A Downtown Prayer Walk
“A heart for Bend in the heart of Bend.” This is a motto of Foundry Church as we are situated in the middle of downtown. God has used Foundry over the years to impact Bend, and we wanted to continue living that legacy. We decided on an evening downtown prayer walk to start.
Ken Mays, Steve Toomey, Austin Evans, and Sam Lampe gathered on December 16th. It was a particularly cold evening after a small snowfall a few days earlier. We set out from Foundry in teams of two to interact with the community and see how we could pray for them.
Despite many “No, thank you’s,” everyone we interacted with was nice and appreciative. We did receive quite a few prayer requests for peace on Earth, snow, and even for cheap beer. Sounds a lot like the heart of Bend!
Austin and Sam did have a good conversation with a man named Logan. Logan has been living on the street for over 30 years now, mostly in Bend. He was pleasant to speak with and very grateful for what we were out doing. He asked for prayers for safety and provision from the city. Logan even had a devotional with him and asked us to read him some of the verses since his vision wasn’t so good anymore. We read him the passages, prayed with him, and invited him to church. We hope that God will draw him to himself.
Around the same time, as Ken and Steve approached the breezeway at Wall and Minnesota, they heard a Waylon Jennings song with a guitar accompaniment. They talked with the young singer and asked if they could pray with him. He accepted the invitation. Steve and Ken greeted multiple other people as they casually walked between Franklin and Greenwood. They even prayed for the owner and employees at the Café Sintra.
Together, we were all available for the Spirit of God to use us as he would and witness how Christ moves individuals in our community – and how Christ moves us. We hope that as a church, God will continue to use us to make an impact for his kingdom in Bend. God bless and stay faithful!
