GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A prayer group that held a national gathering in Washington D.C. for missing Kalamazoo doctor Teleka Patrick is now urging well-known pastor Marvin Sapp to get involved in the fundraising efforts for her.
Sapp, a Grammy-winning gospel singer and pastor in Grand Rapids, filed a personal protection order against Patrick, saying that she was stalking him and that she claimed he was her husband.
“I’m a national recording artist who [Teleka] has claimed as her husband,” wrote Sapp in the document. He claimed that Patrick moved to Michigan from California, joined his church, contacted his children and visited his home.
The group, the Pray at the Pump Movement, is urging Sapp to “prove his Christianity” on Martin Luther King Day and hold a fundraiser and publicly pray for Patrick.
“If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today and had been stalked by Dr. Taleka (sic) Patrick as has gospel great Marvin Sapp, we believe that he would spend this Holiday in a prayerful and forgiving mode for this physician who has been missing since December 5, 2013,” wrote movement founder Rocky Twyman in a release. “As a caring parent himself, Pastor Sapp must know the agony that the Patrick family must be experiencing not knowing whether their child is safe or not. Having lost his wife, he understands the pain of death all too well.”
Sapp, a pastor at Lighthouse Full Life Center Church in Grand Rapids, allegedly opened up to his congregation about being stalked by Patrick, an Ann Arbor woman who was at the sermon told the Kalamazoo Gazette on Jan. 9.
Pray at the Pump held a vigil outside FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. on Christmas Eve for the missing woman. The group has gotten national attention in the past for gathering to pray for lower gas prices.
Patrick was last seen Dec. 5 at approximately 8 p.m. She unsuccessfully attempted to check into a hotel room in downtown Kalamazoo, then her car was located about two hours later in a ditch on I-94 near Porter, Ind.
Her wallet with a driver’s license, credit card and cash were in the car as well as several clothing items.
The FBI confirmed Dec. 20 that they were assisting in the case. The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Department and Indiana State Police remain the primary agencies in the investigation.
Anyone with information on Teleka Patrick’s whereabouts should contact Kalamazoo Sheriff’s Office at 269-383-8821 or your local FBI office.
Full statement from the Pray at the Pump Movement:
If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today and had been stalked by Dr. Taleka (sic) Patrick as has gospel great Marvin Sapp, we believe that he would spend this Holiday in a prayerful and forgiving mode for this physician who has been missing since December 5, 2013. As a caring parent himself, Pastor Sapp must know the agony that the Patrick family must be experiencing not knowing whether their child is safe or not. Having lost his wife, he understands the pain of death all too well. The Pray at the Pump Movement strongly encourages him to use the enormous clout that he has to help us in our national prayer crusade to find this young lady who may be in harm’s way. Because of his popularity, we know that he is probably involved in some high profile event celebrating Dr. King’s life on Monday. We hope that before performing that he will encourage his fans to pray without ceasing for his stalker and ask them to call the Prayer Line of Hope that is daily petitioning God to find this talented physician safely. That number is 1-805-309-2350, password: 1001844#. We pray that God will touch his heart to remember Dr. Patrick in prayer before he performs at upcoming concerts around the country. In fact, we believe that if Dr. King had his talent that he would give a fundraising concert to acquire more money to increase the reward for finding the doctor. We know that it must be difficult for Mr. Sapp to accept these suggestions, however as a Christian, I am sure that he is familiar with the text in the Bible that says love your enemies. Patrick seems to be an enemy by no fault of her own. The old saying there but for the grace of God go I has never been more appropriate. In 2009, our movement urged through the media that President Obama visit Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney when they were hospitalized. In both cases, Obama was only minutes away from these two powerful Republican leaders. However, he was unable to drop his political pride and follow the precepts of the Bible that require us to love our enemies and bless them that despitefully use us. Since sick people crave compassion and care, we are convinced that such a visit would have helped to heal the political wounds that the country now faces with Obamacare and budget deals.
With God’s help and prayers of Mr. Sapp, we believe that there can and will be a breakthrough in this controversial case. God is pleased when we uplift prayer and fasting. We have designated this coming Saturday, January 25 and Sunday, January 26 as National Days of Fasting and Prayer for Dr. Taleka (sic) Patrick. We believe that if he participates and encourages his huge fan base to participate in our National Day of Prayer and Fasting for Dr. Patrick that the windows of heaven will open and pour out and enormous blessing on his ministry. We hope that Mr. Sapp will join in with the Pray at the Pump Movement and support this noble endeavor.
In keeping with the tenets of Christianity, we also believe that he should call the Patrick family and give them rays of hope. This is what Dr. King would do if he were alive. Yes, The time has come for Pastor Sapp to prove to the world that he is the Christian that he sings about before thousands of people yearly.
