United in prayer at the pole
SYATP held outside DeMoss
Liberty students gathered together in front of the DeMoss Hall steps Tuesday night to pray for schools across the globe that participated in the annual See You at the Pole event the following day.
Prayer — Two thousand students gather together to pray for the nation. Photo credit: Joel Coleman, Promotional Publications
See You at the Pole is a worldwide event that began with a collection of teenagers from Texas more than 20 years ago, according to the movement’s official website. These students encouraged their peers to pray for their schools, teachers and fellow students.
“At 7 a.m. on Sept. 12, 1990, more than 45,000 teenagers met at school flagpoles in four different states to pray before the start of school,” the See You at the Pole website said.
The number of students participating in the event grew to approximately 1 million at the following year’s event, according to the website.
Liberty has been involved in See You at the Pole since the event began and, 21 years later, the event is still going strong, Campus Pastor Michael Miller said.
Because of the students’ schedules, Liberty holds their prayer session the night before the event takes place. However, this timing also allows them to pray for others students who gather the next day for See You at the Pole. As a result of this, the students are able to pray specifically for the teenagers who are preparing to participate in the event.
Members of the Student Government Association (SGA), Campus Praise Band, Resident Assistants (RAs) and Spiritual Life Directors (SLDs), along with many others, helped group students together, offered up prayers and led in a time of worship.
“Being that it’s a student led campaign, we try to keep it student led at Liberty,” Miller said.
SLDs officially had the job of holding up signs with the names of states and countries on them as students began to arrive at the event. Students were encouraged to gather and pray with others from their home states and countries.
“This is a great opportunity for students to get together with students from their state and be united in prayer over what’s going on at home,” junior Alicia St. Clair said.
The evening’s agenda included prayers led by SGA President Cody May, SLD Kayla Rawls, SGA Attorney General Mark Simpson, RA Noah Radtke and several others.
The prayer topics focused specifically on the government, coaches, athletes, teachers, administration, youth pastors and the participants of See You at the Pole.
“See You at the Pole is a big deal. This is a way that we can spur the students on in their faith,” senior Megan Dent said.
Students prayed individually and in small groups, as well as with the students leading the prayers.
As the evening came to a close, Dr. Todd Campo, the vice president of Student Leadership, addressed the students. He encouraged them to continue to pray for strong leaders to rise up in the schools and to be a witness to their fellow students. According to Campo, approximately 2,000 Liberty students participated in Liberty’s See You at the Pole this year.
“We were very encouraged to see all those kids come out totally on their own to pray,” Campo said.