Prayer service leaders: 'We have a plan'

Pastor Byron Bonner wiped his brow and from his heavy, dog-eared Bible proclaimed a passage from Matthew to the congregants of True Vine Ministries on Wednesday night.

The Great Commission, Matthew 28: 16-20, tells of Jesus' disciples being tasked with going out into the world and making disciples of all nations.

"'Go ye thereforth,'" he read. He then emphasized, "It doesn't say 'Go ye from your house to the churchhouse and back.' No. There is a great need crying out on the streets of Cape Girardeau. And the time for playing church has passed."

He led a prayer service lamenting modern society's ills and championing the power of prayer. After that he, along with city councilwoman Shelly Moore, school board member Lynn Ware, and organizer Darryl Reddin unveiled a new plan that would have volunteers from the religious community patrol designated areas spreading the gospel and offering the stability of a church community to local residents.

It assigned a "team leader" to each of six color-coded streets: Jefferson, Pacific, Sprigg, Benton, Bloomfield, Hanover and Ellis. The team leaders are then tasked with assembling volunteers from local churches and evangelizing in various capacities. The hope is that by building on the existing stability of the religious community, they'll be able to affect change one person at a time.

"The community ain't bad," Bonner said. "It's the people in the community that have changed, but we can change them back."

He argued the most effective way to change an individual's ways is through the virtue found in a church.

"What would the community be like without the churches?" he asked.

Women shook their heads and rocked in sober agreement, offering "Amen"s.

"Sodom and Gomorrah," one voice warned. The pastor hunched his elbows on the pulpit and leaned toward the crowd.

"It would be tore up from the floor up," he declared.

That belief in the importance of a foundation in religious community is what inspired Reddin to begin planning the project over a year ago.

"My vision is 1,000 people that could come out to the streets," he said after the meeting. "And not just from this church, but from all of the churches in the city in fellowship."

At one point in the service, Bonner came down from the platform at the front of the church and stood before the wooden altar. He pointed at its base, where lay a rumpled black bandanna.

"Who out there remembers how you were before you were saved?" he asked. "There was a young man in this house on Sunday. A gangbanger."

As he paced in front of the altar, he recounted how the Holy Ghost moved through the pews of the church, over its congregants, and filled the young man with the courage to walk up before everyone and lay down his gang colors at the foot of the altar.

"This young man took a stand," Bonner said. "And it's time now for us, together, as a community to make a stand."

He pledged to go door to door by himself if need be; the situation commands bold action. Moore took the microphone to remind residents to actively communicate with their neighbors.

"Tell them that you need them," she urged. "When I was a young girl, I could go to my neighbor, but things have changed."

She warned not to look for an easy fix. She reminded them the situation didn't sour overnight; rifts in the community are often ignored until they become impassable.

"There were 12 disciples. They weren't in it by themselves," she said. "I need you. We need each other."

Bonner urged those gathered to volunteer, and as they eagerly passed around sign-up sheets, he explained the first rounds will start next week. They will likely start small; do things like offer prayers door to door and pass out prayer books. Their ultimate goal is to build the congregation.

"We have a plan," Bonner said. "All this plan needs is people. As long as we go out in the streets, I believe it will make a difference. Bigger than Mount Moriah, True Vine, Cape LaCroix or Overlookers. The difference will be much bigger."

tgraef@semissourian.com

Pertinent address:

1224 Bloomfield Rd, Cape Girardeau, MO 63703