Whenever a child is hurt—somewhere a mother is hurting, too. As the tragedy of Sandy Hook unfolded last December, one thousand miles away, a mother of three watched her TV in horror.
As every mother’s worst nightmare became a reality for dozens of parents in the sleepy community of Sandy Hook, Connecticut, Audrey Curran was brought to her knees in prayer. In a matter of days, she encouraged her community of Williamson County, Tennessee to do the same.
Grief Calls us to Action
Like so many, the need to take action and do something when people are hurting is a powerful encourager. Audrey couldn’t shake what she said began as a ‘small thought’. “Watching the Sandy Hook tragedy was awful. I wanted to do something.”
“I talked to my family and my Dad – What can we do?” Curran said. “We talked about how they took God and prayer out of our schools and now they took away Christmas. I thought, what if we got together a bunch of Christians who believe in prayer. And, then I had a small thought about covering our schools in prayer, like a warm blanket.” Her idea was born from this. Gather praying people and walk the schools in prayer together.
When people love one another they pray for one another, and when they pray for one another they learn to love one another more deeply. – Glenn Daman
In order to get the word out, Audrey set up a Facebook page. “My heart was pounding. But, it was time to take action. Christians have become complacent. I want more than that—more than a nice weekly Bible study. I can pray the same prayer in my family room, but there’s something about walking the school grounds in prayer together. “
“It’s one thing to think of an idea and quite another thing to go through with it,” Curran admitted. “We all get busy, but my Pastor always just says, ‘Do it.’ After two weeks, the thought didn’t go away, so I made a Facebook page and threw it out there.”
Eight days after the Sandy Hook heartache, that tiny Facebook page she’d named “(Williamson County) WCS Prayer Blanket” became an online megaphone and rally cry. While most of America ran to the mall for last minute gifts on that chilly Saturday morning before Christmas, people from all over her area assembled for a peaceful spiritual prayer rally. “We had over 200 people attend all twenty of our schools all over Williamson County.”
Instructions for each prayer-walker were posted on the Facebook page. The first prayer-walk that December was in honor of Sandy Hook. “We walked for twenty six minutes in silent prayer for each life lost. I’m a regular nobody special doing something I thought would be nothing big. I was shocked when school teachers, chaplains and even the local news showed up.”
The purpose of prayer is not primarily to move the hand of God but to hold the hand of God.
– Jon Courson
“My prayer was for each of us at the schools to be lights in the darkness.” Each month during the school year, one to a dozen people personally assemble at each school in Williamson County in a posture of intentional prayer for their local elementary, middle schools and high schools.
Pray without Ceasing
“In prayer, I know God hears us. He sees us praying and we believe He answers prayer. We pray for the teachers, the children, the families at each school. We pray for wisdom, and of course we pray to be spared a (Sandy Hook) tragedy happening here.”
We may not be able to pray inside the school, but we can still pray outside the school, she added.
Her need to do nothing special has become a monthly prayer walk. Over one thousand people follow WCS Prayer Blanket Facebook page to follow upcoming events. Once participants complete a Saturday prayer walk they head to the page and share which school they attended that month. Some even post pictures.
Since the first prayer walk in December of 2012, Audrey has discovered many with a heart like hers. “Through the Facebook community I’ve discovered lots of moms who walk their kids’ schools now in prayer all over the United States.”
When I asked Audrey what it felt like to be involved in this grass roots ministry she laughed “This is a ministry?” She quickly looked up at me and became serious, “It’s incredible to be in the middle of something God is doing.”
Apparently, this nobody special doing nothing big is a new believer in a God who sees us much differently than we see ourselves. In God’s eyes sometimes somebody willing is His definition of somebody special, and He will always do something BIG with somebody special.
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