Our History
In January of 1998 the mother of 4 boys ages 6-13 and her husband were becoming more aware of the evils that plagued our society and the effect the enemy was having particularly on our young people. The many teen pregnancies, STDS, abortions, not to mention the substance abuse, and escalating teen crime rate, were staggering. Our nation was trying to put Band-Aids on gaping wounds with its safe-sex programs while the media bombarded kids with images, dialogue and music that encourage base activities.
As she began to look for ways to make a change in the behavior of the youth in her town of Denton, Texas, she came across the program “True Love Waits.” Through this program, many teens had been encouraged to make commitments to remain sexually pure until their wedding day. Yet, one youth minister’s assessment was that those kids who remained most faithful to these commitments or vows, were those who had some one who really cared for them, prayed for them and kept them accountable to their promise. He shared that he felt it was the consistent prayers of his grandmother that brought him out of a broken home with many heartaches into a joyful and vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.
In that moment a thought came to the mom. What if we got the name of each child in the Denton 7th –12th grades and find some one to pray for them every day. Knowing that “..our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness..,” the only way to combat the enemies hold on our teens was on our knees in prayer. Every praying friend and prayer group she knew was enlisted to ask God for direction in carrying out this enormous task. She was encouraged by God’s promise in II Chronicles 7:14 as well as the story of Jesus taking the boy’s loaves and fish and feeding 5000.
Within six weeks, just in time for the local prom season, approximately 600 prayer warriors were committed to pray daily for a student. In 18 months God has led over 1000 believers to pray for over 1300 kids in Denton. To date, six other communities in the country are praying for their teens in the same way.
As she began to look for ways to make a change in the behavior of the youth in her town of Denton, Texas, she came across the program “True Love Waits.” Through this program, many teens had been encouraged to make commitments to remain sexually pure until their wedding day. Yet, one youth minister’s assessment was that those kids who remained most faithful to these commitments or vows, were those who had some one who really cared for them, prayed for them and kept them accountable to their promise. He shared that he felt it was the consistent prayers of his grandmother that brought him out of a broken home with many heartaches into a joyful and vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.
In that moment a thought came to the mom. What if we got the name of each child in the Denton 7th –12th grades and find some one to pray for them every day. Knowing that “..our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness..,” the only way to combat the enemies hold on our teens was on our knees in prayer. Every praying friend and prayer group she knew was enlisted to ask God for direction in carrying out this enormous task. She was encouraged by God’s promise in II Chronicles 7:14 as well as the story of Jesus taking the boy’s loaves and fish and feeding 5000.
Within six weeks, just in time for the local prom season, approximately 600 prayer warriors were committed to pray daily for a student. In 18 months God has led over 1000 believers to pray for over 1300 kids in Denton. To date, six other communities in the country are praying for their teens in the same way.