By Vanessa Cordova

 

The Duncanville Prayer Initiative had its beginning at First Presbyterian Church, Duncanville TX. I am an elder there. The church, under the ministry of Pastor Ginger Hertenstein, has led outreach efforts that have sought to bring unity to the community over the past seven years. Among these festivals and events are three Community Conversations at Ben Franklin Kitchen's Deli, a ten-church Community in Unity event at Armstrong Park, and TGIF: A Good Friday Event involving nine churches. 

 

In 2018 my pastor preached a series of sermons on prayer. In the following few months the church’s elders had discussions at their monthly meetings about what actions could help inspire the congregation to pray more. Then it came to my mind that First Presbyterian should consider reaching out to the community, seeking to inspire prayer more widely. Perhaps the effort could build on the church’s experience with previous community outreaches. 

 

The Prayer Initiative began to take on its present form when the Holy Spirit inspired me one night while I was praying. I wrote down a detailed plan and presented it to the other elders. It included a booklet for the community introducing the idea of more prayer, conversations about prayer to be sponsored by participating churches, and this website.

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As of this writing, April 2019, six churches have enthusiastically agreed to participate. The booklet has been distributed, but you can see a copy on this website. The conversations are in the planning stage. The website has testimonies about prayer experiences, and a page to receive prayer requests for forwarding to a Prayer Team. It will have resources to help you to pray. Soon, Spanish will be added to the website.

 

We are so excited about all these churches working together, and excited about Duncanville Prayer!