Dear people of Baltimore,
I am sorry for the loss of your citizen, Freddy Gray. I am so sorry of the way you lost him.
Dear family of Freddy Gray,
I am at loss for words for the loss of your son, brother, nephew, cousin, and grandson. I cannot imagine what you are going through not only with having your son pass away, but more so the form in which he has gone. I pray that God would give you strength, wisdom, patience and especially love. I pray that as you continue your life, you would use this event to impact your city.
Dear churches of Baltimore,
My prayer for you, is that you be wise about how you will/won't participate in these protests. I pray that you would educate your congregations and your immediate communities on how to react, participate and speak of these types of events. I pray that through you, the city of Baltimore would see a light- whether it be the police force of Baltimore or the violent protestors. Please take time out of your schedule to embrace and speak to the violent protestors.
Dear peaceful protestors,
Thank you for what you are doing. Thank you for proving the media wrong. On the other hand, I am so sorry that you are not getting any media coverage. As always, the media only portrays what they want. I pray that this would not discourage you, but rather continue your peaceful protests. I saw a picture of a lady stopping another lady from beating on a police car. To that lady, thank you. To the men and women that are doing things like that, thank you.
Dear violent protestors,
I understand you are frustrated, I understand. I understand that you want justice to be served. I understand that you are sick of these events. I understand all of this. And although I cannot directly relate to your pain, I just want you to think.. Through all of the destruction that is going on in your city- breaking into businesses, stealing all the inventory of stores, throwing rocks and stones at the police, setting cars on fire, breaking cars, etc., etc.; what good does that do for your city? THAT IS YOUR CITY. You are destroying YOUR CITY. My prayer for you, is that you would not destroy your city. This is your home. I understand that these cities need work. I understand that these cases can strike a huge cord in your hearts. But I pray that you would find a better and less destructive way to express your frustration. I know that there are many talented people in Baltimore. If you get a chance to listen to Ray Lewis' message to the people of Baltimore, do it.
Dear Baltimore gangs,
Thank you. Thank you for coming together to unite for this common good. I watched a video of about 10 guys talking about how the media portrayed your pact (to not fight each other) to go against the police. I am sorry that this is the case, but thank you for fighting to make your voice known. I heard a man say, "Black men stand together", or something like that. It gave me happiness to know that you are continually striving to prove the media wrong. My prayer for you, is that you would take this and as time progresses that you use your influence in the communities to re-build it.
Dear Baltimore Police Department,
For those of you who know your heart is in the right place, for those of you who are hurt and angry by this, for those of you who are sick of police forces getting a bad rep because of wrong actions taken by people who are abusing their power- thank you. I hope that you would be able to hold your team/section/partners accountable to stick to true law enforcement, not abuse. For those of you good police, I am sorry that you are not getting any media coverage. Please keep what you are doing. I know that now your job is not only to "protect the city" but also to try to rebuild the reputation of your job. I pray that you would be able to show Baltimore that there is still good in the police departments across the nation, not all police will take advantage of their power.
For those of you who are angry at this, but only because you're sick of hearing people talk about this- why? I may not know all the details and every second of what happened on that car ride, but you if everything I have seen/heard is true- Why would you take the life of a man? I understand that your job is hard, and sometimes you need to take action. However, the purpose of the police academy is to train you to think of how to take action. The first option is never to shoot. I pray that you would be convicted of your actions. But not only your actions, your hearts. Whether or not you directly participated in this, and you feel defensive, I pray that your hearts would be changed, that you would come to repentance.
