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This year's National Day of Prayer brought the faithful to Ways Garden for an evening of worship and prayer. About 150 people attended the gathering.
The event was hosted by the Lycoming Centre Presbyterian Church in association with five other area churches. The music was provided by Michael Hornburger and the worship team from River Valley Church.
After songs, speakers from area churches took time to speak about the importance of unity in the Christian church, humility and repentance. The speakers included, Steve Haupert, bishop of New Testament Fellowship of Churches; Marwin Reeves, pastor of Christ Community Worship Center; Earl Neff, elder from City Church; and Jerry Fourroux, pastor of Lycoming Centre Presbyterian Church and Tim Hartzell, pastor of Faith Wesleyan Church.
The event was organized by Connie Vitolins, outreach volunteer from the Lycoming Centre Presbyterian Church. Vitolins said they began preparing for this event back in January.
"God stirred my heart," said Vitolins of the reason for organizing the event.
The goal for the event was to bring people together to pray for the nation and community and that every step of the way, the organizers felt led to invite Hartzell to speak, Vitolins said.
As the music played and the leaders spoke and prayed, families, individuals, and groups sat in lawn chairs and camp folding chairs, while others relaxed on blankets and in the grass. Those in attendance ranged in age from newborn to senior citizen.
After the crowd had gathered into groups to pray, Hartzell stood on the stage and spoke with emotion. He said God had impressed on his heart that His "warriors are hurting."
"I think God placed on my heart...for everyone in this audience...sometimes the warriors get wounded. And sometimes they are hurting. You are here tonight because you are a warrior. You believe in God. You believe in the power of prayer." Hartzell said to applause.
"The warriors get wounded and they suffer and they hurt and they get disappointed, "Hartzell shared.
Hartzell offered hope.
"When I look at Jesus and Paul ... God is going to love me enough to say, 'Tim...but I can't say yes to this...and I need you to trust me...I encourage you he is entrusting with his redemptive will that is above and beyond anything you can ask for or even imagine."
However, Hartzell said that God does ask his followers to trust him in spite of circumstances. He said that because of Jesus's death, God has given the hope of heaven to the world. "Whatever it is God is inviting you into the process of the reconciliation of mankind. He trusts you enough to carry something significant because he has a plan."
Hartzell said, "America needs to pray...It is through our unity that the world will know God loves them and number two that he sent Jesus into this world. Church, we got work to do."