I moved to Minneapolis in August of 2024 from a small rural town in Nevada. Admittedly, prior to moving here I was afraid of living in a city that appeared to be so dangerous from an outside perspective. It seemed to me that whenever I saw Minneapolis on the national news it was never portrayed in a flattering light. I feared for my safety and often asked God why he’d send me to a place like Minneapolis when he knew that there was a good chance I’d be in danger here.
Minneapolis had long been associated with the George Floyd incident before I even got here, and it was abundantly clear that Floyd’s death and its aftermath had a profoundly negative impact on the city. One block would be absolutely beautiful and another—perhaps just five to ten minutes away—was deemed “not even safe to walk.” When my home church pastor prayed for me on my last Sunday with my congregation before my big move, he jokingly called Minneapolis “The wicked city” (funnily enough, when I write home this is how I still refer to the city) but it was not long after my move here that I would find out that this label of “The wicked City” would be to me no mere jest.
I do want to preface what I’m about to say with this: I love the Twin Cities and the news often portrays it in a way that emphasizes its flaws. As in all things, Minneapolis is not just one thing. It is also a beautiful city, rich with a unique culture and character. It is filled with wonderful people that I know and have come to love. I will be talking about scary things in this letter but the scary things I’ve been through here have been few and far between. They absolutely do not diminish the many good things about the city that the news won’t ever cover.
That said, within the first month of my move, my apartment had been broken into and some of my roommates had some of their items stolen. This was honestly scary. The school responded helpfully with other staff and students checking in on us, and extra measures were taken to make sure that the apartments would be safer. I still remember the care that I was shown and am still grateful for the community’s reaction during that time. However, already fearing that I was unsafe, there was a part of me that truly thought about going back to Nevada. God calmed those thoughts when I remembered the words from a sermon that I had listened to just the night before. The title of the sermon escapes me but the topic and the name of the speaker certainly do not, the sermon was about having your home plundered and the speaker was none other than John Piper himself. In this sermon, Piper said something to the effect that “ministry is not promised to be safe.” I was also reminded of an R.C. Sproul quote that said, “Where hurt in the community festers, that is where the church should be.”
Funnily enough, this incident—one that started by sparking fear—cemented my resolve to put my foot down and stay in Minneapolis. This year we have also faced hard realities. I live in a neighborhood that has directly felt the effects of worldly brokenness and improper reactions to both perceived and legitimate injustices. Even this experience has reaffirmed the fact that I’m not going anywhere.
It grieves me that Minneapolis is becoming defined by hard things. The events have been scary, but Minneapolis is also a beautiful city, even as it is clearly a hurting city.
If Christians aren’t in places like this, where are we and what are we doing? Not all Christians are called to be in Minneapolis, but Minneapolis, like any place on earth, is a mission field. Simply put, Minneapolis needs Christians and places like Bethlehem College and Seminary. The church absolutely should be in places like this, acting as a shield and stronghold against the hateful and flaming darts of our enemy the devil. Minneapolis needs Christ. To echo the words of Jonathan Parnell (the pastor of Cities church in Minneapolis) during one of his sermons “We love the Twin Cities. We are not giving up on the Twin Cities. We want everyone in the Twin Cities to know Jesus.” Living in Minneapolis is an opportunity to be a clarifying and truthful eye in the middle of a confusing storm, the good light in the midst of an evil darkness, and the stubbornly beautiful flower that grows out of hardened concrete.
Grace Knoll
College Student