January 27

With you I look forward to our annual celebration of African-American History Month. There are themes, events and stories to be explored that shaped and shape us. There is learning to be done that will be of value to all. There is inspiration to be found that will encourage our hearts, minds and souls. Our  theme this year is “Walk in the Light.” The theme Scripture is John 12 :25, Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going.”
Last  night (Sunday, January 25) I had the opportunity to worship with and preach for the San Francisco Kachin Baptist Church. The Kachins are currently in great pain after learning of the rape and murder two young Baptist women (21 year old Maran Lu Ra and 20 year old Tangbau Hkwan Nan Tsin) who were teaching in a Baptist community in the Shan State in northern Burma. It is suspected that members of the Burmese military committed this heinous crime.  In my sermon I drew parallels between this atrocity and the deaths of  Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley Carole Robertson and Denise McNair in the bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963. If the  act of evil in Birmingham helped to turn the tide against the segregationists in the South, perhaps the act of evil in northern Burma will help direct the worlds attention to the plight of the Kachin people. Let us pray. Let us hope.