I went on my first mission trip while I was a teenager at Roebuck Baptist Church. We joined other South Carolina Baptists for a trip to the Caribbean island of Jamaica. The trip involved roof repair and other construction work on a local church as well as Vacation Bible School outreaches in the surrounding communities.
On the last day of our trip, there was still much work to be done on the roof of the church, so we all pitched in to finish the roof. As the sun was quickly setting, the electricity turned off. This was a normal event on that part of the island because of an insufficient power grid. There was no way we would finish the roof without power, and there was no way to turn the power back on. We were powerless to complete the task. So, we circled up, joined hands, and prayed boldly for God to intervene.
We all know the experience of praying desperate prayers. You find yourself at the end of your ability to act or do, so you pray by instinct or reflex. We know we need God to intervene, so we take the request to Him in prayer. While we shouldn’t pray only when we find ourselves at the end of our rope, we should be quick to call on God when we do find ourselves in desperate situations.
As I read about the state of global lostness and the number of people in South Carolina who have no relationship with Jesus, I am convinced we are desperate for a move of God. We cannot pretend like what we are doing with regard to kingdom advance is business as usual. We are in a desperate time, which, of course, calls for desperate measures. Those desperate measures must include fervent prayer.
Are you praying for your lost neighbors by name? Are you asking God to open a door for you to be a witness in your community? Are you leading your church to regularly seek the Lord in prayer for the sake of the lost? Do you pray for our mission work and a statewide awakening?
In 2022, several churches in the midlands agreed on an initiative that we call PrayCola. Each church chooses a single day out of the month and recruits members to pray at regular intervals. Therefore, every minute of every day of every month in our community is covered with prayer. At First Baptist Columbia, we pray on the 18th of every month, and we know that our sister churches are joining us the other days of the month to ensure that we give God no rest in the midlands all day, every day asking Him to move. Why? Because we recognize we are powerless to complete the task of gospel advance in our community unless He intervenes.
When I was in Jamaica, I learned a lesson about trusting God in the midst of difficult circumstances. When the electricity went out at the project site, we gathered to pray because that is all we could do. As we finished praying, I vividly remember that most of the trip leaders did not stand around chatting about the situation. They did not wring their hands or express anxious thoughts. They simply walked back to the electric saws and other mechanical equipment and turned the machines back on. Without even a pause the power was restored, and we were able to complete the project.
That day I learned God hears our prayers and delights to answer our prayers. So, as South Carolina Baptists in 2024, let us regularly approach the throne of God and ask Him to spark an awakening through gospel saturation and kingdom advance. There is too much at stake for us to relent in beseeching God to move. Till all have heard, we must seek the Lord in prayer.
— Wes Church, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Columbia, is president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.