Home is important to everyone, no matter who you are, or what your situation is. We all have a connection to where we are from or to where we live now, and our hearts are united to whatever we call home.

When something tragic happens in our home; it touches our heart, our foundation suddenly is shaken, and we feel for our home and it;s residents. Whether that home is where you grew up, where you live now, or your actual "physical" home we all know what it is like to have something in our life suffer for a time.

I am from the amazing city of Milwaukee. There is so much history, but unfortunately this is also a city with so much turmoil and danger. I would like to bring some specifics to the attention of readers so you can pray for this special city.

Gun violence and gang violence has always been a problem for Milwaukee. Similar to Chicago, it is an ongoing problem, that cannot just take one police chief to try and solve. The only solution is in the hands of the people of the city. It takes a united front to decrease issues of violence, and until we all agree to do that, the violence will remain.

A lot of these issues are wrapped up in race tensions, but honestly, until people of the same ethnic groups stop killing each other, this problem will not go away. Blacks are killing other blacks and blaming others for it. Milwaukee specifically needs to decrease the black on black crime.

A third problem that has created a lot of tension is the segregated environment of Milwaukee. Milwaukee has almost every ethnic group represented, but all these groups are in their one sects, so a city with such a diverse makeup is actually one of America's most segregated cities.

Whenever I go back to school in Illinois the city that I am from is always on my mind, and I have a heart to go back and preach the gospel to them after I graduate. This year however, my heart was more heavy when I found out recent events of Milwaukee. As I departed for school the middle of August, I turned on the news to find out that there had been severe rioting in Milwaukee. Small businesses had been burned to the ground, businesses that people had spent their lives building up, only to get crushed to the ground.

Now my city was broadcasted on news networks across the nation, the media coverage has been giving Milwaukee a bad image. This might make people hesitant about visiting or living in my beautiful city, and that breaks my heart.

I was embarrassed, angry and sad when I first heard the news. I was embarrassed because of their actions. It made me angry, because people's responses to things that happen are so out of control, they do things that they will regret later. It also made me sad because I see so many great things in my city, and the world does not get to see that, they just see that we have--violence.

So what should the response be? I have no idea. We need to pray, we need to pray that church leaders in the city would be strong, and seek the Lord. We need to pray that we would have the courage to go into the city to share the gospel. We need to pray that God gives Milwaukee peace. But its more than just praying while that is good, the city of Milwaukee needs people to share the gospel.

We need people that are not afraid to come and show Milwaukee the love that God has, they are seeking for it even though they may not even know it. So if you are reading this, pray for Milwaukee, and if you feel a conviction to share the gospel, just go. God will cover the details for you, we need to go.

Gabriel