News and Events

NPI Team Leaders Encourage Others to Join

Diane and Rick Berggren

The 2006 Baptist General Conference (BGC) Annual Meeting provided many
opportunities for prayer and fellowship. During the event, a “Concert of Prayer” was conducted on behalf of various areas of BGC and Bethel University life including foreign missions, church planting, and Bethel’s National Prayer Initiative (NPI).

Marie Schultz, NPI chair, introduced Rick and Diane Berggren, leaders of one of dozens of thriving prayer teams from around the country. These teams and their leaders are committed to meet regularly and support Bethel with concentrated prayer.

The Berggrens, who live in Shoreview, Minn., are both Bethel graduates. Their son, Dave, is also an alumnus, and younger son Mark is a sophomore majoring in media communications. When asked to lead a prayer team, the couple eagerly accepted. Rick told those attending the BGC Annual Meeting: “We can tell you from experience that joining with others who believe in the power of prayer is an incredible blessing.”

“God had already worked in our hearts a desire to keep growing in the discipline of prayer,” Diane recounted, “and He certainly has given us a love for Bethel.”

The Berggrens’ group of 10 people has been meeting together monthly for about two years. Group members consist of Bethel alumni, parents, and supporters who gather to share a devotional relating to the topic of prayer. “Marie gives us a printed list of Bethel praises and prayer requests that we use as a starting point,” Diane explained. “We pray about everything.”

Rick adds that prayers have been lifted up for everything from traveling sports teams, hiring of staff and faculty, freshman dorm life to graduates looking for post-college jobs, as well as budget and Annual Fund issues, the leadership team, and new programs. “To a person, we all feel blessed to be praying for Bethel and come away from each session with a sense of God’s presence,” Rick said.

The Berggrens encourage others to become a part of Bethel University’s National Prayer Initiative. “If you love Bethel and its mission to produce women and men who are ‘salt and light’ in the world,” Rick challenged, “and if you have a heart for prayer, perhaps God is also calling you to this prayer ministry!”