"Pray First" Launches

Even in a Christian community like Bethel, deadlines and distractions have the potential to dampen a student’s prayer life. That’s why “Pray First” is launching this fall, a new thrust led by Associate Dean of Campus Ministries Donna Johnson.

“The purpose is to bring us back to the discipline of prayer as part of our lives, not as an add-on,” says Johnson. She is training seven student teams with “a passion for prayer” to provide one-on-one prayer with other students on a confidential basis during:

• Chapel or Sunday evening Vespers
• Regularly scheduled hours in the residence halls
• Other times students ask for prayer, on an on-call basis

Johnson also plans campus Prayer Walks and a 24-hour Prayer Day open to the entire Bethel community from 3 p.m. October 15 to 3 p.m. October 16. Professor Karen Tangen will continue coordinating monthly prayer gatherings for faculty and staff that began last spring.

“I’d love to see spontaneous prayer in the hallways, and people realizing answered prayers,” says Johnson, who says she expects “spiritual warfare” as the initiative takes hold. “I ask for the prayer support of parents, as the enemy is going to work doubly hard to oppose this effort.”