Martin Luther King Jr. honored

MOSES LAKE — Martin Luther King Jr. Day was celebrated Monday with song, prayer and words of encouragement.

The Moses Lake Gospel Community Choir hosted live music, scripture and prayer at Faith Community Church in Moses Lake.

The theme was "Keeping the dream alive."

Featured speaker Pastor Randy Moore of Say Yes Lord Ministries encouraged people to follow their dreams, even in the face of opposition from those who do not understand.

"Dreams don't come easy," Moore said. "No matter what people tell you, no matter what people say, they don't come easy."

Moore said young people should be told their dreams are important and supported by those around them. Even though others may not see the hard work put forth along the way, they see the results of the hard work, he said.

"We didn't see The Rolling Stones when they were a rolling pebble, did we?" he said.

The holiday celebrates the work of Martin Luther King Jr. in his quest for racial equality during the civil rights movement.

King was born in Atlanta, Ga., on Jan. 15, 1929, to Pastor Martin Luther King Sr. According to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. King earned his doctorate in systematic theology in 1955. He helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957. King helped lead demonstrations in Birmingham, Ala. in 1963. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and was assassinated in 1968.

Moore compared King to Joseph from the Bible, reading from Genesis 37:5. The passage states Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers, they hated him even more. Later in Genesis, Joseph's brothers try to kill him. Moore said he believes the brothers were trying to kill Joseph's dream, and the same is true for King.

"They didn't really want to assassinate him, they wanted to assassinate his dream," he said.

He advised people who are following their dreams to change their behavior, or people will treat them the same way. He said everyone has a dream, and they need to trust in God in order to fulfill it.

Moses Lake resident Carolyn Howard said King was a great man. Her daughter, Shuntay Howard, said Moore's sermon helped refresh her memory of how King helped society.

Moses Lake resident Dave Chandler said Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a good day to remember King's contributions.

"He did a lot for our nation and he brought us to a place we needed to go to," Chandler said.