RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Black Lives Matter protest in Richmond, Kentucky, turned into a powerful prayer circle after a local pastor brought out a prayer booth Saturday afternoon.
When Tate's Creek Baptist Association's Pastor Danny Davis found out there was to be a protest, he saw it as an opportunity.
"We went there to pray for the marchers, the police and city officials. We just wanted to pray for everyone's safety, and everyone just worked together. I think it spoke really well of Richmond and Madison County," explained Davis.
What started as an idea became a focal point of the protest.
"We didn't realize that we were going to be right in the middle of everything," said Davis. "I've not been doing this because of social distancing; you don't try to touch people too much. But, we all joined hands and made a huge circle and prayed together all of us there for the marchers, for the safety of the law enforcement personnel, and that was a beautiful beginning to the event."
He said the goal was to pray and remind the Richmond community loving your neighbor is the foundation of a good community.
"In regard to my faith, the foundation of that faith and the greatest commandment that Jesus told us is to love the Lord our God with all of heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as yourself," said Davis. "Who is our neighbor? Our neighbor is whoever so happens to be standing in front of us at any given time."
While the community admits, there is work to do to bridge the divide, Davis said, "Sin is what divides us. That's the very core of it. Until you get to the core of it, you don't really deal with it. You can deal with it at a level, but it comes down to our hearts. It comes down to a change in our hearts that comes through redemption through the gospel."
Davis expressed that he has hope for Richmond, "Love transcends all boundaries. Love is courtesy, kindness, and respect. We can give that to anyone. With the power of God, we can certainly do that. God enables us to do that. Everyone deserves that, people of all color, people of all different nationalities. We're all made in the image of God."
