Allen Anjo (Law, RSG '13)
Allen Anjo (RSG, Law ’13) and his wife, Julie, are missionaries and Legal Advisors to Youth With A Mission (YWAM), a missions organization that currently works in over 1,100 locations in more than 180 countries to send volunteer missionaries around the world to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Allen and Julie are part of the General Counsel’s office at the YWAM base in Kona, Hawaii, and are about to launch a School of, Advocacy, Law and Justice which will provide training in legal advocacy to missionaries who are passionate about seeing the justice of God come to the “least of these” throughout the world.
Allen is originally from the small province of Nagaland in northeastern India, and he came to the United States in 2000 to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in business and computer science. The Lord then called him to attend Liberty University in western Virginia. He said, “That is where I met Julie; she was among the inaugural class of the law school there. I got a Master’s of Religion in missiology and a Master’s of Divinity in apologetics. She graduated in 2007, I finished in 2008, and we got married in 2009.” Julie had done a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with YWAM and received her Bachelors in Biblical Studies with YWAM’s University of the Nations. During a mission trip in Burma she heard the people’s stories of injustice and oppression and she felt the Lord speaking to her saying, “Be my voice for the voiceless.” This is what led her to go to law school.
With a shared passion for missions and fighting injustice, Allen and Julie came to Regent University in 2010 so Allen could pursue dual degrees from the Robertson School of Government and the School of Law. As Allen worked on his M.A. in Government and his Juris Doctorate, Julie began working as Assistant Director of Admissions and Financial Aid in the School of Law. In 2013, as Allen was finishing up his degree, their son Samuel was born, Allen was interning at the Virginia Beach Commonwealth Attorney’s office, and a settled future in Virginia was beginning to look promising. Allen reflected on this time and said, “At that point, I was on track to become a prosecutor and there was an opportunity for Julie to apply for the directorship. God spoke to Julie at that time and said, “You are on track right now for a good life here. Do you want that, or do you want to live life with Me as I would design it?” This was a major decision point for them, and they knew there was sacrifice on the other side, but they decided to ask God what else he might have for them. He simply told them to quit their jobs, and He would show them what was next.
Not long after, they became aware of the need for full-time legal advisors at the Kona base in Hawaii and knew it was what God had been preparing them for. So they sold their possessions, packed their bags, and made the move to Hawaii. Allen said, “Suddenly it dawned on us what God had been doing in giving us this education over the last 13 years. He gave us these experiences to prepare us for this job we were going into.”
Now they provide advice to the base in a broad range of legal matters and are getting ready to launch the School of Advocacy, Law, and Justice this July. “Our desire is to equip missionaries to identify injustice, be advocates for the people suffering, and bring God’s love and freedom to them. The hope is that the school will eventually become a course in a degree program for an Associate’s, Bachelor’s, or Master’s degree through YWAM’s University of the Nations.” They are also developing plans to lead and send teams internationally to travel into the context of injustice and learn the key issues and practical steps for advocacy and legal action in specific situations. In all of this, their personal mission is: “Going into the world with law and justice for the least of these.” Though they have to raise all of their own support and have lived largely out of a suitcase for the last year-and-a-half, Allen said, “When we look at the potential of the work we are doing to impact other people, we are encouraged by the knowledge that we are able to better the lives of other people.” Not only that, but they are getting to enjoy some of the best years of their son Samuel’s life, and are expecting a baby girl in September 2016. If you would like to keep up with the Anjo’s ministry, check out their blog at this link.
Allen Anjo (RSG, Law ’13) and his wife, Julie, are missionaries and Legal Advisors to Youth With A Mission (YWAM), a missions organization that currently works in over 1,100 locations in more than 180 countries to send volunteer missionaries around the world to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Allen and Julie are part of the General Counsel’s office at the YWAM base in Kona, Hawaii, and are about to launch a School of, Advocacy, Law and Justice which will provide training in legal advocacy to missionaries who are passionate about seeing the justice of God come to the “least of these” throughout the world.
Allen is originally from the small province of Nagaland in northeastern India, and he came to the United States in 2000 to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in business and computer science. The Lord then called him to attend Liberty University in western Virginia. He said, “That is where I met Julie; she was among the inaugural class of the law school there. I got a Master’s of Religion in missiology and a Master’s of Divinity in apologetics. She graduated in 2007, I finished in 2008, and we got married in 2009.” Julie had done a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with YWAM and received her Bachelors in Biblical Studies with YWAM’s University of the Nations. During a mission trip in Burma she heard the people’s stories of injustice and oppression and she felt the Lord speaking to her saying, “Be my voice for the voiceless.” This is what led her to go to law school.
With a shared passion for missions and fighting injustice, Allen and Julie came to Regent University in 2010 so Allen could pursue dual degrees from the Robertson School of Government and the School of Law. As Allen worked on his M.A. in Government and his Juris Doctorate, Julie began working as Assistant Director of Admissions and Financial Aid in the School of Law. In 2013, as Allen was finishing up his degree, their son Samuel was born, Allen was interning at the Virginia Beach Commonwealth Attorney’s office, and a settled future in Virginia was beginning to look promising. Allen reflected on this time and said, “At that point, I was on track to become a prosecutor and there was an opportunity for Julie to apply for the directorship. God spoke to Julie at that time and said, “You are on track right now for a good life here. Do you want that, or do you want to live life with Me as I would design it?” This was a major decision point for them, and they knew there was sacrifice on the other side, but they decided to ask God what else he might have for them. He simply told them to quit their jobs, and He would show them what was next.
Not long after, they became aware of the need for full-time legal advisors at the Kona base in Hawaii and knew it was what God had been preparing them for. So they sold their possessions, packed their bags, and made the move to Hawaii. Allen said, “Suddenly it dawned on us what God had been doing in giving us this education over the last 13 years. He gave us these experiences to prepare us for this job we were going into.”
Now they provide advice to the base in a broad range of legal matters and are getting ready to launch the School of Advocacy, Law, and Justice this July. “Our desire is to equip missionaries to identify injustice, be advocates for the people suffering, and bring God’s love and freedom to them. The hope is that the school will eventually become a course in a degree program for an Associate’s, Bachelor’s, or Master’s degree through YWAM’s University of the Nations.” They are also developing plans to lead and send teams internationally to travel into the context of injustice and learn the key issues and practical steps for advocacy and legal action in specific situations. In all of this, their personal mission is: “Going into the world with law and justice for the least of these.” Though they have to raise all of their own support and have lived largely out of a suitcase for the last year-and-a-half, Allen said, “When we look at the potential of the work we are doing to impact other people, we are encouraged by the knowledge that we are able to better the lives of other people.” Not only that, but they are getting to enjoy some of the best years of their son Samuel’s life, and are expecting a baby girl in September 2016. If you would like to keep up with the Anjo’s ministry, check out their blog at this link.