I received the following from a young man (young to my sixty years) who I met recently, Heis leading his Baptist community in the Chicago area to overcome barriers ofall sorts for the sake of the children. His story heartens me and requires of me that Iask the question, "Where are our children running risks and how can we walk withthem before it is too late?" Thank you, ThomasSavage Jr.
"While walking home from school in late September, Fenger High Schoolstudent, Derrion Albert, Chicago was beaten to death. News and videos of the attack, which showeddozens of students participating in a violent brawl, ripped through nationalheadlines, turning the nation's eyes towards the violence that students foundthemselves in simply walking home from school in the Roseland community,located on the far south side of Chicago.
"In an organized response to the events surrounding the death, churcheswithin the Roseland community vowed that they could no longer stand idly astheir community was being destroyed from within. If weare to truly have a brighter future, we must recognize that the education ofour young people is of the upmost importance.Our children must be able to travel to and from school in totalsafety. Spearheaded by theleadership of Lilydale First Baptist Church (Rev. Dr.Alvin Love, Pastor) and Sheldon Heights Church of Christ (Leonardo D. Gilbert,Pastor) a plan to ensure the safety of the students was put in place. The churches within the community decidedthat they would each adopt several corners.Men and women from over 30churches agreed to stand on corners from 3pm until 3:45pm greeting, engagingwith, and showing love towards the students from the high school. This adopt-a-corner method was utilizedthroughout the community as churches surrounding other at-risk high schoolsjumped on-board. As one church, we havea responsibility of showing the love of God to everyone, especially in thetimes in which that love is so hard to see.The actions of these few churches have shown that there is someone whocares about what is going on in the lives of these students, and that similarincidents will not be tolerated."
Where are our children running risks and how can we walk with thembefore it is too late?
