Domestic Violence Awareness Month 

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I live in Greene County, Missouri where the reported domestic violence rate is twice that of any county in our state. Our region also suffers under the impact of an unholy trinity of domestic violence, poverty, and methamphetamine production. (Missouri has ranked either number one or number two in the last decade for "meth" production related arrests). Domestic violence is not merely a problem beyond the scope of communities of faith. This tragedy is, all too often, squarely the experience of scores of adherents at churches, large and small, regardless of social strata. Domestic violence is a public problem because it impacts a broad spectrum of issues from the  well-being of families to public safety; its impact can be felt for generations. The simple fact is that domestic violence strips from human beings the dignity that God has given each person made in the image of God. Men and women, children young and younger are cast adrift in life as violence literally takes away a gift that God has given them.

As followers of Jesus, we simply must recognize that our awareness of this issue is critical to healthy civic life and the strength of faith communities. I want to recommend to you a resource that my daughter, Olivia, has produced. This award winning film will have its television premiere Monday, October 17th. The accompanying information will give you the details of the film's showing and also provide you access to some significant materials that will serve your efforts to address this issue in your community.

The advice of King David is instructive in this critical issue.  Psalm 37:11 says, "Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."

Byron D. Klaus

President  

Sin by Silence,

A Teaching Tool
About Domestic Violence

The Sin by Silence

television premiere is

Monday night on

Discovery ID

at 8 pm.