This summer I was fortunate enough to see the very impressive and newly erected memorial of Rev’d Dr Martin Luther King Jr. on the National Mall of Washington DC.

With my visit to Washington coming so soon after the summer riots in the UK, it left me reflecting on, where are the Martin Luther Kings of our current times? Individuals who are willing to respond prophetically to God’s call through compelling scripture such as that found in Amos, to lead the way in peaceful struggle for social justice issues? 

Oh how they are needed, as so many in our communities go through the ‘mountain of despair’ and long for the gateway to the ‘stone of hope.’

Rev’d Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s re-working of Amos 5: 24 leaving us in no doubt of his inspiration coming from the likes of Amos: “No, No, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

My dream is that each of our churches would intentionally set time aside to indentify and nurture the leadership potential in our youth.  I reflect on what impact that kind of investment had on Martin Luther King Jr. as I read the memorial souvenir I was given which states ‘…descending from an ancestral line of Baptist ministers, his formative years were spent surrounded by various communities of faith and service. By 1955, at the age of 26, he himself was an ordained Baptist minister, had earned his Bachelor of arts, bachelor of divinity, doctorate of philosophy, and started a family…’

Gale Richards