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Lots of Prayer Underpins CHIC Experience
KNOXVILLE, TN (July 24, 2006) - Every three years, students come to CHIC hoping to have a good time. They also bring with them many burdens.
“They are bringing with them adult problems,” says Martha Swanson, who leads the event prayer team. Last CHIC (2003), issues ranged from racial reconciliation within a youth group to issues of sexual abuse.
By the second day of CHIC 2006 on the campus of the University of Tennessee, the team already had prayed for student concerns ranging from needing a scholarship to get into college to struggles with addictions and health concerns.
 “It’s very powerful,” says Patti Harrison. “We’re just humbled to be here and part of this.”
More than 30 people prayed throughout each day and evening for all aspects of CHIC, she says. For example, some members prayed with the evening worship team for half an hour before the Sunday night service and subsequent services throughout the week.
Members of the team are easily spotted, wearing day-glo green shirts with the initials “PT” on them. Students will stop the members to ask for prayer. “I think they realize we’re here just for them,” Harrison says.
Members of the prayer team come from across the United States, stretching from New England to the Alaskan bush. “One of the things that appeals to me is the intergenerational aspect,” says Karen Hinz, the chaplain at Covenant Harbor Bible Camp and Retreat Center. Five members of the prayer team are older than 70, and the oldest is 86 (see accompanying story on Lillie Harrison).
The prayer team also makes certain to care for one another. The group is “like horses at the gate,” excited to be praying, but that also means they may ignore their own needs, Harrison says. The team meets for devotions each morning and takes time to help one another to process all of their experiences.
“We don’t want people to get the idea that we are super pray-ers,” Swanson says, adding, “This is just a matter of obedience.” Team members also will accompany students to meet with their youth leaders or to work with a counseling team, if the students desire.
Carolyn Lawson of Bedford, New Hampshire, has been on the Prayer team since its inception for CHIC 1997.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
