Photo:
Pastor Kevin Palmiter, left, shows Friendship clergy colleagues Duane Broadwell, center, and Kirk Kirch how community homes will be selected for ongoing prayer under the new Bless Every Home prayer initiative.
Friendship Churches seek
to Bless Every Home With Prayer
FRIENDSHIP, NY
- A group of Friendship churches is embarking on an initiative to Bless
Every Home through ongoing prayer, helping to create a foundation for community
revival and transformation.
The
What God is Doing in Friendship ny alliance of churches is seeking to pray for
every household in the town through a community prayer initiative involving
both local church attendees and others.
The
churches will be undertaking the endeavor through a ministry which helps
identify households within the same area of the residence of a Christian Light,
which is a person who prays for individuals and families within their
neighborhoods.
The
prayer effort will be open to not only congregants of participating churches
but to others within the Friendship community who want to join the effort.
Pastor
Duane Broadwell of the Bible Baptist Church, one of the participating churches,
noted that “prayer forms the foundation for development of vibrant communities
in which the Spirit of God is invited into our midst to help create and nurture
caring connections among His people.”
He
said this initiative “encourages Christians within a community and beyond to
better know and love their neighbors.”
Using
maps of the community, Lights will be assigned individuals and families within
their neighborhoods to be prayed for on a rotating basis over a week’s period
of time, with the process then being repeated. The activity won’t be intrusive
upon those being prayed for, organizers report.
Over
time, new and better connections and relationships are built with neighbors,
according to Pastor Kevin Palmiter of
Followers of the way - Nile Community Church, with an opportunity for
neighbors to become a blessing to neighbors.
To
assist those who are praying to remember their neighbors, prayers with email
service or who download a cellphone app will obtain a daily list of five
households to pray for.
Those
without internet service receive a printed list of 40 households which they can
keep in prayer.
If
a household is located near more than one praying Light, individuals and
families may be on more than one prayer list.
“This
initiative helps those who are praying to show the love of Jesus, regardless of
their neighbors’ spiritual beliefs,” according to Pastor Kirk Kirch of the
United Church of Friendship.
“It
challenges participants to show neighbors authentic community and hospitality,”
he said, noting that “many people don’t even know their neighbors, or are aware
of few, in what has become a work-focused environment in which people are more
mobile than in prior decades when neighbors relied upon neighbors and area
family members to assist them in times of need.”
Organizers
say that “staying connected with your community is more crucial than ever in
today’s rapidly changing world.”
The
pastors point out that “when we begin to pray for our neighbors, we are not
just asking God to work in their lives but also are opening our own hearts to
our neighbors, helping to create stronger communities.”
They
add that “prayer has a way of cultivating empathy and compassion. As we pray
for our neighbors, we start to see them through God’s eyes, and this can
transform how we interact with them as we grow in faith.”
Orientation
sessions for congregants of each church will occur over the next several weeks.
Individuals who aren’t part of a
participating church congregation, but would like to be involved in this
ministry, can contact Allegany Hope, alliance outreach coordinator, at
AlleganyHopeWNY@outlook.com or (585) 664-9989 to be scheduled for inclusion in
an orientation gathering.
A greater emphasis on prayer in the
community started last September with the first Thursday of the month 8:30AM
gathering for prayer students, teachers, administrators, other staff, the
Board of Education, parents and others in front of the Friendship Central
School.
In May, the activity expanded during the
National Day of Prayer, which happened to coincide with the school prayer
gathering, with a continental breakfast being served afterward at the Bible
Baptist Church, located across the street.
Participant numbers have increased
significantly, with the prayer gatherings and breakfasts continuing during the
summer, the next being on Thursday, August 1, starting at the school at 46 West
Main Street, with all community residents invited to attend.
The churches alliance also hosted a free
outdoor showing of the nationally-acclaimed movie, War Room, over the July 4
weekend at Island Park in Friendship.
The Kendrick Brothers film highlighted
how a wife learns to use prayer and faith from an older prayed up women to put
her emotionally shattered family back together.
