Thursday Evening: I met Julie and Margaret over at Calvary church (chapel) tonight for a special prayer service. I had only heard about it earlier in the morning; but I determined to go and be a part of it if possible.
Interestingly, when I arrived at church it became apparent that this was not an event sponsored by Calvary Church but some other organization. I recognized the couple that was running the service: Randy and Marcia Hekman. Randy Hekman is a former juvenile Judge for Grand Rapids. He and Marcia have raised 12 children--I believe all of them are grown and no longer under their roof. They have always been very active in "The Right to Life" movement in W. Michigan; however, I didn't realize all of the other community affairs they were involved with until listening to Randy talk last night.
Significantly, people came to this service representing 23 different W. Michigan churches--all of them came to pray for our city, our state, and our nation. I was so glad to be there!
Grand Rapids had a tragic event occur back in early April. I won't comment on the details here, because I don't have all of the facts of this case at all. The news has gone nationwide and threatens to further divide our already fragmented nation and communities. All of the usual "talk" is broadcasted, violence is threatened, and we need God to intervene and give wisdom to the prosector, the lawyers, the police and everyone else involved in this sad case.
The brand new (as of March) Grand Rapids police chief was invited to attend and he showed up! It turns out that this man is a believer. He barely spoke a few minutes, very humbly and quietly. He did not speak into the situation that surrounds our community presently, only just requested that everyone pray and do what God would ask them to do. There was an interesting black pastor (Pastor Moses) who led in one of the prayers as well. He has met with the family of the young person who died and prayed with them. He has been working in the downtown community for more than 20 years and is well respected. His main goal is to listen and to unify not divide. I liked what he had to say.
The prayer service lasted a little over an hour. We prayed for our country and the Supreme Court leak that happened a few days ago regarding Roe vs. Wade and that whole mess. We prayed for the unborn. We prayed for girls in trouble. We prayed for our church communities. It was a time of refreshing for me. I sat next to Julie (whom I love), her husband Victor, and then Margaret. When we broke into small groups, it was just the 4 of us who joined hands and prayed as we were asked to do. Thank you, Lord, for seeing us, for loving us, for being in charge of all that happens in this world. I chose to trust YOU for our city, my family, our country and my life.
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