As a reminder that God hasn’t been expelled from public schools, students plan to gather around school flagpoles later this month for prayer. But first, One Hope ministries in Great Bend will host a kick-off rally for See You At The Pole 2014. It will be held at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, in the Great Bend High School auditorium. Doors will open at 6 p.m.
Sponsors are hoping for a strong adult presence as well as youth, and are encouraging entire congregations to come show support for their youth, according to Michelle Gwin with One Hope.
Youth pastors will start the rally by coming up to the stage, where they will each have the opportunity to either say a short prayer, read a scripture, admonish the adults or encourage the students. This portion of the evening should take no more than 15 minutes.
Then the program will be handed over to the praise team led by Jeremy Guthrie, youth sponsor at Great Bend’s Assembly of God Church, as well as teens from local youth groups and the guest speaker, Jamye Montera from Pueblo, Colo.
Students are being sought to dramatize songs for a “human video,” Guthrie said. Any teen who would like to participate on the worship team or human video should contact him by calling 620-786-4572.
Montera describes himself on Twitter (@jaymemontera) as a, “Cat hating, tomato resisting, spiritual arsonist that is absolutely in love with his Jesus, bride (Michelle), and children (Jayden, Kamryn, & Dathan).” He is part of National Youth Ministries.
See You at the Pole in Great Bend will take place at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24 at the GBHS and Great Bend Middle School flagpoles. Central Kansas Christian Academy also plans to have a prayer time at its flagpole during the school day, Guthrie said.
“See You at the Pole is a nationwide event where all students are encouraged to meet at the flagpole of their school and pray for the leaders of their country, their community, school friends and anything that God lays on their heart,” Guthrie said. It’s a good place for students to see Christians from other churches who attend their school, and to receive boldness to stand up in their faith.
The global day of student prayer began in 1990 as a grass-roots movement with 10 students praying at their school, according to SYATP.com. Twenty years later, millions pray on their campuses on the fourth Wednesday in September. See You at the Pole is a student-initiated, student-organized and student-led event.
SYATP also promotes the Global Week of Student Prayer, starting Sunday, Sept. 21. It is a week dedicated to prayer and launching on-campus Bible clubs, prayer strategies and student ministries.