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.
