I went to the local office supply store and bought do-it-yourself postcard and printed them up with the following message:
You’ve been prayed for!
The Youth Fellowship of Christ Congregational Church prayed for you today. May God shower love and grace down upon you and hold you always safe in the palms of God’s loving hands. May peace and love be yours through Christ Jesus. Amen.
I used our desktop publishing software to make them look jazzy. I then got from the church secretary a list of every single person in our church database and made labels for the postcards. The cards went into a big ole cardboard box that is wrapped up like a present with a hole in the top. Every Wednesday evening at our group’s prayer and worship time, we pass the box around and everyone picks out one card. We then read aloud the names of each card and pray specifically for that person. The next morning, I mail the cards to the people we’ve prayed for.
This has been a very powerful outreach tool for our kids, teaching them to pray for others, especially people they may not know. The people who receive the cards often tell us that the prayer cards reached them at a time when the felt particularly in need of prayer, and some of the people who have received cards have begun attending services regularly again.
Peace and Blessings
Bess