KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Peace Patrol Minister Bishop John Birmingham and Minister Stephen Ames with Brothers Loving Brothers want the killing in Kansas City, Missouri, to stop.
Bishop Birmingham preached Saturday from an open casket about how violence impacts our communities.
The number of homicides in the city were written on the side of the casket.
“A young man is going to lay in the same position as I am laying,” Birmingham said. “My heart is broken every time a young man is killed, my heart is broken when they find bodies in automobiles, my heart has been broken when our children have been victimized by this madness.”
The mission of the demonstration Saturday was to get the attention of people passing by about the impact of violence.
“Discipline yourself," Ames said. "Don’t take out your vengeance and your wrath and your hate and kill your brother. A future father is being killed, a future pastor being killed, a future leader being killed, a future president being killed."
The group took their message to the area around East 31st Street and Prospect Avenue.
“We can no longer justify why we are killing each other," Ames said. "It's not just justifying, its about unifying."
Bishop Birmingham told KSHB 41 News the open casket was a necessary statement to show the ongoing impact of violence within our community
“The casket is somewhat alarming them," he said. "It’s a strong statement of a harsh reality of people being killed everyday.”
Ames and Birmingham, with the help of others, preaching and passing out flyers, made sure their message was heard.
“A lot of times people think, 'oh he got shot or that's another one, that’s another one,'" Ames said. "If you turn the table around, you’ll see how many families is hurting every time one person is killed.”
Ames and Birmingham, with the help of others in the community, made sure their message was heard.
“If we gonna ever do better, we must come together,” Ames said.
