Church Impacts Community with "Pray-it-Forward"

Teresa Neumann : Sep 7, 2010
Carla Hinton - The Oklahoman

"We sense that the Holy Spirit is really moving in Oklahoma City. This is a way for people in the community not to feel so alone and to know that someone cares."

(Oklahoma City, Ok.)—Messiah Lutheran Church has begun a pray-it-forward prayer effort that is changing their community. As reported in The Oklahoman, Teresa Laudermilk was credited with coming up with the idea after reading about something similar in California, where a woman placed a prayer box on a hilltop of a canyon for hikers to share their prayers.

Adapting it to their situation, some church members created a prayer box and several wooden benches to place outside the church near a large tree, as well as some colorful signs letting the community know of its Pray-it-Forward opportunities. (Photo: The Oklahoman)

"We wanted this to be our 'mountaintop experience,' and it is," said Jeanne VonDerAhe, the church's music ministry director, adding that the box holds prayer requests, but it also is a way for people to thank God for blessings and miracles.

Laudermilk was quoted as saying that a few days after they placed the prayer box outside the church, a young man walked by. She asked him if there was anything he wanted them to pray about. It turned out he was a U.S. citizen originally from Jordan who was struggling to reconnect with family members back there. They prayed for him and then sent an e-mail asking others in the church to pray for him.

Several days later, the man reportedly showed up at the church again to tell told Laudermilk and VonDerAhe that, miraculously, he had found his family.

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