“And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:17, NIV
On Sunday, August 20, 2023, For Columbus gathered dozens of youth ministries, pastors, leaders, intercessors and students to fellowship, pray, and bless the next generation.
Ministries like Reset Inc., Father's Heart, RTNI, the Columbus Tutoring Initiative, Festa, Lifewise, Teen Challenge, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Freedom Reign Christian Center, and so many others set up tables to share more about their ministries and how to get involved. Each table helped students complete scripture coloring cards for their very own KeywiTM card set to snap to their backpack to take to school.
After our ministry fair time, we gathered in the sanctuary at Hope City House of Prayer for a powerful time of worship and prayer together. We heard a scripture reading from Nehemiah Murphy echoing Jesus' prayer from John 17:21 as well as the words from the angel's prophecy in Luke 1:17 from Lauren Dudley.
We watched Pure Worship lead us in a powerful praise dance and then invited all youth leaders and ministry leaders onstage for a special moment of blessing and prayer for protection, courage and strength. The evening concluded with Rabbi Howard Silverman from Beth Messiah Congregation blessing all the youth in attendance with the Hebrew tradition of holding a prayer shawl over them while singing the Aaronic blessing. Pastor Ben Douglass sent us out with a moving blessing and an encouragement to gather again next year!
The Vision
The For Columbus Kids+Students vision is to see every school in central Ohio adopted by a Church or Christian nonprofit. We are dreaming of the day when every student in our city is reached for Christ and the word knows Jesus was sent by the Father because of the great unity among believers, pastors and organizations who serve our youth.
The Story
Born out of united prayer, the For Columbus Kids + Students Network was launched from the 2016 Concert of Prayer planning team. Only 25% of Columbus City Schools had partnerships at that time, but just before COVID hit that number soared to 75% of CC Schools covered in a partnership with a church or Christian nonprofit. During COVID, the network was invited to mobilize remote learning centers for public school students in churches across our city. Well over 100 of these centers opened across Columbus and provided a combined 30,000 meals, 15,000 volunteer hours and countless testimonies of students experiencing God’s love and grace through the body of Christ.
Now that students are no longer in need of remote learning, our mission is not over. Our students need us now more than ever. Let’s see the fulfillment of this vision with every school covered and each student reached with the hope we have in Jesus! Let’s lock arms together to reach our youth and may we see the greatest revival set aflame with the next generation!
Next Steps:
PRAY: Be sure to join us for our monthly prayer breakfasts on the First Friday of each month from 9am-11am (location TBD). Our next gathering is Friday, September 1st at Faith Hope Love House of Prayer, 4983 Postlewaite Rd, Columbus, OH 43235. Even if you can't make it, please click here to register for our mailing list and RSVP.
ADOPT: Click here to let us know which schools you or your church/organization is serving already or which school(s) you’d like to adopt.