Mayor says prayer is working in Yakima

YAKIMA -- It's working, says Yakima Mayor Dave Edler. Just take a look around.

From dropping crime rates to efforts to revitalize the downtown area, prayer is transforming this city, he says.

"My sense is when the name of our city of Yakima is bouncing around the halls of heaven, God responds," says Edler, also the senior pastor of Yakima Foursquare Church, one of the largest evangelical churches in town.

Edler will deliver the keynote address -- "How Prayer is Changing Yakima" -- at the annual Mayor's Prayer Breakfast on May 1. The breakfast is held in celebration of the 2008 National Day of Prayer.

The theme: "Prayer! America's Strength and Shield." It's based on the Bible verse of Psalm 28:7, which reads: "The Lord is my strength and shield; my heart trusts in Him and I am helped."

Says Edler, "Some of the good news of our Valley is, I believe, absolutely the result of people positioning themselves to pray. Crime rates are down. We've had an increased economic boom over the last several years."

And those are just a couple of the examples Edler will share at the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast on the National Day of Prayer.

Established by Congress in 1952, the National Day of Prayer is held the first Thursday in May. Yakima Valley observances begin Saturday morning and include four components over two days.

The National Day of Prayer precedes the Global Day of Prayer, which began in 2005 and takes place May 11. Thousands of people throughout the world are expected to participate in that prayer event.

Meanwhile, in the Yakima Valley, people are invited to gather to pray at 21 designated prayer sites Saturday morning.

Then, they're asked to come together for worship in downtown Yakima. A celebration involving Yakima Valley youth is planned at Millennium Arts Plaza.

Events continue May 1 with the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, featuring the speech by the mayor as well as the winners of a student essay contest on the topic "What Prayer Means to Me."

That afternoon, churches will open their sanctuaries so people can drop in for prayer.

In addition to local issues, people are asked to pray for America and its leadership in five particular areas: church, education, family, government and the news media.

"We know prayer changes hearts," says Linda Iasella, chairwoman of the local committee that sponsors Yakima-area National Day of Prayer events and a parishioner of Yakima's Holy Family Catholic Church. "Prayer changes the people we are praying for."

And, like the mayor, she believes, "Prayer is changing Yakima."

But, says John Van Belle, a member of East Valley Reformed Church and the local National Day of Prayer committee, "We need more people to join us in prayer."

ReignDown USA

A new movement calling for a day of repentance is taking place alongside this year's National Day of Prayer events.

People across the country? including in Yakima, will be participating in ReignDown USA on Saturday. The mission of the grass-roots prayer and worship movement: "To humbly seek God's presence and ask for His forgiveness so that He will reign down and restore our relationship with Him and with one another."

Organizers are asking Christians throughout the United States to come together in simultaneous worship, which will be led from Washington, D.C., and broadcast via satellite. Michael W. Smith, a Grammy Award-winning singer and one of the best-selling artists in contemporary Christian music genre, is slated to lead the worship.

The purpose of the free prayer event is to seek forgiveness, healing and restoration.

In Yakima, the only city in Washington state to host a ReignDown event, people are invited to gather from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday in the auditorium at Perry Technical Institute, 2011 W. Washington Ave.

"Millions of people across the nation will be saying the exact same prayer at the exact same time," says Carrie Cole, who's organizing the Yakima event with her husband Mitch. "It's going to be great.

"We're encouraging people to come; I don't care what church they go to or even if they don't attend church," says Cole, who attends Stone Church in Yakima. "Our goal is basically to transform the nation, change the direction that we're going."

For more information, call coordinators Mitch and Carrie Cole at 930-9411 or visit www.reigndownusa.com.

National Day of Prayer schedule of activities

Saturday

* 9 to 10 a.m. Prayer Over the Valley. People are invited to gather and pray at 21 designated sites around the Yakima Valley. For more information or a list of locations, call Corday Trick at 961-9043.

* 11 a.m. to noon. Yakima Youth Celebrate National Day of Prayer. Everyone is welcome to join young worshippers at Millennium Arts Plaza, located in downtown Yakima, across from the Capitol Theatre, 19 S. Third St.

May 1

* 6:45 to 8 a.m. Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, featuring Yakima Mayor Dave Edler speaking about "How Prayer is Changing Yakima." The breakfast takes place at Yakima's Howard Johnson Plaza, 9 N. Ninth St. Tickets cost $12 and are available at Yakima's Inklings Bookshop, 5629 Summitview Ave., and Yakima's Fiddlesticks, 1601 Summitview Ave.

* 1 to 7 p.m. Prayer Stations. Churches throughout the Yakima Valley will be open and available for prayer. Look for National Day of Prayer signs posted in front of the churches. Or call John Van Belle for a complete list of prayer stations at 248-1934.

For more information about the National Day of Prayer, visit its Web site at www.ndptf.org.

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