WS Chronicle

Photo by Timothy Ramsey

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY 

THE CHRONICLE

The YMCA of Northwest North Carolina, Love Out Loud and the New Canaan Society, Winston-Salem Chapter collaborated to sponsor the fourth annual Community Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday, May 2.

The breakfast was held at the Benton Convention Center and was the first event held in the newly renovated room on the upper floor.

Many in attendance felt this was the perfect event to reopen the upper floor of the convention center.

The motto for the event was “We believe a city that prays together, serves together, celebrates together, and breaks bread together is a city that flourishes together.”

Chuck Spong of the Prayer Breakfast Committee says he was pleased with the turnout of the breakfast.  He thinks events such as this helps brings unity among citizens of the city.

“We were really thrilled with who was in the room,” he said.

“We worked really hard to not just have a certain segment of people at this breakfast so we reached out to nonprofits, to other churches around town and people on all ends of the socioeconomic spectrum to let people know just because you can’t buy a ticket doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be in the room.”

Before the speaker too to the stage, everyone stood and prayed together.  Their prayers were led by Dr. Anthony Atala, Virginia Hardesty and Derrica Barbee, who each gave a heartfelt prayer that had the crowd saying “Amen!” throughout.

The large crowd ranged between 700 to 800 people, who gathered to enjoy a nice meal and pray together.

Pete Greig delivered the message for the breakfast. Greig is a best-selling author/pastor and instigator of the 24-7 Prayer Movement, which has reached more than half the nations on earth. He is also the Senior Pastor of Emmaus Rd, Guildford, England.

Greig spoke about the power of prayer and his church home in England. He also touched on the 24-7 Prayer movement, which has been ongoing for the past 17 years. Greig says the movement has reached over 12,000 locations around the world in over 130 nations.

“It was a joy and a privilege to be with hundreds of business leaders and pastors at the first official event at the newly renovated convention center,” Greig said. “As an Englishman, it was amazing to receive such a warm welcome.”

“You know your history can become your destiny for good or ill,” he continued. “There is a glorious history of Winston-Salem founded by Moravians, who are people of prayer, mission and unity. I believe that those roots are there to be renewed. This city can become a place of unity, prayer, reconciliation and mission once again.”

Greig says he has seen the power of prayer and says the movement has been continually praying for the last 17 years. He says “The greatest miracle is when people encounter Jesus Christ and realize he is alive today. We often see the things that took place in the Bible still taking place today.”