Psalm 34:3

Due to the lack of Internet access last night, we were unable to update. But tonight, we were blessed with high-speed access, so that we may reflect on yesterday's journey, and share it with you.

Destination:

Bennington, Vermont

We were greeted with the rain early in the day, and it certainly was a downpour; however, that did not stop us from continuing on towards Vermont to complete our mission! We made great time, and arrived at the center of the town of Bennington, where the rain had apparently followed us. We took Psalm 31:24, "Be strong, all of you who put your hope in the LORD. Never give up." (NIRV) to heart, and divided accordingly so that we could pray in the directions of North, South, East, and West.

God certainly worked a grand plan that day. A recently-moved-in couple, searching for a church to become a part of, crossed paths with the West group, who had just finished coming out of a prayer for a local church. When the group returned to the church to present the infamous "tent pegs," they found the couple speaking to the church leaders on membership!

The South team had the pleasure of sharing prayers with the basic town facilities: police departments, town halls, etc. Also, they had the opportunity to pray for the Army National Guard stationed in Bennington. From there, there was a sense of great need of revival in the town, and the rest of the time was spent praying for local businesses, townspeople, and of a great revival taking place in the town, and bringing more to know Christ.

For the North team, there was much prayer involved. Prayers for a war veterans' memorial, a local elementary school, for revival throughout the area, a synagogue, and even a Vermonter who the team was allowed to share the gospel with. After praying that God would send the water of life to the people, and that they may "drink deep from the Fountain of Life," the rain began to fall faster, and in larger amounts. They met up with the East team in a local shop, where they found someone they had been searching for: the sister of a friend they had shared a meal with in Virginia. We were overjoyed to discover that she had, in fact, placed her faith in Jesus Christ, and declared him as LORD and Savior. How wonderful God is for giving us this opportunity to meet two sisters- in different places- and pray for each of them.

After our prayerwalk, we worshipped at the Capstone Baptist Church, where the team had originally prayed for almost three years ago. This was a grand example of how God's plans are always perfect, as we discovered that evening a couple had joined the church to help in children's ministries. Even more amazing, they had moved to Vermont three years ago. How glorious it was to see a prayer be answered, even if it took nearly three years to find a result!

Bidding the Capstone congregation farewell, we later became trapped in McDonald's by the pouring rain outside. However, we took this as a prime opportunity to share our mission with those who were inside with us, and we found a local dairy farmer, Jay Andrew and his wife, Terri. They asked us to pray for the agricultural industry of the area, which we were overjoyed to do. After their departure, we shared stories of the day until the rain decided to slow up a bit, or at least enough for us to make it out safely.

God's true power and influence was made incredibly obvious that day. Especially to me, who had seen the number 343 quite a few times that day. Before I went to bed that night, I flipped to Psalm 34:3, which read, "Glorify the LORD with me; Let us exalt His name together." As was said that day, there are no such thing as coincidences, but only connections, and after reading that verse, I felt that there was definitely a connection to be made about the prayer journey. Sure, it's about spreading the Good News, and helping others to come to know Jesus Christ, but I felt that through all the prayers we had prayed, we each came back to one theme: Glorifying God. That is what I feel to be the true theme of this mission: bringing honor, praise, and glory back to the LORD God Almighty.