LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (BP)–As students gather around school flagpoles for the annual “See You at the Pole” event Sept. 19, their prayers will have been augmented in many areas by a similar effort by parents and others the night before.
During the Campus Prayer Journey 2001, individuals will walk, ride or drive around school campuses beginning at 7 p.m. — praying not only for the safety of students, but for God to work supernaturally in the lives of students to lead them to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
“This year we’re asking the question what can happen when we pray,” said Randy Brantley, founder of Campus Prayer Journey and a youth consultant for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. “We’re trying to help people get a vision for what can happen when God’s people pray for the schools and for the students. … It’s the whole concept of praying down revival from heaven.”
“I think we’d like to see every school in a community being prayed for by parents, grandparents and other adults from the local churches,” added Chad Childress, a youth evangelism associate for the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, which sponsors Campus Prayer Journey nationally.
The event began in 1998 in the wake of the school shootings in Jonesboro, Ark., Brantley said. The concept caught on and now is part of an overall NAMB campus evangelism strategy that includes the FiSH model for student-led Christian clubs on campuses and the commissioning of students as campus missionaries. More information is available at www.studentz.com.
See You at the Pole is a student-led event in which students gather around the school flagpole at 7 a.m. to pray for their school and their classmates. It began with Southern Baptist students in Burleson, Texas, and has since become an interdenominational Christian movement. For more information, visit the www.syatp.com website.
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