Prayer walk to take place through August 4 in NYM

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

Trinity Lutheran Church in New York Mills is hosting an outreach opportunity for everyone in and around the NY Mills community for the next week and a half as they debut their self-guided prayer walk around the city.

The prayer walk begins at the church on East Gilman Street and makes its way west to North Broadway Avenue (Highway 67) where it turns south. The walk turns east at East Park Street where it will continue to Cornwell Avenue where a short jaunt to the south will be made before returning north along Cornwell back to the church. There are eight prayer stops along the way to help guide the prayer journey.

The prayer walk was organized by the Church’s Mission and Outreach Board chaired by Rebecca Umland. She mentioned that she was driving around one day and noticed a multitude of people taking advantage of the nice weather and getting out and walking around town.

“I was like, ‘geez, everybody’s out walking, this is a really nice day, I should be out walking,’” said Umland. “It’s something that people are already doing, so just adding this thoughtfulness in there is kind of a bonus.”

Each of the eight prayer stops will be in front of a congregation member’s home where a garden flag with a laminated sheet of paper will help guide the prayerful pilgrimage with a Bible verse and a short message about prayer. Helpful tips about where, when, what and how to pray will be included along the way.

“As far a prayer goes, it can be intimidating,” said Umland. “People don’t know, should I bow my head, should I close my eyes, what should I pray? Talking to God should not be that hard, it should be like talking to your best friend. This prayer walk helps to encourage people in all the different aspects.

“There are no set guidelines, other than that God has given the Bible to help us, it gives us direction on how to talk to Him, on things that would benefit not only us, but the people around us in how to pray and talk to Him,” she continued. “The Bible is where we get all of these instructions to help to know what to do and what to say.”

Umland hopes that this prayer walk will help people learn more about prayer, focus on their own prayer lives, and be encouraged to make prayer a priority in their own lives. The walk was set up so that it could be completed at your own pace at any time, alone or as a group, in any way that you might desire. Its flexible nature is an example of how prayer can be.

“It’s challenging you to look at your prayer life and reflect,” said Umland. “Rain or shine, morning or night, hot or cold, you can go and walk on your own or you can walk in a group. They’re generally two minute reads with Bible verse on each of them. You make a stop at each of the stops and read the sign and you can contemplate the things that it said until the next stop.”

Those who would like to take advantage of the prayer walk can start outside the Trinity Lutheran Church entrance where a tote of maps will be kept for the public. These maps guide walkers along the path and shows where each prayer stop is located along the route.

“It’s available for anyone to walk it and enjoy it,” said Umland. “It’s an easy spot to park your vehicle and then take the two and a half mile walk around and then go about your day. This is really just for people to get out, enjoy a walk, it’s almost like a self-guided Bible study about prayer. It’s super short, but hopefully thought-provoking.”