Kristin Martin
Published: Thursday, September 25, 2008
Over 20 students assembled for the annual See You at the Pole gathering to sing, read Bible verses and pray at 7 a.m. on Sept. 24 by the flag pole in front of building 7.
“It’s important that we unite in prayer, because prayer is so powerful,” said Emily Martin, Baptist Collegiate Ministries president. “I feel like things can only be done through prayer.”
The early-morning meeting kicked off with student Michael Carbauh playing the guitar and leading the group in worship. While playing the guitar, he sang “Open the Eyes of My Heart” and “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever,” and everyone joined him in singing praise to God.
After singing, everyone joined hands with one another to form a circle and pray for the salvation of students and faculty on campus, and for more boldness within themselves to share their beliefs with others.
“I just think it’s important that we pray for salvation on our campus, and that people would desire a relationship with God; because I’ve lived that life that was empty and without God, and it’s just not fulfilling at all,” Martin said. “I just pray that they can find the joy in Christ.”
Martin then began listing Bible verses (Phil. 4:6, Luke 18:1, 1 Thess. 5:17, Matt. 21:22, James 5:16,
2 Chron. 7:14) and people in the group took turns finding them in the Bible and reading them aloud.
Then the crowd broke into groups of three. In the smaller groups, everyone got more personal with one another by learning each other’s names and stating their prayer requests.
After the introductions, the people in the smaller groups joined hands again to take turns praying more intently about issues around the campus, country and world. The government, economy, military, first responders, schools, media, families and other topics were the focuses of prayers.
“I’ve been to [See You at the Pole] in high school and middle school, but it’s kind of different here at the college,” said Ansley Zecckine, who attended See You at the Pole. “It seems like it’s a lot more personal than in high school – you just get more involved.”
People who attended See You at the Pole were invited to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast after the event ended.
See You at the Pole is a nation-wide, student-led prayer event that happens annually on the fourth Wednesday of September around a school’s flag pole. The first gathering was held in Texas in 1990, and now takes place in schools and colleges around the country and internationally.