February 23, 2007 London, United Kingdom …. [BUC News/Evangelical Alliance/ANN Staff]
Representatives of the London Seventh-day Adventist Youth Federation and other South London Adventists were among some 2,000 Christians and other Londoners who united in a prayer walk through two London boroughs blighted by a spate of fatal shootings.
The torch-lit walk on Thursday, Feb. 22, from Peckham Square to Windrush Square in Brixton, follows five murders in the area in the past month and fell on the same day Britain's Prime Minster Tony Blair held a government summit on gun crime with ministers, police and other experts.
The walk was organized by the Coalition of Black Churches and other Christian leaders, and was supported by the Mayor of London's office and the Metropolitan Police Service.
One of the leaders at the walk was Pastor Les Isaac, who directs the Ascension Trust Street Pastors Initiative–a program that organizes hundreds of volunteer pastors across the country who talk to young people out on the streets at night.
“Parents have spoken to us about young people going to school wearing bullet-proof vests,” says Isaac. “I'm walking because there is an expectation that the church should do something, [that it] should stand with those who are mourning. They should also find a solution, a way forward to get our young people out of this quagmire.”
Adventists are equally active in this process. Over the last two weeks, both the British Broadcasting Company and Sky News have interviewed Samantha Robinson, vice president of the London Youth Federation, regarding its initiatives against gun crime. On Dec. 16 and again on Jan. 6, the Federation led out in an “Anti-Gun Crime Rally” at the Brixton and Balham churches.
The Federation is now working towards producing an anti-gun/crime DVD for use in schools and is planning an outdoor rally in the summer.
Meanwhile, the Adventist church in Manchester's Moss Side continues to work with youth who are vulnerable to gang culture.
The pastor there, Michael Simpson, has launched “The Way”, a church and drop-in center focused on the needs of teens and their families. “To some extent the old gang structure has broken down,” Simpson told a local news program. “As the gunmen get younger, there's a lack of control and purpose, more [of] an expression of adolescent frustrations. But instead of using fists, they are using guns. These youngsters are disconnected from mainstream society.”
Simpson believes the Adventist presence can make a difference. So does Sam Gungaloo, youth leader at Balham Adventist church. But Gungaloo is calling for even more community action. “From Sabbath to Sabbath we attend [church events] … but we also have a responsibility to embark on a mission reeling in the lost souls on the outside. When Jesus walked this earth He spent due time in the synagogue but His mission was with the people outside.”
Copyright (c) 2007 by Adventist News Network.
