January 13, 1999

Prayer partners change a small Baptist church
___WEST UNION, Ill. (BP)--A small Illinois church has found a way to make a big impact on its community through focused prayer.
___A monthly prayer partner emphasis at West Union Baptist Church has "got people praying for one another and caring for one another," said Pastor Donald Russell.
___At the first Sunday night service of the month, each person present gets the name of another person to pray for every day throughout the month.
___The service begins with singing, followed by testimonies of answered prayers during the previous month. The deacons then pass out slips of paper to everyone in attendance, including visitors, who are asked to write down prayer requests. The papers then are collected and redistributed randomly.
___Prayer partner night has "become our biggest Sunday night service," the pastor said, with about 60 people attending. And some people who are sick and unable to attend have their names added to those in attendance, and they get a person to pray for as well.
___The congregation needed better communication due to some disagreements in the past, and also because a number of young people had begun to attend and were having trouble mixing with the older members. Prayer partners have helped both situations, he reported, as well as involving more teenagers.
___"We have had people who haven't spoken to each other in years" get the other person's name, and now they are speaking again, he said.

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