1 year ago
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A Birmingham community is sick and tired of senseless acts of violence. Police investigated 54 homicides this year alone, and earlier, three teens were shot near a middle school.Lighthouse Church Ministries is making its mission to serve its community, but it goes far beyond making sure people’s spiritual needs are being met. Leaders walked the Kingston neighborhood on Tuesday, feeding people and praying for them but also made sure people learned how to avoid senseless gun violence.“With all this gun violence, kids killing kids. Family members killing family members,” LaChrista Dunning, who lives in the Kingston community, said. “It needs to stop. It needs to cease. It needs to come to a cease. Seriously.”A Birmingham church heard the cries of its community growing tired of senseless gun violence.“It troubles our heart because somebody lost a child, somebody lost a brother, somebody lost a father,” Cicely Holt, co-pastor of Lighthouse Church Ministries, said. “It’s important to us that we make sure we’re putting something in place, so another family don’t have to deal with this again.”Lighthouse Church Ministries pounded the pavement Tuesday night during its cease-fire community walk and handed out information on how to handle disagreements.“The first thing we’re telling them to do is don’t argue. The second thing we’re asking them to do is walk away. The third thing we’re asking them to do is pray, and the fourth thing is we believe that if you do all three of these things, they’ll live to see another day.”Dunning lost her 17-year-old nephew to gun violence. She said he and many other young people might still be alive if they had community leaders teaching them about conflict resolution.“You know a better way to have a conversation with somebody without just always shooting somebody without even knowing that they’re actually killing innocent bystanders,” she said.Lakendra Alexander knows the harm pulling a trigger can cause firsthand. She was shot five times in 2020, and she wants people to think twice before making a life-changing decision.“They have got to do better,” she said. “Baby, 'cause bullets don’t have no name.”This is the second event the church has had within a week. This past Saturday, church leaders walked the community praying for people.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —
A Birmingham community is sick and tired of senseless acts of violence. Police investigated 54 homicides this year alone, and earlier, three teens were shot near a middle school.
Lighthouse Church Ministries is making its mission to serve its community, but it goes far beyond making sure people’s spiritual needs are being met. Leaders walked the Kingston neighborhood on Tuesday, feeding people and praying for them but also made sure people learned how to avoid senseless gun violence.
“With all this gun violence, kids killing kids. Family members killing family members,” LaChrista Dunning, who lives in the Kingston community, said. “It needs to stop. It needs to cease. It needs to come to a cease. Seriously.”
A Birmingham church heard the cries of its community growing tired of senseless gun violence.
“It troubles our heart because somebody lost a child, somebody lost a brother, somebody lost a father,” Cicely Holt, co-pastor of Lighthouse Church Ministries, said. “It’s important to us that we make sure we’re putting something in place, so another family don’t have to deal with this again.”
Lighthouse Church Ministries pounded the pavement Tuesday night during its cease-fire community walk and handed out information on how to handle disagreements.
“The first thing we’re telling them to do is don’t argue. The second thing we’re asking them to do is walk away. The third thing we’re asking them to do is pray, and the fourth thing is we believe that if you do all three of these things, they’ll live to see another day.”
Dunning lost her 17-year-old nephew to gun violence. She said he and many other young people might still be alive if they had community leaders teaching them about conflict resolution.
“You know a better way to have a conversation with somebody without just always shooting somebody without even knowing that they’re actually killing innocent bystanders,” she said.
Lakendra Alexander knows the harm pulling a trigger can cause firsthand. She was shot five times in 2020, and she wants people to think twice before making a life-changing decision.
“They have got to do better,” she said. “Baby, 'cause bullets don’t have no name.”
This is the second event the church has had within a week. This past Saturday, church leaders walked the community praying for people.
English (US)