A church member from First Fellowship Worship Center of Byron had a vision of hosting an event that could bring younger people closer to Jesus in light of recent, violent tragedies.
That event — Prayer in the Park — took place at noon Saturday at Rozar Park in Perry, where the public was invited to encourage the community’s youth to choose the Lord and avoid violence when times are troubling, according to the congregation’s praise team leader, Shontorria Fann.
“The mission for Prayer in the Park is to introduce our youth to Jesus (to God) you know,” Fann said. “You hear so much of killing and just bad things that’s going on in our youth, and Prayer in the Park is basically to let the youth know that God is the answer — not the violence, not the killing, not any of the things that we hear about it — that God is [the answer].”
The idea of the event came to Fann following her son sharing with her the news of the tragic killing of one of his college football teammates.
According to Fann, the Lord spoke to her after learning of that tragedy, saying she needed to take action.
“Later on, he spoke to me: ‘Get the youth together,’” Fann said.
She didn’t move on it because she wanted to be sure it was God’s will, calling her to make a move, she explained.
“Lord, if this is of you, if this is something you want me to do, please sit on my heart again,” Fann said that she prayed. “Give me a sign.”
Following her son’s transfer of schools to gain space from the tragedy, violence struck again when one of his classmates was killed.
“My spirit was instantly quickened, and God was saying, ‘That’s your sign,’” Fann added.
She also asked the Lord why a park should be the venue for an event like this, considering she could hold a similar event in a church or other public venue.
“He said, ‘It’s because every nation has a park; every community has a park,’” she shared. “So I feel like that’s a sign for me to eventually go to different communities and bring Prayer in the Park for the nations in the communities.”
Fann said she hopes Prayer in the Park will happen again in the near future, and everyone is invited to all the events.
“This Prayer in the Park is not hosted just for the Black community,” she said. “It’s for all of us.”
According to Fann, the event brought out 45-50 attendees from various congregations.
Speakers, gospel artists and praise dancers for the event included: Shontorria Fann, Bishop Robert L. Bentley, Jr. and Minister Earl Grayson of Byron’s First Fellowship Worship Center, Pastor Latecia Thomas, Minister Jarvis Scott, Prophet Will Jones, M&J Ministries and Just Us Ministries.
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