PRAYER SERVICE DRAWS 150 TO COURTHOUSE STEPS

Mike Woelk, pastor of Livingway Foursquare church in Cape Girardeau participated in the National Day of Prayer on the Jackson Court House steps Thursday.

JACKSON -- Gathered under shade trees, around a fountain and lined up in lawn chairs, about 150 people prayed and sang Thursday during a noon observance of the National Day of Prayer.

Children spread out on blankets, other people sat in parked cars across the street or on benches near the sidewalk to observe the service held on the steps of the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse.

Twelve students from Jackson High School had to get special permission to miss classes in order to attend the noon prayer service.

Parents, teachers, military personnel, ministers and community residents -- attended the service. In previous years, a noon service was held both in Jackson and Cape Girardeau.

A choir from Mid-America Teen Challenge helped lead the worship service, which lasted 75 minutes before the crowd dispersed.

Missy Lane, an eighth-grader at Jackson schools, said it was important to be a part of the prayer service. "I'm a strong believer in God and that we need to pray for our leaders," she said.

Prayers were said -- 17 different prayers for community leadership, families, churches, missionaries, schools and children -- by area ministers and representatives of the community.

The Rev. S.S. Borum, a 96-year-old Baptist minister from Cape Girardeau, said people have a great "responsibility from the time we come to the time we leave for ministry."

The audience heard about their responsibility to share the gospel message and to repent for their sins, both individually and corporately. Mike Woelk, pastor of Livingway Foursquare Gospel Church, offered prayers for repentance.

"I think in a sense I'm talking to the choir today," he said. "But if we are going to sing, we want people to hear. We need to clear our throats and clean up our voices," he said.

Sometimes the community of believers gets too comfortable and lets evil take over. "We are a choir of pray-ers," Woelk said. "We need to start with us and clean up to make ourselves something that we can use to transform the region."

Angela Beise, whose family will leave for mission work in Paris, France, later this month, asked the people remember that prayer makes a difference.

"Your little two minute prayer in the morning might make the difference for that missionary's day or their whole year."

As schools wrestle with issues of safety and students try to express their faith, the Rev. Grant Gillard offered prayers for wisdom and humility for bus drivers, teachers and parents.

The Rev. Jeff Sippy, who prayed for law enforcement, reminded people that peace isn't just the "absence of turmoil but is found in the presence of the graces of God."

Other services included a Mayors' Prayer Breakfast at the Osage Community Centre and prayer vigils earlier in the week, sponsored by community churches.