Prayer walking is another step in worship

By Linda Linonis | August 1, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

The ministry of clergy and lay people take prayer to the streets and to the sites where God leads them.

Prayer changes things.

That’s the belief, the mantra, the spiritual core of a small group that does prayer walking at 11:45 a.m. Wednesdays.

Pastor Rusty Wills, who started the ministry, said events in the area determine the location. “We go where our prayers might be needed,” he said.

This week took them to The Needle’s Eye Christian Counseling and Tutorial Center, 74 Kenmore Ave., founded by Irma Davis, who died July 22. The Needle’s Eye is a faith-based counseling service to help people addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. In an interview with The Vindicator on the occasion of the center’s 30th anniversary in 2006, Davis said, “We use the Gospel and its message.”

Though participants in the prayer walking sometimes cite Scripture, much of what is said is in their own words and from the heart. It was that way this week as the group met at The Needle’s Eye.

Pastor Wills credited the prayer-walking concept to Mark Geppert, founder of the South East Asia Prayer Center. Geppert, ordained through the Elim Fellowship of Rochester, N.Y., went to Singapore on mission work. “Mark Geppert is an incredible prayer warrior,” Pastor Wills said.

Pastor Wills, founder of Kingdom Community Church, which meets at 587 Youngstown-Poland Road in Struthers, said that the participants in prayer walking are “called to do this ... go into the streets and pray.” He said events in the area lead the group to where they should pray next.

Pastor Wills said core members also are Pastor Rafael Cruz of Unity Baptist Church in Boardman, Pastor Robert Offerdahl of Gibson Heights-Second Presbyterian Church in Youngstown and Coitsville Presbyterian Church and Pastor Larry Cavicchi of Word of Grace in Youngstown. The group maintains an e-mail list of interested people, and a message is sent out weekly where the group will be praying. “We send out to those who might be interested,” Pastor Wills said.

The group has prayed at such sites as Forum Health, the Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley, Youngstown Board of Education office, East and Chaney high schools and places where murders or other violence has taken place.

“We ask God what he would like to see happen,” Pastor Offerdahl said. “And we pray about how we can be part of the answer.”

For him, thinking of the lyrics from “Born To Be Wild” about “get your motor runnin’” translates into heading out into the community to meet its needs.

But Pastor Wills described the prayer- walking group as “inconspicuous and not flamboyant.” “It’s usually silent prayer ... sometimes we use Scripture, he said.

Pastor Cavicchi said, “I believe nothing changes without prayer.” He added that people can talk, but God is the one behind the change.

Linda Daniels of the City Prayer Team of Youngstown said she participates in the prayer walking because she “believes in prayer.”

“I’ve seen the results of prayer in the city,” she added.

Daniels said she especially wanted to pray at The Needle’s Eye because the ministry has made an impact on people’s lives. “I wanted to pray that the doors stay open and the ministry continues and expands.”

Daniels said the Needle’s Eye is “a place of hope” and she wanted to thank God “for every heart that has been transformed by the Gospel of peace and salvation.”

In his prayer, Pastor Offerdahl asked that “out of the legacy that Irma left behind that someone rise up to fill the gap.”

He said the prayer was a “celebration of what was accomplished” (at the center) and for “what God has in store.”

Pastor Offerdahl said Davis was a “part of the marketplace of ministry” where she helped many people.

By coincidence, Davis’ daughter, Marilyn Lane, was driving by the center and saw the prayer walkers. She said she just happened by. And though she didn’t recognize any of the people standing out of the rain that day near the building, she was moved to stop. Lane said she was please that the prayer group had remembered her mother and her legacy. “If my mother had been passing by, she would have stopped and invited them in,” she said.

For Lane, she said prayer is as necessary as water and air. Lane, who is an educator who works with different groups at The Needle’s Eye, said prayer is a powerful tool. She is a member of Grace Evangelistic Temple.

Martha Taylor, a member of Metro Assembly, led the group in a prayerful song. “I think prayer is part of the solution,” she said. “I don’t want to sit on the sidelines, I want to participate.”

Taylor said Jesus instructed people to pray, so she believes in its power and importance.

Bob Cole, a member of Old North Church of Canfield, also participated in the prayer walk. “I’m just a man who loves the Lord,” he said, and added he felt blessed to be a part of the prayer walking.

“Through faith God put a call on our hearts,” he said.

XTo get involved in prayer walking, call Pastor Wills at (330) 720-4386 or send e-mail to wills330@yahoo.com.