Praying for Emanuel AME

Praying for Emanuel AME

One of CIU's core value stones stands before the CIU Prayer Towers

Columbia International University began the morning of June 18 with a heavy heart. As our flags were raised to half-staff in unison with the South Carolina governor, we joined other South Carolinians in mourning the deaths of nine people murdered at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston the night before.

At a time such as this, CIU draws upon our core value of Prayer & Faith, living in constant dependence on God. Through the power of prayer, and in faith that He hears those who humbly come to Him, we ask that He would meet the deepest needs of those who have lost loved ones, the parishioners of Emanuel AME, and members of the CIU family who have ties to the church. In a time of desperate need, David cried out in Psalm 3:

But You, O Lord, are a shield about me,
My glory, and the One who lifts my head.
I was crying to the Lord with my voice,
And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah.

We also lift up before God, the investigation and prosecution of the crime. We are reminded in 1 Timothy 2:2 to “pray for kings and all who are in authority …”

We must also pray for the perpetrator. Acts of violence remind us that:

The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9) 

At CIU our purpose is to educate people from a biblical worldview to impact the nations with the message of Christ. That begins with our own nation and our own state. May we be found faithful.

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19)

Dr. William H. Jones

President 

Editor's Note: CIU professor of church ministry Dr. Andre Rogers comments on the history of Emanuel AME in an ariticle published by The Associated Press, "Charleston Shooting Took Place at one of Oldest Black Churches."