LEBANON – Members of Hillcrest Baptist Church here are “standing in the gap” for local schools by praying on site for administrators, teachers, staff and students as the school year begins.
They prayer-walked at several area schools on the evenings of Aug. 7 and Aug. 11, said Hillcrest Pastor David Brown.
“Several of our folks don’t have direct ties to the school,” said Brown, whose wife Gena is a teacher. “So it has strengthened those ties and helped with year-long recognition – more than this weekend, but all through the year, to be praying for the school.”
The prayer initiative has also encouraged the church in a growing partnership with a nearby alternative school, the Hillcrest Education Center.
Hillcrest Baptist is only one of many schools around the state that have opened the school season with prayer. In Hannibal, Immanuel Baptist Church prayer walked at area schools on Aug. 25. And, in St. Charles, members of the NorthRoad Community Church Harvester hosted a back-to-school prayer lunch, Aug. 18, inviting teachers to attend so they could pray over them. ν
