On September 12, 1990, more than 45,000 teenagers in four different states met at their school flagpoles to pray together before the start of school. The next year, the movement spread, and on September 11, 1991, an estimated one million students met at their school flagpoles across America from Boston to Los Angeles.
Last Wednesday, September 22, 2010, twenty years after that first major gathering, millions of students joined around their school flagpoles from coast to coast, in nearly every town in America (and in other nations as well) to praise and petition God on behalf of their schools and friends and families, their communities and their countries.
They started early, too. At Valencia High School in California, the students gathered while it was still dark and their breaths misted in the early morning air. Jessica Kwon woke up at 5:00am to get there on time. "It's better to come early, you get more time to pray for your school," she said. "Prayer is a powerful thing."
These students did not need adults to lead them – they did the praying themselves. When 7:15 am rolled around, the group remained deep in the middle of their worship time, ignoring the other students who stared or giggled as they arrived for school.
"It's for the glory of God, that's all that really matters" Jessica said.
That same morning, at Deshler Middle School in Tuscumbia, Alabama (the hometown of Helen Keller), forty middle school students wrapped their arms across each other's shoulders and sought God together. According to Mark Pyle, the owner of the local FM radio station WFIX 91, those middle schoolers joined 4000 other students from the local area in northern Alabama and southern Tennessee. According to the numbers called into Pyle's station, the groups ranged in size from 10 at some schools to 300 at others.
All across America – and the world – they prayed. Kids. Kids who love Jesus.
Bless Our Schools Sunday:
They aren't alone though. Moms In Touch International has been promoting prayer in schools since 1984. These mothers (now in more than 120 countries) gather together to pray for their local schools, recognizing the power of prayer and faith in God Almighty. Whether two moms or two hundred gather weekly to pray for their local schools, the grace of Christ goes with them.
On Sunday, September 19, Moms International succeeded in kicking off the first annual Bless Our Schools Sunday, to remind churches of the importance of praying for their local schools. The day was intended to be set aside as "a time for churches to ask all the educators (teachers, administrators, staff, school board, etc.) and / or students in their congregation to stand and come forward while the pastor prays blessing over them for the school year."
The Mississippi legislature even got into it, passing a resolution that designated Sept. 19, 2010 as "Bless our Schools Day — A day of prayer for children and schools in Mississippi."
Morgantown Elementary Principal Fred Marsalis said, "I think every day should be a day of prayer for schools." At his school, the children have a moment of silence every morning after the Pledge of Allegiance during which they can pray if they want. "We can't openly pray because of respect for the constitution and other people's (religious) preferences," Marsalis said. However, they can give the children that opportunity to pray on their own.
Even science agrees that prayer has power behind it. A study published in the September 2010 issue of the Southern Medical Journal found that intercessory prayer does indeed work. Candy Gunther Brown, professor of religious studies at Indiana University, found that deaf and blind people who received prayer through Christian ministries in Brazil and Mozambique had marked improvement after they were prayed for.
"We really don't know what the mechanisms are, but we're observing really a fascinating effect that we need to look at more closely," Gunther Brown says.
Last Wednesday, September 22, 2010, twenty years after that first major gathering, millions of students joined around their school flagpoles from coast to coast, in nearly every town in America (and in other nations as well) to praise and petition God on behalf of their schools and friends and families, their communities and their countries.
They started early, too. At Valencia High School in California, the students gathered while it was still dark and their breaths misted in the early morning air. Jessica Kwon woke up at 5:00am to get there on time. "It's better to come early, you get more time to pray for your school," she said. "Prayer is a powerful thing."
These students did not need adults to lead them – they did the praying themselves. When 7:15 am rolled around, the group remained deep in the middle of their worship time, ignoring the other students who stared or giggled as they arrived for school.
"It's for the glory of God, that's all that really matters" Jessica said.
That same morning, at Deshler Middle School in Tuscumbia, Alabama (the hometown of Helen Keller), forty middle school students wrapped their arms across each other's shoulders and sought God together. According to Mark Pyle, the owner of the local FM radio station WFIX 91, those middle schoolers joined 4000 other students from the local area in northern Alabama and southern Tennessee. According to the numbers called into Pyle's station, the groups ranged in size from 10 at some schools to 300 at others.
All across America – and the world – they prayed. Kids. Kids who love Jesus.
Bless Our Schools Sunday:
They aren't alone though. Moms In Touch International has been promoting prayer in schools since 1984. These mothers (now in more than 120 countries) gather together to pray for their local schools, recognizing the power of prayer and faith in God Almighty. Whether two moms or two hundred gather weekly to pray for their local schools, the grace of Christ goes with them.
On Sunday, September 19, Moms International succeeded in kicking off the first annual Bless Our Schools Sunday, to remind churches of the importance of praying for their local schools. The day was intended to be set aside as "a time for churches to ask all the educators (teachers, administrators, staff, school board, etc.) and / or students in their congregation to stand and come forward while the pastor prays blessing over them for the school year."
The Mississippi legislature even got into it, passing a resolution that designated Sept. 19, 2010 as "Bless our Schools Day — A day of prayer for children and schools in Mississippi."
Morgantown Elementary Principal Fred Marsalis said, "I think every day should be a day of prayer for schools." At his school, the children have a moment of silence every morning after the Pledge of Allegiance during which they can pray if they want. "We can't openly pray because of respect for the constitution and other people's (religious) preferences," Marsalis said. However, they can give the children that opportunity to pray on their own.
Even science agrees that prayer has power behind it. A study published in the September 2010 issue of the Southern Medical Journal found that intercessory prayer does indeed work. Candy Gunther Brown, professor of religious studies at Indiana University, found that deaf and blind people who received prayer through Christian ministries in Brazil and Mozambique had marked improvement after they were prayed for.
"We really don't know what the mechanisms are, but we're observing really a fascinating effect that we need to look at more closely," Gunther Brown says.
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." - James 5:16
Related Links:
- Early Risers Pray At The Pole »
- The Santa Clarita Valley Signal - Students Gather For See You at the Pole »
- TimesDaily.com - Bless Our Schools »
- Moms in Touch International - Study Finds Link Between Prayer, Healing »
- IndyStar.com - See You At The Pole History »
- SYATP.com - Prayer Important in Schools, Officials Say »
- The Natchez Democrat - Sweet Communion: The Purpose Of Prayer »
- Koinoinia House
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