Every Thursday afternoon, in the field beside a cemetery, a bright red canopy sits with volunteers huddled underneath waiting for people seeking prayer to drive up.
“Financial matters?” “Troubled marriage?” and “Need hope, joy, and peace?” read red signs a bit bigger than a lawn sign along Highway 290, approaching the intersection of South Mountain View and Fairview Roads in Greer. The team watches cars race by for two hours — a golf cart by their tent loaded down with cold water — as they sit in their folding chairs in the humid South Carolina sun only shaded by their tent.
For the past year and a half, Fairview Baptist Church has opened its grounds to host a prayer tent ministry each week, seeing more than 200 cars and reaching countless lives with prayer. Through chilly afternoons and sweltering evenings, the volunteers continue to see God work in visitors’ lives and their own.
Bob Stroud, founder of the prayer tent, said that late last March, Fairview was looking for more opportunities to do community outreach when a friend told him about another church in South Carolina that has a prayer tent ministry. Stroud took the idea to church leadership and then purchased the signs and the tent.
That first Thursday in April 2023, they prayed with two people, but the team was elated nonetheless.
Occasionally, they will go weeks without someone stopping in need of prayer. Stroud said that no matter how many people pull into their parking lot each week, the prayer tent team values being consistent.
Time and time again, they hear stories of prayer recipients saying they’ve seen the tent several times and though they wanted to stop, couldn’t bring themselves to do so. But then one day that changes and they pull into the church parking lot.
“It’s obviously God working on their spirit, moving in their lives. So their first day they rode by, the seed was planted and now it’s grown,” said Stroud.
Sue Stokley, prayer ministry leader at Fairview, has taken over the management of the prayer tent week to week. She said her passion for prayer keeps her excited to see what God will do on any given Thursday afternoon while working the prayer tent.
“We’re here to serve the Lord. That’s our purpose, and to do that, we do it through prayer,” said Stokley.
According to Stroud, what makes Fairview’s prayer ministry different is its commitment to praying without ulterior motives. The point of the prayer tent isn’t to recruit new members, but simply to pray for people.
“We don’t give them any food or clothing or hot dogs,” said Stroud. “We just give them Jesus.”
Each volunteer records who they pray with, their prayer requests and their phone number, not to flood them with invites to their church but rather to follow up on how they’re doing the following week. The list of prayers is also compiled and sent online to Fairview’s prayer ministry team.
Recipients of prayer are part of a diverse range representing every demographic that makes up South Carolina. “Everybody is welcome,” said Stokley.
A few months ago, Stokley had an encounter where a van of men who only spoke Spanish stopped by in need of prayer. At the same time, a woman who spoke both English and Spanish was visiting the prayer tent. She was able to translate the prayer requests for the volunteers and the prayers for the Hispanic men. Stokley called the experience “a total God thing.”
Many children have asked parents to stop so they may ask for prayer. Stokley recalled several months ago when a father and son living within walking distance of the church visited the prayer tent because the young boy wanted to pray with volunteers to receive salvation.
Most of those who stop by the prayer tent are unchurched, though many Christians from other churches and other denominations often visit to ask for prayer. If someone inquires about churches, the prayer tent team has lists of churches in their zip code in South Carolina at the ready.
Stokley finds securing new volunteers within the church troublesome. While she appreciates the current slate of dedicated volunteers, there could be room for so much more.
“It’s a blessing for us as well as for the people that we pray for, but really I wish more people would volunteer and do it with us sometime to understand just what a blessing it is,” said Stokley.
Others in the surrounding communities are witnessing the blessing this ministry is and are looking to duplicate it. Last week, Stroud encountered a woman from Lyman at the prayer tent. She was inspired by their ministry and wanted to take the idea back to her church. Stroud dreams of more prayer tent ministries popping up throughout South Carolina and beyond, but it starts with Fairview being diligent now.
Stroud said, “We’re just sitting there praying somebody would stop.”
— Katie Ruth Bowes is a writer based in North Carolina. She currently serves as the editorial aide for the Biblical Recorder, the official news journal for North Carolina Baptists.