August 20, 2001

Boerne kids take wing with a prayer as pastor's partners
___By Marv Knox
___Editor
___BOERNE--Children's prayers have touched lives throughout Boerne and beyond, reported Bubba Stahl, pastor of First Baptist Church in the Texas Hill Country community.
___At the church, Pastor's Prayer Partners has become a means for children to commit to pray for their church and pastor, as well as their community, state and nation. And they also put feet to their prayers.
___The program started several years ago when 8-year-old Mason Finley approached Stahl after a Sunday morning worship service.
___"I pray for you every day, especially on Sundays," Mason told his pastor.
___The boy's love and commitment touched Stahl, who asked Mason to be his prayer partner. The experience inspired Stahl to write parents of all the church's children from age 5 through 12, describing his idea for Pastor's Prayer Partners and asking permission to write the children.
___"About 100 prayer partners were enlisted that first year," Stahl recalled. "They each made a one-year commitment to be my prayer partner.
___"I prayed for them, and they prayed for me, especially on Sundays. They also committed to pray for their families, our church, their teachers and various requests I would send them throughout the year. This began one of the most powerful prayer ministries in our church."
___Stahl provides each prayer partner with a praying hands pin, and he sends a thank you/birthday card and three or four letters throughout the year, each citing specific prayer requests.
___"When I see them on Sunday wearing their pins, I make a special effort to pray
___(See Boerne, page 2)
___ for them, thanking them for their prayers for our church, our community and me," Stahl said. "At the end of the year, I write them all a thank-you letter for their year of ministry, and we begin the process all over again for the new year."
___The prayer partners receive requests asking them to pray for mission trips and missionaries. And that led to mission action, Stahl noted.
___"This past year, we decided to take the prayer partners on a mission trip--a prayerwalk in our community," he explained.
___Stahl made appointments with the mayor, chief of police and school superintendent in Boerne. The children prayerwalked in the city hall, police station and school district offices. They learned about the needs of city leaders and prayed with them and their staffs.
___"Each child was prepared with a verse of Scripture and a prayer, and at each location a boy and a girl were called upon to share their verses and to pray," he said.
___The success of the local prayerwalk inspired expansion. The prayer partners in grades four through six participated in a prayerwalk mission trip to the state capitol.
___"The prayer partners dressed according to Senate and House dress code, and each had a verse of Scripture and a prayer prepared," Stall reported. "They also were instructed to enlist someone to pray for them for the day while they were in Austin. Missionaries need prayer support, and we were on a mission trip."
___The children met and prayed for their state representative and senator, as well as their staffs. They also conducted a prayerwalk in the capitol, including the House and Senate chambers, as well as the Supreme Court building and around the governor's mansion.
___This year, the sixth-grade Pastor's Prayer Partners participated in a five-day prayerwalk in Washington, D.C.
___After six months of training, they met their congressional representative and senators and prayed with their staffs, just as they had done with officials in Boerne and Austin. They also conducted prayerwalks in the U.S. capitol, including the House and Senate chambers, plus the U.S. Supreme Court building, the White House and Arlington National Cemetery.
___"Our Washington trip was one of the most powerful mission trips I have ever experienced," Stahl noted. "God used us in the lives of our nation's leaders in ways that were unexpected.
___"As we traveled by subway to the various places, we would pray for people we encountered, and several shared prayer requests with us as they realized what we were doing. Some of the children made contacts with international tourists and have continued to pray for them."
___Pastor's Prayer Partners and prayerwalking are ministries that can be duplicated in other churches, Stahl said.
___"The children in your church are a powerful resource for prayer ministry," he added. "Prayerwalking is a mission trip experience that children can participate in and benefit from."

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