Friends, we lifted up a few names of people who risked their lives while speaking up against the injustices they witnessed or experienced themselves. During this month I will share with you stories of persons whose stories are less known but their contributions were equally meaningful. One such name is Claudette Colvin -- a civil rights activist in Alabama during the 1950's.

Friends it is a cold and frigid day today, but this is only the beginning from what I am hearing. I hope that we will all make wise choices and be careful if we need to be out and about! Even though I am in the safety and warmth of my house, something else gave me chills this morning. An email, from Church World Service, reminded me that: “January 27th marked two years of attacks by the administration against refugees and Muslims.” Meredith Owen went on to speak about the impact of bans on refugee and Muslim bans on the lives of many and how it also has hindered our capacity as a nation to welcome refugees. The refugee admissions goal for Fiscal Year 2019 is set at 30,000, which is ‘a new record low.’

This past Sunday we got to hear from the Book of Nehemiah, one of the historical books of the Old Testament. One line of the Scripture that really stood out to me came from chapter 8, verse 8: “They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.”
                                                                                                                  
I don’t know about you guys, but for me, there were times when it would have been helpful to have somebody explain to me, slowly, what in the world I was reading when I was reading the Bible.