Wednesday, July 10, 2002
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Wednesday, July 10, 2002 |
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Need prayer? Drive through, leave request at any hour By MONROE ROARK
If you believe in saving your money, you can drop your deposit in the slot at your local bank's drive-through window and earn some interest. If you believe in prayer, you can drop your prayer request in the slot at a new drive-through prayer booth in Fayetteville and who knows what dividends might be in store. A small booth built originally for photo processing is now being used for developing people's lives through prayer. The folks at New Hope Baptist Church took over the space, which had been vacant for a couple of years after last being used to sell snow cones, and have invited anyone of any religious persuasion to share his or her needs and have members of the church pray over them. The idea was recently voiced at a meeting of the church's Prayer Ministry Development Team, according to team member Marsha Myers, who credited the Holy Spirit with the idea's conception. "We thought it would be a great way to say, 'Prayer works. Can we pray for you?'" said Myers. The prayer request booth is not really an outreach of the church in the traditional way, since New Hope does not put out any literature or solicit anything else through its use. The only reason the New Hope is on the booth, in small letters near the bottom of the window, is so that people in the community know who is behind it, Myers said. The owner of the booth is allowing the church to use it free of charge, and church members invested some of their own time and money to spruce it up, as it was in need of a paint job and a few other repairs, according to Myers. It has been in "operation" about a month, and requests have been received from all kinds of people. The booth is unmanned, and prayer requests are retrieved once a week. So far, as many as five requests in a single week have been received. "We'd love to get 500 or 5,000 a week," Myers said. When requests are received, they are reviewed and all personal information is removed to maintain privacy. The requests are then logged in a prayer notebook, which is made available throughout the week at the church for members wishing to pray for people. Myers said that there have been no practical jokes or other improper requests so far. "Everyone has been very respectful," she said. "We want to thank the community for that." New Hope encourages anyone and everyone to take advantage of the prayer request booth, regardless of church affiliation. "This is not about New Hope. This is about praying for people, because prayer works," said Myers. "I had made a series of bad choices in my life. People prayed for me, and Jesus Christ turned my life around." The booth is in front of the Hudson Plaza shopping center, facing Ga. Highway 85, next to McDonald's in Fayetteville.
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