Email from American Values Please share with your fellow prayer warriors.   Fighting For Faith, Family & Freedom Saturday, October 25, 2025 To: Friends & Supporters From: Carol Bauer As you know, my wife, Carol, prepares a monthly prayer alert. I hope you will share Carol's thoughts with your friends and fellow worshipers. Thank you for taking an interest in her monthly devotion. -- Gary It has been well over a month since the heart breaking assassination of faith and free speech advocate Charlie Kirk. This shocking loss of a young man in his prime who had such a positive impact on today's college students and young professionals is still hard to acknowledge. The positive news is that his assassination has triggered hundreds of thousands of the younger generation to take a fresh look at what he stood for and died fighting to represent. If there is anything positive to come out of this horrific loss, this is it. His assassination has prompted many to take an introspective look at their values and how they live their lives. One might have thought that the circumstances of his death and the clarion call that emanated from his beautiful memorial service would have stilled angry voices and lowered the temperature of public discourse at least for awhile. It did not. In fact, the shrill voices against administration policies and values have become louder, angrier, more hate-filled and more frequent. And those voices come from the highest level of elected leaders all the way down to the "man on the street." In fact, the words and actions are just shy of a call to arms. Do they think we have not noticed their attempts to raise the temperature to the boiling point? Law enforcement officials are dehumanized and attacked for doing their jobs and protecting communities. Gone are the days of anonymous and hate-filled attacks made behind a protected wall of secrecy. Instead, those apparently looking to trigger violence are celebrated as they seek the spotlight and are applauded and upheld by their peers and leaders alike. The result is that mentally unstable people living among us feel they have the green light to assassinate, burn churches, target people of the Jewish Faith and tear down the institutions that have served us well for nearly 250 years. Political discourse is full of vitriol, neighbor is pitted against neighbor and brother against brother. The sad truth is there seems to be less and less that unites us and more and more that divides us. Heavenly Father, still our hearts and turn them to You for the peace only You can offer. We are weary and beaten down by the divisions roiling the body politic and spilling over into our personal relationships. Strengthen us for the coming days. Give us the courage to stand for what is right for our country now and in the future. Guide us to nourish the family and friend relationships that are dear to us. We beg You to transform the hearts of those willing to entertain violent actions or inciteful words instead of normal political discourse. We know that when violence is normalized, it can get out of control and lead to life-changing and unexpected societal changes. Dear Lord, guide our country and its leaders. Give them wisdom for the challenging days ahead. Many churches across the country are still experiencing increased attendance in the weeks following Charlie Kirk's assassination. It is being called the "Charlie Kirk effect." Reportedly the horrific attack on this stellar husband and father has prompted hundreds of thousands of young people to take an introspective look at their own lives and priorities. Many are showing a willingness to return to a faith background they had left or are deciding to go deeper into a faith search. I feel part of this search is a desire for community with others on a similar journey. Pray for church leaders, be they senior pastors, singles pastors, youth pastors, or elder boards. They will set the tone for how individual churches respond to these new folks in the pews. Will the new attendees feel welcomed, will their questions be answered with love and understanding and respect? Will they be embraced in love and offered activities and conversation circles that make them feel an integral part of the faith community? Pray that the church leadership and those sitting in the pews for years will see themselves as the hands and feet of Christ. Pray that the new young attendees would be open to the outreach designed to meet them where they are on their faith journey. 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