EKU Students United in Prayer
Midnight March 31 marked the end of a weeklong prayer campaign at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in Richmond, Kentucky. Students from InterVarsity and other campus Christian groups cooperated together in a joint prayer outreach.
This non-stop, 168-hour prayer meeting was held at the EKU Chapel of Meditation, located at the center of campus. More than 75 students signed up to pray in hour-long shifts.
”Everyone saw the need for prayer. I think that need inspired everyone to get involved,” said Jessie Murphy, one of the organizers. “I would love to see revival. I would like to see non-Christians notice a change among Christians and question, ‘Why is this happening?’”
Students have asked questions.
“There was one girl who was really curious about our prayer campaign, but she really didn’t say too much beyond asking what it was. But that night she returned with a prayer request for her dad. He had undergone surgery and chemotherapy for brain cancer. The cancer is gone and she just wanted me to pray that it stays gone,” said Robert Thompson, the president of the EKU InterVarsity chapter and another organizer. “A lot of the people in my dorm have started asking questions. Then they’ll facebook me and ask me to pray for something.”
The idea of holding a 24/7 prayer event at EKU began after a couple of students who read the book Red Moon Rising, by Peter Greig, met two other students who read Jaeson Ma’s The Blue Print. They soon met weekly to pray with each other and began discussing the possibility of having 24/7 prayer. “God networked us together in about a week…I only knew one person before this semester,” Jessie Murphy said.
The 24/7 prayer at EKU was one of 53 groups around the world, registered on www.24-7prayer.com, praying the week after Easter. At least five of them were on U.S. college campuses.
Jessie Murphy said she felt that having a week dedicated to prayer meant that God had to help them fill every time slot. She explained that God put it on their hearts to stretch everyone to plan something they couldn’t naturally put together on their own. “I personally feel like Jesus’ attitude was like, ‘Go big or go home,’” said Murphy. “If we did it for a whole week, we would get to see God pull us through.”
The four Christians began to meet with others to pray about what they should do next. They picked the dates for a week of 24/7 prayer. “We didn’t even realize that it would begin the day after Easter; it just happened to work out that way,” Thompson said. They also felt a call to unite the campus ministries. “The second prayer meeting is when we said, ‘We should come together in unity. Until we come together in unity, God’s not really going to bless this,’” Thompson said.
In preparation for the week of 24/7 prayer, EKU campus Christians met for united worship on the night of March 3rd. Students from Collegiate Black and Christian (the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship chapter), Chi Alpha, Campus Crusade for Christ, The Wesley Foundation, Baptist Campus Ministries, and Christian Student Fellowship joined together. Students prayed for each other, then prayed on behalf of roommates, fellow students, campus ministries, faculty, and staff. “We had a great gathering,” said Aereal Pough, another organizer. “We even had the new football coach and his staff come.”
Dr. Mike Reagle, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at EKU spoke at the united worship. In a message about teamwork he pointed out how often the words, “section,” “next to,” and “repair” are used in Nehemiah chapter three. Reagle explained how all Christians are responsible for their portion of the wall, to build and repair what is broken in the world alongside fellow Christians. “Each is responsible for a different section of the wall,” Reagle said.
Dr. Reagle was pleased to see students’ efforts toward unity for the sake of Christ. “This generation breaks down church walls better than most,” he said. “I don’t think they are as tied to denominationalism. They understand that the guts of the message is Christ.”
Other InterVarsity students currently involved in 24-7 prayer movements include students in our Oregon and Washington chapters. Information on the Northwest Region prayer outreach is available at www.intervarsitynw.org/.. Arthur Lewis is an InterVarsity Campus Staff Member at Eastern Kentucky University.