An 18-year-old from Coshocton County, Ohio organized a prayer walk to bring hope and healing around her town amid all the negatives issues that have affected the whole country.
Leah Brinker felt there was a need to do a prayer walk, especially now that the country is dealing with a pandemic, racial division, and election disputes, according to CBN News
"There's been a lot of division this year and not a lot of unity," she said.
Like many others, Brinker had a difficult year, as she lost both her grandparents. Knowing many people were feeling down, she had an idea about believers gathering together to pray and walk around town to dispel the people's fear.
"I wanted to show that we don't need to live in fear. God has a plan. I wanted to show that we can be stronger together," she said. "We don't have to live behind these barriers."
Brinker said was inspired by Prayer March 2020 held in Washington D.C. last September. Led by evangelist Franklin Graham, the prayer march was attended by tens of thousands of people who walked around the Lincoln Memorial Park.
Recognizing the power of prayer, believers gathered in Washington D.C. primarily to pray for healing in the land. The prayer march had various stops where people prayed for specific concerns.
Brinker sought God's direction regarding her idea, and she became certain it was God who gave her the nudge to push it forward. She discussed the plan with her friend, and she started putting things in motion even though she had no idea where to start.
Amazingly, her little project gained traction. Many people from the county expressed their desire to join the prayer walk, which was eventually dubbed as Prayer Walk 2020. The mayor and the sheriff also gave her the green light.
A total of 80 people joined the prayer walk around their town, which took place for about an hour. Those who participated in the event brought signs expressing faith to inspire the community. They also brought hot drinks to keep themselves warm in the cold weather.
As the group walked around town, they prayed for healing. A photo collage of the event was posed on social media.
"I encouraged everyone to take something away from the event that will hopefully help them throughout the rest of this year," Brinker said.
She also said she was glad to see that the people "appreciated being together."
She said Prayer Walk 2020 was a good reminder that there are bigger, more important things than the "earthly stuff." For her, the important thing was that they were able to show the community that the hand of God is always at work in their midst, even though one cannot always perceive it.
"It was important to show that God is working ... it might not always show, but He definitely is," Brinker concluded.
