2009 Prayer Walk wraps up

As they do each year, the participants in the 2009 Prayer Walk wrapped up seven weeks of prayer Friday outside the Lenoir County Courthouse.

Sixteen participants stood in a circle, holding hands, praying for the residents, schools, businesses, government agencies and others in Kinston and Lenoir County to celebrate the completion of weeks of similar prayers.

“I felt like the prayers that were said today wrapped things up really well for our city and county,” organizer Barbara J. Perry said. “I just thought it glorified the Lord, I really do.”

The Prayer Walk, held each year since 2002, takes place over about a seven-week span. During that time, residents obtain maps — organizers had 1,300 maps this year, which were all given out — of a part of Kinston or Lenoir County of their choosing.

They can then walk or drive through the area, praying for those who live and work there. Maps can be obtained by calling Perry or one of several other organizers or through one’s church.

The local Association of Congregations picks up maps in bulk and then distributes them to church members.

“The Association of Congregations has really helped by their congregations taking the map,” Perry said. “That’s how it gets done.”

Prayers are offered up for every type of person. During Friday’s service, Dan Perry of Kinston prayed for the president, members of the military and the terrorists they are fighting.

“Lord, (we pray) that their eyes might be opened, that they would come … to Jesus Christ,” he said.

Betty Blaine Worthington of Kinston prayed for the courthouse staff, local police and even county jail inmates.

She said later that she had prayed for people along Tower Hill Road and Vernon Avenue during the Prayer Walk.

“It’s a great experience to get to do it, because you’re just connecting to the Lord about people,” she said.

Worthington has participated in past Prayer Walks also.

“I guess that the thing that I love is, there’s no more powerful thing you can do for this town and county than pray,” she said.

J.T. and Jeanne Pratt of Kinston have also participated in the last few Prayer Walks.

This year, they conducted prayer rides through the Deep Run area and the area around Woodington Middle School.

“Some of the areas around here I would pray for them as I go,” Jeanne Pratt said of the city.

She added: “I have to depend on God to lead me to the place I need to go, and I become closer to Him as I do this, and I depend on Him and I think He will protect us because we have definitely covered all the areas of Lenoir County with praying.”

J.T. Pratt served as a contact for maps, along with Perry, Steve Jefferson and Bonnie McLawhorn.

“We feel very comfortable that every area in Kinston and Lenoir County was prayed for, more than once,” he said.

David Anderson can be reached at 252-559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.