed and everything - [hurricane] Katrina hit. I'm sitting there with my husband - I am not traditionally a doer. I'm the kind of person that says, "Let's pay the professionals." You know? "They know what they are doing." It became clear for me - just that moment where you have clarity where you realize, "Wait! I am the professional. God said I was His hands and feet. He called His church to do this very thing. There is nobody - the government - nobody is going to save us. We have to stand up! So, I in view of what I had just written - the album I had just made - I told Troy, "This album is changing me. I can't go on like usual. I will not be able sing these songs unless I physically go down to Louisana." So, we loaded up our bus with baby goods and went down to Louisiana. The thing about doing things like that, you think, "I don't have the time." So many people are afraid or whatever. They feel like, "What can I do?" - the power of one life. Unbelievable - the power of one life. The power of a person making a decision. When I got down there, what I found was 2 volunteers from the Salvation Army and 100 volunteers just like me. Who, many of them, not doers previous to this event. And I think you're right. I think something is stirring. And I feel it, not to be over-spiritual, but if feel something really big coming and I'm excited. You know humans or man will get their hands on it and there will be good parts and bad parts. Rick Warren is saying he believes that we are on the verge of the second reformation. And if that's true - if you are a historian - this is huge. This is enormous. If the American church is on the verge of waking up ... unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable. Rick says - and he is not God, but he is a smart man - 'The Purpose Driven Life' has been an enormous influence in the sense of the power of one person, when they find their purpose in Christ. But he was saying the first reformation was about creed. It was about defining and refining what we believe about the cross - what we believe about what Jesus did for us. The second reformation will be about deeds. The church has amputated its legs and its arms. We've become a mouth. That's all we've got. It's time that we reattach the hands and the feet. I think we are going to witness amazing things.

MQ: You look at the culture and everything is so dark. It seems like it is getting darker and distractions are getting better and more attractive - technology and things that consume our time. It is crazy that so many people are spending their time on things that really in the grand scheme of things ....

Sara: - that are vapors. Literally!

MQ: Exactly. If it's not harmful, it is time consuming. The power of one life, when we finally get that, it's gonna be amazing. The purpose driven life - and all that is just sort of like a ball rolling down hill. It's picking up steam. Once you get that, you can't go back. Like you said, I can't go back to the old way because this is better and I've got clarity now.

Sara: And that's what I think I'm trying to share with my audience through 'Add To The Beauty'. I think a lot of people feel the work of God will require so much of them, that they don't have time for or it's going to create this burden in them. It is going to be hard work. They look at people on the mission field and think, "I can't do that!" But the blessing of it - the blessing of jumping into that stream and into that work ... for you. I mean, don't do it because you are helping somebody, do it for yourself. I mean, selfishly, I have never felt so alive before. The trip to Rwanda, and jumping in with both feet with IJM. For me, selfishly, I am reaping all kinds of blessings from this. And not just to feel good about myself, but to be useful and to be part of a greater story. So, that is what the album is about. Adding to the beauty and telling a better story. Can I talk a little bit about something I am excited about? We had a documentary company called Nomad Film Company come follow us for a year. So, it documents all that I am talking about. It documents my work with IJM, my trip to Louisiana, and my trip to Rwanda. Our record company wanted us to do a DVD. I just didn't want to just do a concert DVD. So, when this opportunity came up with Nomad films, I thought, "This is perfect." That's coming out in the fall - a DVD called “Just Showed Up For My Own Life.”