At church we sang Chris Tomlin’s “Our God.” I love this song, and I can’t help but get some goosebumps as we celebrate the bigness of our powerful God.And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?It was three days [...]Read More
Lamentation for Ferguson or Healing in the Aftermath of Ferguson
The hearts of our staff at Mission Year were heavy on our weekly prayer call. It was the morning after the grand jury decision in Ferguson and there was a lot of disappointment, pain, and anger. Many of us were struggling with words to say and prayers to pray. Instead of listing a litany of prayer [...]Read More
Red, White & Blue
The red, white and blue lights flashed in the mirror and the familiar sting of fear crawled through my stomach. “Not today,” I thought. “Please, don’t let it be today.” The lady riding in the passenger seat of my vehicle whispered to me, “Just stay calm.” Her short, curly, gray hair had been [...]Read More
No Indictment is Outrageous, Even if Wilson is Innocent
No Indictment. The announcement broke the suspense, if not the tension. 108 days after Michael Brown was killed by Darren Wilson, St. Louis Prosecutor Bob McCulloch announced that the grand jury had determined that there was no probable cause to indict Officer Wilson in the August 8th death on [...]Read More
Reflections on Ferguson in Poem Form
As I thought and prayed about Ferguson today I found myself at a loss for words – but yet so many thoughts, hard to contain. I do not know how to express them all. Yet – as a pastor, I do not want to be silent upon these matters. I do not want my church to be silent upon these matters. For my faith [...]Read More
Immigration, Ferguson, and the Importance of our Lens
I returned a phone call to a friend recently who proceeded to tearfully share her burden for a young man who had been incarcerated and recently released. This young African American man returned to society with a strong desire to change his life. Yet even with the help of my passionate and [...]Read More
A Kingdom Response to President Obama’s Speech on Immigration
I am created in the image of God. I am a follower of Jesus. I am an American citizen. I am the daughter of an immigrant. These are markers of my identity and my perspective has been shaped by these strong realities. For years, I have been learning about immigration as an issue and have also been [...]Read More
Emmett Till, Michael Brown—and hope
I met the mother of Emmett Till in 1995 when she visited our church in Chicago—Mamie Till traveled unceremoniously with a group of children from her neighborhood. She never ceased talking about the tragic murder of her son Emmett in Money, Miss., in 1955. As a young mother, she courageously used the [...]Read More