By Lee Ann Sides Garrett
news@salisburypost.com
As Rowan County students returned to classrooms for their first day of school Monday, all mothers’ hearts were with their children. But a group of local mothers went with them in prayer.
Twelve mothers met in the chapel at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Salisbury Monday morning to share and pray for all Rowan County students.
The women are part of Moms In Touch International, a nondenominational, worldwide organization of Christian women who meet once a week to pray for children and schools.
“Moms In Touch changed my life,” said one mom.
Zubecca Brown led the group. They gathered at 9:30 a.m. in a short meeting, then mothers divided into groups that focused on elementary, middle and high schools and prayed until 11 a.m.
They prayed for students, teachers and administrators, as well as naming specific concerns such as safety, gangs, drugs and peer pressure.
“This is the most important thing we can possibly do,” said Jenny McMasters. “Pray for our children.”
Ordinarily, the mothers meet in smaller groups and pray specifically for their own and others’ children. Smaller groups are area specific, such as East Rowan and Salisbury, and can be as small as two women.
In honor of the first day of school, all the smaller groups prayed together for all of Rowan County’s 10,000-plus students. Group members took turns praying individually.
Moms In Touch was founded by Fern Nichols in 1984 in British Columbia when two of her children were entering middle school. The original group of four mothers blossomed into groups in every state and 120 countries around the world.
Because prayer is not allowed in schools, the groups don’t work within the schools, Brown explained. They pray for the schools.
The group’s vision is to see every school in the world covered by prayer.
In addition to traditional school-specific Moms In Touch groups, there are also church-based groups, home-schooling groups, special-needs groups, those who pray for prodigal children, children in the military, college or careers, Grandmas In Touch and a growing prison ministry.
“Sharing prayer, especially between women, is powerful,” said Elaine Gurst.
Groups shared scripture regarding “God of the beginning” and gave thanks for students beginning a new school year.
“We lift up the children of Rowan County to you, Lord,” Brown prayed. “They have so many needs.”