John Mark opened the service and then there were several community leaders including council members (one who had a child who was murdered), a prosecuting attorney, a police chaplain, and a pastor from a church east of Troost (a street that divides the high crime area from the rest of the city).
There was also a choir from the Calvary Baptist Church in KC. They were amazing. It was an all African American choir and the soul and praise was something I've never experienced. There was a soloist and at one point my mouth actually dropped open. It was amazing.
When the guest pastor spoke he was encouraging the congregation to speak out and be vocal. I started to think how I was sitting there holding in my tears and emotions and all these people around me are calling out "Amen!" and "Preach it!" and "That's me!" and I thought how much healthier that seemed. I didn't join in but it felt good to recognize the desire to let it out.
After the service we traveled outside to stand by the crosses as the names of the 100+ victims names were read. If there weren't family there, a church member would stand by the cross. I stood by Ryan Taylor's cross, he was 20 years old and was murdered April 12 and was KC's 36th murder. When I got home I googled his name and found a website that outlined all the murderers. I spent a lot of time looking at the pictures and reading the stories of the victims.
A very sad moment was when some of the families decided to take the crosses home. One young teen pulled out two crosses - as he lost 2 family members to murder this year.
http://homicide.kansascity.com/victims/50/
No comments:
Post a Comment