Dear ISAAC Family,

We pray for and send you love, peace, health and wellness to you and yours and all individuals around the world. We would like you to know that St. Luke’s as with many congregations, organizations, businesses and locations, for the safety of our community, will be closed to in person services and group meetings. ISAAC will hold meetings via Zoom in the month of April. As we are facing this pandemic, we understand that inequities are not put on hold, but magnified with further disparities. As people of faith and consciousness, our work of justice around housing, gun violence prevention, Group Violence Prevention, racial healing and anti-racism will continue on; we are committed to doing so in new ways. We have to lift-up and acknowledge that in the midst of this pandemic, there are actual disparities around this virus, connected to structural racism & classism and age. Our ISAAC team is staying busy working during this time in new and creative ways.

During last Monday’s first virtual City Commission work meeting we were all reminded of the hate that pervades our society and why we do the work we do. A few anonymous “zoom bombers” spewed violent and hateful speech in the form of Anti-Semitism and Racism. Our work continues…

We want to thank you all for continuing to be informed by Medical Experts and practicing social distancing. We must acknowledge that it’s a privilege to work from home or stay safely at home during this time.

We salute, pray for and honor those who can’t stop working, essential workers in various professions who risk their lives daily for us all.

We honor, pray for and remember those of our community members who have been laid off, do not have health insurance and/or no paid sick days to use, now experiencing even more economic disparities.

We pray for small business owners who are experiencing economic uncertainties.

We pray for and remember children and adults staying home in unsafe situations.

We pray and remember community members who have no home/house, or anyplace to go during this time to be protected.

We pray and honor our undocumented fellow community members and families who are experiencing economic disparities, with no federal aid, and for El Concilio and Voces and many others helping to meet needs at this time.

We pray for and lift up our local service providers who are working diligently and selflessly (too many to name) as the need has doubled and tripled.

We pray for and honor Clergy and Leaders who are carrying the burden of support for their congregations and organizations.

We pray for and advocate with our Public Officials, Elected Officials and Lawmakers for equitable and wise responses.

We pray for those feeling fear, alone, anxiety, disconnected, marginalized, overwhelmed, stressed or uncertainty.

We pray for those who are at great risk now due to health indicators and risk factors.

We pray for those recovering from covid-19 currently and those impacted. We pray for those who have lost loved ones already locally, nationally and globally.

We pray and we act!

We encourage us all to stay connected to one another via phone and social media as we are the ISAAC Family <3 Please reach out if you need help or support, you may call 2-1-1 or your own support networks. Our local service providers are working diligently and selflessly, and we can keep you posted on ways to support our local agencies and health institutions through monetary and supplies’ donations.

If you would like a Facebook Invite to the Kzoo Covid-19 Mutual Aid and/or Kalamazoo Parent Support Group, please let us know. These are ways to find and share support, resources and to get involved.

We will be posting information and updates on Facebook and via email regarding our on-going ISAAC work. Please like our “ISAAC, Interfaith Strategy for Advocacy and Action in the Community” Facebook page (we will be posting songs and readings from ISAAC Clergy & Leaders) AND subscribe to our ISAAC email blast by visiting (scroll near the bottom): isaackalamazoo.org

We want to thank all donors, please continue to give via check and online. We will be depositing checks throughout the month, but it may take a little longer, as the mail has been rerouted to a different location before it gets to us. Thank you for your patience.

May this be a time of love, reflection, health, wellness, rest, peace, low stress, connection and reaching out to and blessing those in different, yet meaningful ways.  May we never lose hope, lean into our faith & values and stay connected to each other!  May we not stop fighting for justice in our community, no matter what we face!

Scriptures we would like to leave with you:

Psalm 121 King James Version (KJV)

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

² My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

And

Lamentations 3:19-24 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
²⁰ I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
²¹ Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

Elder Doug King and Dr Charlae Davis Leader of the Year

We look forward to seeing you via Zoom in April!

Blessings and love to you,

Elder Doug King and Dr. Charlae Davis