NEW ORLEANS (BP)–As the war in Iraq continues, prayer is increasingly evident at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Contributing to the momentum: the seminary community’s participation in the “Adopt our Troops in Prayer” initiative of the Presidential Prayer Team, an independent, nonprofit organization seeking to encourage specific nationwide prayer for the president.
“We are trying to launch an organized prayer momentum on our campus that will parallel the current threat level to our troops and their loved ones,” said Endel Lee, assistant professor of preaching and pastoral ministries at the seminary’s undergraduate Leavell College.
“The president has asked for this prayer effort from the American people and it seems like a significant way to contribute to the crisis no matter who you are or where you live,” said Lee, who has been in the military reserves nearly 20 years, the last 10 as a Navy chaplain. “I know that I would appreciate others praying for me in this manner if I was mobilized for active service.”
In the first chapel service since the beginning of the Iraqi war, Lee led a time of prayer for a number of seminary students, staff and alumni who had been activated in recent weeks and for those, like Lee, who remain on alert for possible mobilization. Lee invited family members of military personnel to stand beside various seminary constituents who were there in uniform representing the different branches of the military.
Using prayer guidelines suggested by North American Mission Board President Robert E. Reccord, Lee led participants in prayer for the troops and their family members, for President Bush and other U.S. leaders, the enemies involved in the conflict, and for peace in Jerusalem.
In addition, Lee encouraged participation in the “Adopt our Troops” prayer campaign, which seeks to mobilize the 1.5 million members of the Internet-based Presidential Prayer Team to “adopt” a military person and their family, promising to pray for them daily. Participants in the initiative also may register the names of soldiers and sailors they know for prayer. The overarching prayer effort is aimed to give encouragement to the troops who are placing themselves in harm’s way to preserve freedom in the United States and abroad.
Those who “adopt,” can print out a downloadable certificate, customized with the adoptee’s name, from the Presidential Prayer Team website, www.presidentialprayerteam.org. Participants from the seminary are encouraged to bring a copy of the certificate to the seminary’s campus life office to receive also a commemorative coin embossed with the words “One nation under God.”
Lee explained that the use of coins comes out of a military tradition that sought to create the aspect of belonging. “[The coins] are not souvenirs; they are commitment coins, whose purpose is to serve as a consistent reminder to pray for the person and other military personnel,” he said, pointing to the more than 200,000 military men or women and their families who are impacted by the war.
By selecting a military person to adopt, participants agree to pray daily for the individual, just as they would pray daily for the president. The military person is randomly selected for each prayer participant.
This effort is growing rapidly, and to date 500,000 people have already “adopted” or registered military friends and family for prayer.
In a closing prayer, NOBTS President Chuck Kelley acknowledged that the impact of the Iraqi conflict reaches across the world, affecting missionaries in addition to military personnel.
“We pray for the redeeming power of Jesus to so cleanse hearts and lives and so transform our world that the day will come when war will no longer be necessary and there will be peace,” Kelley prayed.
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For more information on the commemorative coins, contact Kerry Anthony in the seminary’s campus life office at (504) 282-4455, ext. 8004. (BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: CALL TO PRAYER.
