City Church offers prayer to Houston County law enforcement

Law enforcement officers around Houston County had four opportunities this week to gather for a special time of prayer on the grounds of City Church in Warner Robins. The gatherings were the idea of Brunetta “Bru” Childs, a church member who says God laid it on her heart to approach her pastor to suggest that it be something organized by City Church.

Lead Pastor Dwayne Evors said he readily embraced the idea. “Drive-thru prayer is something that started during the COVID pandemic and gained prominence. We’ve done them here before,” he said. “Bru came to me a couple of Sundays ago and said, with all the things happening in society, she wanted to do the specific thing of backing our law enforcement community.”

As one who supports good law enforcement, Evors said the idea was a great one and was much needed. “They do such a wonderful job, but yet, they feel the stress and the pressures of the times like anybody else. Bru wanted to support those guys and let them know we’re with them and behind them. This isn’t something we’re doing for show,” Evors added. “That’s why we’re doing it on the backside of the church and not in the open to gain attention from people driving by in their cars. This is real.”

Citing the current day social pressure that is going on around the nation, Evors indicated that the timing couldn’t have been more perfect for Childs’ request. “We want to use the church to bring healing to our community,” he said. “Our church is a multi-racial church. The church is really God’s laboratory of racial healing. The Bible says that we don’t have Jew nor Greek… that’s the Word. The church is where racial healing should start. We should only look at one color, and that’s the color of the blood of Jesus Christ.”

The gatherings this week took place on Tuesday and Thursday, with two opportunities to come together on each day. Officers could choose 9:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m., and each session was slated for one hour. According to Childs, officers had shown up at every gathering, with some assemblies being larger than others.

At Thursday morning’s gathering, both Pastor Evors and Childs encouraged the officers who stood together on City Church’s grounds surrounded by members of the church and supporters of the prayer effort who were able to attend. Evors expressed gratitude to the policemen and assured them that they had the support of not only City Church, but also the Houston County community at large.

Before the prayer began, Childs anointed every attending officer’s hand with oil, and during the prayer, led by Evors, the officers and supporters linked together in a circle in a show of unity. Pastor Evors not only prayed for the safety and protection of law enforcement and their families, but he also asked God to bring healing to the nation and the world.

“The inspiration for these prayer sessions came at what some might think was a very odd time,” Childs explained. “It all started when a police officer stopped me because I ran a stop sign. I did a California run (not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign). I didn’t see him; I didn’t know he was there,” she said with a laugh. “He pulled up behind me, asked for my driver’s license and said, ‘Did you know you ran that stop sign?’ I told him the truth. I knew I ran it. He was right,” Childs stated. “I didn’t stop.”

Childs said that when she gave the officer her driver’s license, God prompted her to pray with him, and she had to be obedient. “So I said, Officer, can I pray with you? The Lord told me to pray for with you.” Based on Childs’ recall, the officer didn’t hesitate. She said he agreed and gave her his hand to hold.

“I prayed for him, and I also repented for running that stop sign,” she said. “When I finished praying and looked up at him, he had tears in his eyes. He said, ‘You’ve made me cry,’ and I told him that it wasn’t me, it was the Lord.”

After that experience, Childs said that God gave her a mandate to pray with all the officers in Houston County who would allow her to do so. She didn’t immediately know how she would carry out the mission, but upon approaching her pastor, Evors gave her permission to use the church as a prayer base.

Aside from offering each officer a bottle of cold water, after the prayer, they were each presented with a blue and red handmade ribbon. Some immediately placed it on the dashboards of their official vehicles.

“The blue represents them—the police,” Childs explained, “and the red represents the blood of Jesus. We’re not going to stop here,” she later added. “We are going to continue to offer these prayers once a week until further notice. I hope before we’re done, we’ve had the opportunity to pray with every officer in the area. They need our prayers right now more than anything.”

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