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Kansas City, Kansas
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Our drive to
Kansas City was punctuated with scores of brilliant lightning flashes
and a torrential downpouring
of rain. When we arrived at the St. Mark Union Church on Union Church
in the central city, we
discovered
that the storm had caused all electrical power to go out in the
surrounding area.
The Reverend Samuel E Mann, (above on the left) pastor of the church
was on
the cell phone trying to
contact the powers that be to report the power outage which kept the
inside of the church in
near total
darkness.
As he worked the cell phone, the rain began to let up a bit and
eventually stopped all together.
Perhaps he contacted the Lord too, because shortly afterwards, the
power
came back on, the church lights came on and the air conditioning began
to
work again.
We attended the sunday service where Reverend Sam Mann introduced us as
representatives of the
Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba and Jim gave a summary of our purpose
and our travels to date.
After the service, we shared a meal and discussed the details of the
Pastors for Peace Caravan with
members of the congregations. Above, visiting pastor Desiree
Davis added her name to the list
showing
support for the Caravan.
One of the members of the congregation adds her name to the email list
for
the Caravan blog.
A tour of historic Quindaro
Like so many other places along the route of the Pastors for Peace
Caravan,
we were invited to stay in the home of a local organizer and
supporter.
In Kansas City, Moe F. opened her home to us and provided us with an
evening tour of historic Quindaro district, an important staging point
for
the Underground Railroad.
On a hillside overlooking the Missouri River, a newly constructed
observation platform commemorates
the importance of Quindaro. The platform
overlooks the site of an archaeological
dig which has
unearthed much history of the area.
Moe explains the significance of the Quindaro archaeological ruins to
Jim.
Nearby, a statue of the abolitionist John
Brown commemorates his life and
the contributions he made to the history of African Americans in Kansas.
The John Brown Statue and Memorial Plaza
Christmas in July!
Christmas in July you ask???? In the evening, Moe, our overnight
host
invited us to join a party being held in another historic area of the
community
where a Christmas in July celebration was going on.
When we arrived at the party, we found Christmas decorations and
candles,
trays of food, festive drinks and heaps of Christmas cookies.
Gifts were
exchanged and we shared our story of the Cuba Caravan with the guests.
Some of the guests at the Christmas in July Party.
Enough
is Enough! Free the Five!