Pray daily

Volunteers reach out

The Liberty University Prayer Center is a place where thousands of prayers are being poured upon the entire student body, according to Prayer Center Manager and Campus Pastor Tim Voogd.

According to the Prayer Center’s Facebook page, the mission of the center is “to encourage, comfort, intercede and uplift people by walking with them into the throne room of almighty God and presenting their requests through prayer.” It is a mission that Voogd tries to live by daily.

Voogd said he enjoys managing the Prayer Center because he has the privilege of meeting many caring and supportive students.

“I love it, because I get to meet a group of students who are here to care about other people and care through this very quiet ministry because they want to,” Voogd said. “This is the student that says, ‘Publically, I can come and quietly make an eternal difference by praying for people each week.’”

The Prayer Center could be described as Liberty’s best-kept secret, according to Voogd, and is a behind-the-scenes type of department that currently houses 12 student workers and about 40 Christian/Community Service workers that pray for individuals all over Liberty’s campus.

However, the student workers at the Prayer Center do not just pray over the requests that come in. If given the opportunity, they will reach out to the students and pray for them right on the spot, according to Voogd.

Encouraging cards are also written and given out to various members of the Liberty family, such as athletes, student leaders and RA’s, according to Voogd. Last year, more than 1,000 cards were sent.

“It’s a very quiet, ‘I-know-that-it’s-going-to-make-a difference,’ kind of attitude in writing the card(s),” Voogd said.

According to Voogd, each prayer request that comes in is distributed among many volunteers at the Prayer Center, which results in multiple people praying for each request.

“People have been praying, and so that slowly adds up over the months and you’ll see 30 (to) 40 people through the months praying for that specific person,” Voogd said.

Voogd and the rest of the Prayer Team said they want everyone to experience the love and support offered by the Prayer Center. Voogd said the Prayer Center could benefit from additional volunteers in order to increase the number of people who will be praying over the campus.

Students may submit their prayer requests by emailing the Prayer Center at prayercenter@liberty.edu or filling out a form on the Prayer Center website.

WEYANT is a feature reporter.