A gunman open-fired at Richmond Road Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, Sunday, killing two and injuring two, before police shot and killed him.
Just before noon, about 16 miles from the church, a state trooper pulled Guy House over due to a stolen vehicle license plate alert. The driver shot the trooper, fled the scene, hijacked another car, and then drove to the church. Police followed and killed him, but not before Beverly Gumm, 72, and her daughter Christina Combs, 34, died.
Guy entered the church through the back door, as Beverly and her daughter, Star Rutherford, prepared lunch in the basement fellowship hall. He asked for one of Star’s sisters, reportedly the mother of his three children. But when they said she wasn’t there, he killed Beverly, and then went back outside and opened fire, killing Christina and wounding her husband, Randy, and Beverly’s husband, Jerry, pastor of the church. Randy, Jerry, and the state trooper were all in critical, but stable condition Sunday night.
Beverly was the mother of eight children and known for her love, especially feeding the homeless, drug addicts and other strangers in need. Christina was the mother of five, one only six months old. She would have graduated from nursing school this December. (Valerie Honeycutt Spears, Lexington Herald Leader, July 13)
Posts circulating on X describe Guy as anti-Christian, pro-Palestinian, and previously arrested for multiple offenses.
Lord, please wrap Your arms around this whole family, church and all those who knew and loved Beverly and Christina, and comfort them with Your love. Heal Jerry, Randy and the state trooper by Your mighty hand. From out of this terrible tragedy, please bring forth Your good and perfect purposes. Give the lost in this community a deep hunger for You, and grow Your church. Invade the hearts and lives of every persecutor in the U.S. Break the chains that bind them to enemy purposes, free them from their prejudices, block every attempt of violence, and draw them to Yourself to be saved. Build every Christian strong in faith and in the knowledge of Your Word. Empower them to love their enemies, forgive those who persecute them, and shine brightly in the darkness, sharing Your good news with the lost and bringing many to faith in You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Don’t Miss a Day of Prayer
Join the army! Pray through the news for God’s purposes to prevail. To get the daily posts delivered to your inbox in time for your morning quiet times, enter your email address in the space below:
For the powerful devotional Bible studies for men and women on overcoming the enemy in the battlefield of the mind, Dare to Be a Mighty Warrior and Delight to Be a Woman of Wonder, and for other Christian books for all ages, visit MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com
Mikaela Vincent and her husband are missionaries who live by faith, trusting in God to provide for their needs as they pray for and share Christ with the nations. If you would like to help their ministry through a donation, or by shopping at Mikaela’s online bookstore, click the buttons below:
Thank you for your support! All proceeds this author receives from the sale of books at MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com go to shining Christ’s light among the nations. If you’d like to know more about how you can help the Vincents’ ministry, please contact Mikaela.
PRAYER WALL 