{Before I start, this post is in no way officially associated
with Moody, Pray Chicago, ICI, or any other churches/organizations mentioned here.}
Dear people:
If you have seen any of my recent Facebook posts/shares, I have posted/shared many things about false views/ignorant opinions from people about Chicago/inner cities, even blacks. These false views/ignorant opinions not only frustrate me, hurt me, but they AREN'T TRUE.
To say that "There are no teenagers in this city!" "If I move somewhere else, I can walk to target and not get shot! Yeah, there's no safe place in Chicago." is so hurtful on so many levels. To say that "black folk don't care about the violence in Chicago" is not true, hurtful, ignorant and disrespectful. Like, you literally don't know what you're talking about. There are organizations upon organizations that work with violence on the streets. There are churches upon churches that work with these teenagers. There are PEOPLE UPON PEOPLE THAT WORK IN THE CITY FOR THIS EXACT REASON. THERE ARE FAMILIES UPON FAMILIES THAT HAVE BEEN AFFECTED FIRST HAND BY THE VIOLENCE.
Let me tell you something: I work at one of those organizations. I work with 30-50 teens at an organization called Inner City Impact. I've been working there for 3 years. I was in charge of 20 sophomore boys, and so for you to tell me that there are no teenagers in this city, is to say that these precious lives are meaningless, and
non-existent.
I go to a church that is involved in our Logan Square community, hosts an annual urban bible camp for Chicago youth ministries. I have been affected by the violence in Chicago. A had a friend who was a victim of a drive-by in uptown.
And I'm not the only one. There are organizations like GRIP, who reaches out to the fatherless.
There are churches like Reborn, who do prayer walks, and pray for students on their first day of school.
There is a whole couple blocks dedicated to giving Christian, accessable healthcare in the Lawndale area, by the Lawndale Christian Health Center.
.But you wouldn't know, would you? You wouldn't know about these organizations, you wouldn't know about these churches. You wouldn't know about these people and families that are praying and pleading on their knees for this city. Why? Because you're not from here. You are too stuck in your comfortable life. You're stuck in your dorm, campus, suburb, small town to see what's going on here. But mostly, YOU'RE NOT FROM HERE.
So last night (September 7th, 2016) Pray Chicago was held at Moody, in the auditorium. Pray Chicago is exactly what it sounds like: a city wide prayer gathering, attended by churches from the South Side, to churches from Evanston and Naperville. We all gathered together to pray for the city in every aspect: politics, education, church unity, ministries, healthcare, and of course the violence here. At the event, I was looking around to see if I knew people and to see how many Moody students were there. Obviously, still paying attention at the event.
When the event was done, it hit me: there was not that many Moody students there. I saw very few, and the ones that I did see, most were international students. Of course, I may not have seen many other ones, with all the people there. When I walked out of the auditorium, there were many students, almost oblivious to this big event sitting in the commons, sitting in Culby 1, chatting in the plaza. I became angry, bitter, heartbroken. How are you going to talk about this city, as if it has no hope, as if God is not working, as if churches are not praying, as if tears are not being shed, as if hearts are not being broken? Then once you have the opportunity to do something about it, in a way that is BEYOND convenient for you: didn't have to go to Solheim, didn't have to go to PCM, didn't have to go across the street, or even to the gas station! All you had to do was to go to the auditorium. But that would require you to humble yourself, take back everything you've said, thought, and acted upon. You're not going to do that, are you?
Okay, now that I'm calm, let me summarize:
Don't just sit there and talk. Don't hide behind your screen and criticise. Don't say ignorant comments.
GO. GO out and ask people their stories.
GO get involved in some of these places.
MEET some of these people.
GET OUT.
HAVE DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS.
