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Friday, August 24, 2018

Allegany County Prayer Focus is on Back to School

WELLSVILLE - Back to School will be the emphasis of a free Allegany County churches "commUNITY" picnic this Sunday, August 26, as their focus continues this month on children and families.
The activity will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Island Park, West VanDyke Street, Wellsville.  A dish-to-pass or dessert is welcome but not necessary, with tableware and beverages being provided.
School board members, administrators, teachers and school support personnel, including those associated with colleges and universities, parents and caregivers and children will be prayed for during the prayer, praise and worship time.
Music will be provided by the Venezuelan music ministry team at Knights Creek Church at Scio which includes the Acevedo-Escriban family of Houghton and David Peralta, music missionary at the church and a member of the Simon Bolivar Venezuelan National Symphony Orchestra.
This and other prayer activities each week are part of the Mission Genesee Valley coalition of churches seeking community transformation and revival throughout Allegany County and beyond. 
At a prior commUNITY picnic on August 12 it was noted that last year's Allegany County Schools Youth Survey found many disturbing trends, including:
      --  55.4 percent of 12th grade females and 30.3 percent of males agreeing or strongly agreeing that they have "felt depressed or sad most days" in the past year "even if (they) felt OK sometimes."  The number for females is fairly consistent from eighth grade on.
      -- Over a quarter of all 12th grade females report having responded by cutting or burning themselves when they are upset about something, with males at 11.3 percent.  This number for all females, eighth grade and above, is in excess of 21 percent.
      -- Of 10th grade females, 14.9 percent also report having made a plan within the past year as to how to attempt suicide, with 14.7 percent of 12th graders and 12.9 percent of eighth graders reporting the same.  Males report a lesser percentage at each grade level.
      -- Over half of 12th graders had used e-cigarettes or other tobacco vaporizers during the 30 days prior to the survey, along with 32.6 percent of 10th graders, and 12.3 percent of eighth graders.
      -- Over a third of students had used marijuana at some point, including 16.3 percent within the past month of the survey, with 3.4 percent of senior students having used other drugs, including 2.8 percent LSD or psychedelics and the same percentage for heroin and prescription pain killers during the same 30-day period.
        -- 16.9 percent of 12th grade students had engaged in binge drinking (five or more drinks on one occasion) in the past month, with 29.2 percent having used alcohol during that same period.
Mission Genesee Valley clergy say that churches began praying about the suicide issue for all ages several years ago when the county was experiencing the highest rate in New York State for completed suicides.  Although this ranking has dropped significantly, they said it still is "too high" at 15th from the top in a 2015 report from the State Health Department.
Three summer commUNITY picnics this year and two in 2017 continue an initiative of renewing of individual minds and hearts to combat issues of addiction, abuse, racism, suicide, poverty, family dysfunction and more that pastors say are growing throughout this area, the United States and world.
 This picnic event will include reflections on the "What God is Doing in Allegany County" Journey to Transformation initiative and upcoming multi-church activities over the coming months.  Information will be available at the picnic on the soon-to-open Hope Center in Wellsville, desired Celebrate Recovery ministry expansions throughout the county, Back to Church and Compassion Sundays in September, online missionary outreach, and more. 
The Journey to Transformation initiative started in January 2017, when county churches joined together for a three-day training by the international Sentinel Group to equip church leaders and attendees about the process of revival and transformation of communities, including information on locations throughout the world where this has occurred.
In May of last year, dozens of church-goers also participated in a followup Solemn Assembly gathering for prayer, worship, testimonies and declaration of community needs.
Since that time, twice-a-month Sunday night praise, worship and prayer gatherings, of which the picnics are a part, have been held around Allegany County, often focusing on specific topics such as families, schools, veterans, economic vitality, substance abuse, and more.
The Journey to Transformation prayer focus also includes weekly rotating community prayer sessions from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays.  These are part of a growing multi-church emphasis on the renewal of minds and hearts of individuals and families for county and communities transformation through prayer for the host and other churches and Christian organizations, individuals, the community, county and more.
Remaining Friday night gatherings for this month include August 24 at First United Methodist Church, 79 Madison Street, Wellsville; and August 31 at the Fountain Arts Center, 49 Schuyler Street, Belmont.
A third set of community prayer gatherings for individual and general concerns, including family members and friends, are held weekly from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. each weekday at Knights Creek Church, 2987 Knights Creek Road (County Road 9), Scio; 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Wednesdays at Belfast Free Methodist Church, 11 Chestnut Street; and 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturdays at the Power House Youth Center, 23 West Main Street, Fillmore.  Members of the community with prayer needs are welcome to attend any of these prayer sessions.
Further information about these activities and the Journey to Transformation initiative is available at www.facebook.com/TransformationJourneyUSA, or from Pastor Dan Kenyon of Wellsville Bible Church, Mission Genesee Valley chair, at wbc@ne.twcbc.com or (585) 593-6471, or most area pastors.