Imagine you’re getting ready to go to college. Clothes? Check. Computer? Check. Costco-sized packages of popcorn and coffee? Check. Now imagine that while you’re finding room in your suitcases for your socks and scrapbooks, a legion of people are praying for you.
That is what happened along the mid-Atlantic region during the last days of August and the month of September. Ken Vander Wall, a Christian Reformed pastor who works for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF), organized 40 Days of Prayer for college students entering their 2013-2014 school year.
“This is a critical time in the year,” Vander Wall explained in his email to over 200 people. Through prayer, he hoped to show as many students as possible that God loves them and seeks a relationship with them. For 40 days, Vander Wall shared a brief Bible passage and connected that to an item of praise and a request for students on campus. Alumni, friends, pastors, and professors were among the people praying.
Through prayer, many students became Christians. Carolyn Carney is the New York/New Jersey regional prayer coordinator for IVCF. “We have succeeded in reaching our conversion goal of at least 40 people,” she told Vander Wall.
“Many students are far away from home,” Vander Wall said. As students from the Christian Fellowship on campus were helping those arriving, Vander Wall told the story from Acts 8:26-40 of Philip sharing the news of Jesus with someone far away from home. “Please pray for students to respond to this expression of God’s love and for friendships to develop,” Vander Wall concluded.
About the Author
Callie Feyen is a writer living in Ann Arbor, Mich. She attends First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor. Callie writes news for The Banner and contributes to Coffee+Crumbs, and T.S. Poetry Press. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and is the author of The Teacher Diaries: Romeo and Juliet, and Twirl: My Life in Stories, Writing, & Clothes.