Article by Danny Mitchell

Because of the realities that a large percentage of young people who connect with the church during their teenage years will end up leaving the church as they move into adulthood and those who stay connected to the church had adult believers intentionally investing in their lives, Tony Souder, the executive director of the Chattanooga Youth Network, began relentlessly asking this question:   how can adult believers connect with the next generation more naturally than ever before?

That question became the impetus for The Pray for Me Campaign. 

Now, I should confess that I am a skeptic when it comes to next, greatest thing that will revolutionize youth ministry.   I initially approached The Pray for Me Campaign with that a fair amount of skepticism.  However, it was clear from my early conversations with Tony that this “program” was different.   After further investigating The Pray for Me Campaign, I realized that it is not actually program at all.  Instead it is about the older generation investing relationally and spiritually in the next generation through the most natural of things for the believer…prayer.

If your church is looking for a way to connect the older generations with the next generation then I highly recommend that you check out The Pray for Me Campaign.

I recently asked the Chattanooga Youth Network to send CEP a write up about the campaign.  Here is their response:

The Pray for Me Campaign is a strategic initiative of the Chattanooga Youth Network designed to create vital connections between generations through the catalyst of prayer.  It equips students in the church to invite three adult believers from three different generations to serve as their Prayer Champions for a school year.  Each year students invite three new Prayer Champions, providing them with a web of enriching multi‐generational relationships.  Prayer Champions pray for their students using the Pray for Me Prayer Guide, a tool specifically designed to help them pray the Scriptures for the next generation through the lens of 7essential categories.  We believe that passing on a sustainable faith begins with prayer, the keystone habit of the Christian life.  The Pray for Me Campaign makes it happen.

The Pray for Me Campaign has already equipped over 1,100 Prayer Champions to pray for the next generation.  We are thrilled to find that the Pray for Me Campaign is solving a problem that many churches across the nation are seeking to address.  Lives are being impacted and the response has been so encouraging.  One Prayer Champion said, “Thank you for getting the Pray for Me Campaign going.  I was telling my wife about it on Sunday and I couldn’t choke back the tears when I told her how excited the students were to run and find someone who would pray for them.  I’ll remember that for a long time.”

Bringing the Pray for Me Campaign to your church is easy—all the resources that you need (such as videos, posters, bulletin inserts, and more) are available for free at www.prayformecampaign.com as well as links to purchase the Prayer Guides, and the Chattanooga Youth Network is ready to help anyone interested in getting involved.  We are thrilled by the impact of the Pray for Me Campaign is having on the Kingdom and we encourage you to join the movement!