Praise Reports from the National Day of Prayer Gatherings!

10/05/2018 0 Comment in Bible Teaching-Leadership by sbogardus

Please take a moment to read some of the responses received from our Ohio churches regarding their National Day of Prayer events held May 3 "...so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God." 2 Corinthians 4:15

We started with a Prayer Breakfast at 7 AM hosted by the Trenton Mennonite Church. Then @ 8:30, we started a Bible Reading Marathon that involved 220+ people for 81 straight hours across the street from the Government Services building. Great experience! Keith Risner, Edgewood, Trenton

Our 2nd. annual "NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER" service at Somerville Community Church was well attended with several churches participating. We believe that the deliberate gathering of God’s people to pray will have an effectual outcome.

Our special keynote speaker was State Representative Candice Keller and one pastor had this to say, “We went to hear Ohio State Representative Candice Keller speak. She is a born again Christian and an activist for life! She made a statement that brought me to tears immediately. "If we decided to have a moment of silence for all the babies that have been aborted it would last 115 years!" She encouraged God’s people to pray and to get more involved!”

All those who attended the "NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER" service believe II Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." Pastor Mark Crary was very encouraged by the "NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER" service.

Photo left to right, Kent Keller, Candice Keller, Mark Crary

AMAZING GRACE HOW SWEET THE SOUND!

We had our first annual National Day of Prayer. A lady had it as a conviction on her heart to do it this way so we reserved an outside shelter at the city park, on a day we were supposed to have severe thunderstorms. Not even a hint of rain came our way. We had 20 people representing 4 churches and spent an hour in prayer and ended with a verse of Amazing Grace. Onto bigger and better next year! Michael Adams, South Fairborn Baptist Church, (first time to have NDP event)

We had a great turnout. Four different pastors prayed for the nation and our community, our First Responders, government unity and the Mayor, our schools, our students and teachers, manual laborers and administrators, the community churches and pastors. The Ethiopian pastor who prayed for First Responders told the story of how Whitehall has the fastest response time and while in Ethiopia it could take as long as 48 hours for a response. He was very grateful.

The two police chaplains headed up the event including our own Darryl Hammock from City of Refuge Baptist Church.

Clough Pike BC, Cincinnati, invited first responders to the church between 7:30-10:00 am. 38 firefighters, police, and EMTs showed up and stayed for well over an hour. They interacted with trained church members who engaged them in conversation and offered to pray for them. The church invited several other churches to come and just pray for Unity, the National Day of Prayer 2018 theme.

Dr. Josh Carter is the pastor and Mary Leigh Snowden was the National Day of Prayer Coordinator and also leads the church’s Prayer Committee, which conducted the event. Everyone at Clough received a NDoP bracelet five weeks in advance to encourage prayer.

Everyone that attended received a prayer guide, bookmark, and devotional book by Max Lucado. And everyone enjoyed the chicken biscuits, bagels, and donuts. Inside each book was also a card with an invitation to attend the church and join in on a picnic at a local park the following Sunday. Several people from the community just came to spend a few minutes praying in the sanctuary.

The Union Township fire chief expressed appreciation. He said, “The fire and police staff seldom get together and this helped their camaraderie.” He also requested prayer not only for safety, but for the emotional welfare of his first responders. He said, “The daily grind of only working with people in crisis gets to them after a while.”

Some officers kidded that one of their group was the last guy to ever be seen in a church, but he came anyway. And the police officer in charge of their summer picnic invited Clough Pike to be part of their picnic. Mark Snowden, Director of Missional Leadership, Cincinnati Area Baptist Association