Kentucky Governor Leads Prayer Walk Through High Crime Neighborhood: "I Believe in the Power of Prayer"

Meg Storm : Aug 23, 2017
Faithwire.com

"Block by block, we can reclaim our cities and our state. Hope is a powerful thing!" -Kentucky Governor Matt Begin

(Louisville, KY)—[Faithwire.com] Following through on his recommendation for communities to harness the power of prayer, Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin joined residents in Louisville on Friday for a prayer walk. (Photo Credit: Governor Matt Bevin/Facebook/via Faithwire.com)

Facing rising murder rates in the city's west end, Bevin spoke out at a community meeting in June about the devolving situation on the ground in Louisville. At the time, CBS News reported Louisville Metro Police had investigated an historic 118 criminal homicides in 2016, but, as of May, the 2017 murder rate was on pace to surpass the previous record-setting year.

In an effort to deal with the crisis, Bevin encouraged the people of Kentucky to embrace the "power of prayer" by organizing prayer groups that would regularly take to the streets of high-crime neighborhoods. He urged volunteers to choose a block in their communities and form teams of three to 10 people that could then walk up and down the streets several times a week for the next year.

"Go around the block, pause on each corner, pray for the people there, move to the next corner," Bevin explained to reporters after the meeting. "And over the course of the year, here's what's going to happen—they're going to get to know the people on the block."

His plan was met with both supporters and detractors, but the conservative governor said it would be a chance for "people of faith to put their faith to work."

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