Odessa gets drive-through prayer

May 11—This is a drive-through society in a lot of ways and a group of Odessans decided to accommodate people who need prayer with a drive-through prayer service.

Starting last December, Megan Prado and her husband Andrew, brother-in-law and sister Robert and Heather Gonzales and parents Gary and Shelley Warren and others put up a tent in the East Eighth Street Shopping Center at East Eighth and Nabors Lane and began offering prayers for everyone who drove up between 5 and 6:30 p.m. each Tuesday.

"We have prayed for 100 people," Prado said. "You have no idea that people are going through so much till you start taking to them.

"There are a lot of financial problems, marriage struggles, alcohol, drug and health problems. They each have their own story and they hurt so much. It's an honor to go to the Lord on behalf of people you wouldn't be able to talk to otherwise like the Bible tells us to do."

Prado got the idea from friends in Seattle and from learning about a similar service in Austin.

The Prado's are members of Redeemer Church and they have friends from there who participate, along with Chapel Hill Baptist Church Pastor Aubrey Jones and members of his church.

The leaders keep the first names of people they pray for in a book and keep praying for them. Elderly people who can't come to the tent are given the list and they pray for the people on it.

"It's such a blessing," Prado said. "We've had a number of people come back and thank us. You get to see the Lord showing he cares that you are struggling and suffering.

"The goal is that people who don't know the Lord will come to a relationship with him through the Gospel. We live in a convenient society, so we want to make it as convenient as possible for them. They just have to obey that little nudge from the Holy Spirit to turn back around."

Prado said that as many as four vehicles have been lined up at a time.

Referring to cell phones, computers and TVs, she said, "A lot of people are stuck on the screen.

"You may have 500 Facebook friends, but how many people can you actually share your struggles with? It's hard to say, 'I need help. I'm struggling.'"

The Rev. Jones said the drive-through prayer tent "is a great opportunity to show the love of Christ.

"It's not about any one congregation or trying to grow any one church," he said, adding that his wife Mollie also takes part. "The best description I can give is that it's God's people trying to minister to anyone and everyone.

"Megan is an awful sweet lady who has a passion to serve. We see some people once and some over and over and we continue to pray for them throughout the week. It's about God's kingdom."