A State of Emergency

Tom and I were getting ready to play Apples to Apples with friends on Saturday night when we got some unexpected news. At 8:53 pm one of our church members called and informed us that there was a city-wide curfew going into effect at 9pm. It was a bit of a shock to us, but we packed up our stuff and headed home. We got home about nine and called some friends who went online and told us that what we had heard was true, the Mayor of Chester had declared a State of Emergency earlier in the day in response to a rise in the number of murders over the last few weeks. That night our area felt a lot like a ghost town, much quieter than usual.

We waited around for the 10:00 news to hear the info for ourselves and sure enough we heard that the Mayor had declared a state of emergency until Thursday. He also plans to meet with city council on Wednesday and urge them to extend the state of emergency for 30 days. To enforce the curfew the Mayor has requested assistance from the state police and county sheriff's departments. He has also cancelled vacation days and personal time for all city police officers and placed them on 12 hour shifts. We are concerned about the Mayor's desire to push this an extra 30 days. Keeping people off the streets will not change their hearts. The added restrictions for an extended amount of time will most likely increase tensions between residents and police. Our prayer is that God's will would be done in our city.

As I read people's comments about Chester in the online newspaper my heart is saddened. There are many negative comments, even so far as wanting the people of Chester locked in their city with their guns so that they can shoot themselves and have the problem done with. How Our Father looks on this city is very different, He sees the brokenness and desires to heal each heart and restore them. He has placed His children here to share that good news. His children are young/old, black/white and they are on their knees lifting this city before Him. Tomorrow (Tues June 22) and 9 am we will be gathering at the Frederick Douglass Christian School/World Impact building to lift up our city to Him and to lift up the Mayor's meeting on Wednesday with city council. Please join us from wherever you are.