I could feel the emotions well up in my chest (and out my eyes) as our group walked down the street to the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The congregation dates to the early 19^th century when more than 4,000 free and enslaved Black Charlestonians met to worship together. It has endured two centuries of natural disasters and ongoing racial tensions, still standing tall in this city that holds so much history.

Mother Emanuel AME church rests in our memories due to the racially motivated terrorist act from 6 summers ago. A young man entered a Wednesday night Bible study of the faithful attenders, and after sitting in their circle discussing the Bible for almost an hour, pulled out a gun and started shooting. He killed the minister and 8 other congregants while they prayed, perhaps even as they prayed for their young visitor.

We sadly witness too many of these tragedies in different places around the United States, but this one at a church in the middle of a Bible study hit me hard, especially thinking about the members graciously welcoming someone different from themselves into their circle.

Sobering, it moves me to pray and ask the Lord to continue to draw people to Himself through the work of His Spirit and by His people. We cannot fix racial divides and hostility apart from the Lord, and we are desperate for His help.

Psalm 9:9 reminds me and comforts me: “The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble.”