![\"Prayer](\"http:\/\/old.covchurch.org\/uploads\/y0\/9X\/y09XFU5t_t1SQB_b26ZAJQ\/Prayer-team.jpg\")
\u201cIt\u2019s very powerful,\u201d says Patti Harrison. \u201cWe\u2019re just humbled to be here and part of this.\u201d<\/p>\nKNOXVILLE, TN (July 24, 2006) – Every three years, students come to CHIC hoping to have a good time. They also bring with them many burdens. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are bringing with them adult problems,\u201d says Martha Swanson, who leads the event prayer team. Last CHIC (2003), issues ranged from racial reconciliation within a youth group to issues of sexual abuse.<\/p>\n
By the second day of CHIC 2006 on the campus of the University of Tennessee, the team already had prayed for student concerns ranging from needing a scholarship to get into college to struggles with addictions and health concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very powerful,\u201d says Patti Harrison. \u201cWe\u2019re just humbled to be here and part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 30 people prayed throughout each day and evening for all aspects of CHIC, she says. For example, some members prayed with the evening worship team for half an hour before the Sunday night service and subsequent services throughout the week.<\/p>\n
Members of the team are easily spotted, wearing day-glo green shirts with the initials \u201cPT\u201d on them. Students will stop the members to ask for prayer. \u201cI think they realize we\u2019re here just for them,\u201d Harrison says.<\/p>\n
Members of the prayer team come from across the United States, stretching from New England to the Alaskan bush. \u201cOne of the things that appeals to me is the intergenerational aspect,\u201d says Karen Hinz, the chaplain at Covenant Harbor Bible Camp and Retreat Center. Five members of the prayer team are older than 70, and the oldest is 86 (see accompanying story on Lillie Harrison).<\/p>\n
The prayer team also makes certain to care for one another. The group is \u201clike horses at the gate,\u201d excited to be praying, but that also means they may ignore their own needs, Harrison says. The team meets for devotions each morning and takes time to help one another to process all of their experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want people to get the idea that we are super pray-ers,\u201d Swanson says, adding, \u201cThis is just a matter of obedience.\u201d Team members also will accompany students to meet with their youth leaders or to work with a counseling team, if the students desire.<\/p>\n
Carolyn Lawson of Bedford, New Hampshire, has been on the Prayer team since its inception for CHIC 1997.<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.<\/p>\n