Three-year-olds are the epitome of energy and innocence. Questioning everything, they look at the world around them with wide eyes, taking everything in as they discover the world around them. Imagine being three years old at a park late at night, when suddenly your face is wet with your own blood from a glancing gunshot. This happened to a little boy in Chicago this past weekend. In the midst of a gun fight between rival gang members, a youngster was thrust into the spotlight that violence brings as he suffered immense injury to his face. News reports have abounded across the city and nation as we all wonder when the violence will end. Almost daily there is a story about the horrific violence in our city. What can be done to stop it? Who can change the outcome for the lives of these children? The answer is not an easy or simple one. Children in Chicago need to know of God’s great love for them and their need for a Savior. While the Gospel may not fix the violence for Chicago’s children overnight, changed lives will in turn change this city.
This past summer, in the midst of the violence, teams of teenagers went out into the city to give children the opportunity to hear about the hope of the Gospel. In one neighborhood, gunshots rang out around the same time one of our 5-Day Clubs was about to start. The team waited and prayed, and as the violence abated, the children came. Huddled together in the safety of a church, those children were comforted in the wake of the violence and given a chance to be children again-to play, smile, sing-and experience the joy of knowing Jesus as Savior and Lord. Every day there are children across the city who need desperately to know of God’s love and care for them. The calling is sure, the stakes are high.
We weep into the night over the lives that have been lost in this battle of violence; yet we open our eyes in the morning to the hope that only God can give. We’re committed to making a difference in this city by taking the Gospel to Chicago’s kids. Our prayer is for the violence to end, for lives to be changed by the Prince of Peace. Will you join us in the battle for the lives of the children? It’s time to pray for the children and to march into battle.
This song is somewhat long, but would you listen to this song, and pray for the children of Chicago as you listen to the words?
httpv://youtu.be/TkqqrCcXhl8
