Prayers of the People

Sometimes I get a nice, hard smack to remind me about the reality of life. And if I ever recognize that I need a nice, hard smack, I always know I will find one at Skyline Urban Ministry in Oklahoma City.

This is a ministry I was heavily involved with some years back. I attended the Saturday night services at NW 8 and Lee (next to St. Anthony Hospital). I'd help prepare meals to serve to the street people who make up the congregation. We would sing and pray and listen to a sermon by the director of the agency, who is an ordained United Methodist minister.

There's another branch at 500 SE 15 called McKee Center which serves the poor senior citizens in the near southeast area of the city, as well as children. I would participate in the Sunday service there, for a while playing the piano for the service which started after my own home church service ended on Sundays. There was a communal lunch after that service as well.

I worked with Skyline in many different ways, even serving briefly on the board of directors. We finally parted ways after a couple of events which are no longer so important. The ministry continues and is growing and thriving under new leadership now, a true blessing of God.

Skyline touches countless lives in countless ways, as do all of the inner city missions of other churches. It is a huge mission field, and it's proof that we don't always have to cross a border on a map to find those who need to hear the Word and be fed, spiritually or physically.

Today I want to let you know and see for yourself the prayers of the people who attend Skyline. So I invite you to spend a few minutes here, reading and praying for their needs, spoken and unspoken: Prayers of the People of Skyline

If you would like to know more about all of the ministries of this outreach, check out Skyline's full site: Skyline Urban Ministry.

Right now, McKee Center is preparing for the 2005 Clothes for Kids ministry, in which each child who comes through the door gets new clothes, shoes and school supplies. More than 1,000 kids a year come through the door seeking help to start out with the basics, just to make it possible to walk through the school doors.

I don't know if you've ever been poor, but I have. But I consider my childhood wealthy by comparison because I had hand-me-down clothes from family friends and cousins. Without that family support, I well may have been in the same situation as the children who depend on Skyline and the supporting churches who make the ministry possible.

So in your own way, as your are called and led, I urge you to feed the people, pray with them, remember them. And know that we could be them, very, very easily.