A Message from Pastor Rudy Bropleh On the Current Crisis in America

For more than a week now our nation has gone from shock to grief to protest and a cry for change! The painful and very public killing of George Floyd has stirred the conscience of our nation; and every citizen should be concerned.

We at Asbury Church, with membership from about 17 nations, are a multicultural Christian community. We love, respect, welcome, and appreciate the diversity of our humanity. For us, color is not a barrier, it’s a beauty. Everybody has sacred worth and is an important part of God’s creation. We affirm that. - 

To the family of George Floyd, we extend our prayers for healing, comfort, and peace, as you learn to live with the reality of the unnecessary and untimely death of your loved one. It is our prayer and hope that God will bring something good out of this for your family, and for the nation as a whole.

Racism is wrong. It is evil and it is unjust. Anyone who feels entitled to special privileges due not to your character or conduct, but your skin color, is sick. Our nation is really sick right now, as evidenced by the brutal killing of George Floyd. And our sickness is pretty severe because it has stubbornly stuck around for more than 400 years! Finding a cure has become more complicated because we lack the leadership to unite us, helping us to heal and be made whole.

Today I’m asking the more than 2 billion Christians around the world to join in our struggle for racial equality by praying for us. James 5:16 says we should confess our sins to each other and pray for one another so that we may be healed. For the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. If each church across the globe would ask God to heal America of the cancerous illness of racism, that will help. 

2 Chronicles 7:14, “¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” For the 240 million Christians in America, please join me as we plead with God to heal our land. 

I am asking every White pastor in America to stand in your pulpit or on whatever platform you’re using right now, and tell your congregation that racism is wrong. It doesn’t matter if they already know where you stand, or that your church is not racist. Declare that truth and ask them to go and multiply the same message in their homes, and wherever they go for the next 2 weeks.

The fact is, if more of our White brothers and sisters begin to speak out loudly and consistently that racism is wrong and needs to be removed from our society, we will be much closer to a cure for this pandemic of racial inequality. It is time for every leader to use his or her influence to bring about change. And please don’t be political with what is so personal and painful for many of your fellow citizens. Don’t lead by consensus, lead by conscience. This is no time to worry about what is popular; this is the time to do what is right.

If we can send a man to the moon, we can find a way to live together with dignity, racial equality, and justice for all. With God’s help, nothing shall be impossible for us. If we work together, I am confident that our tomorrow will be better than our yesterday. So let’s get to work. May God bless our labor.

Hopeful about the future, 

 Rudy Bropleh

Pastor Rudy Bropleh