Faith revival
Ten Mile Valley Community Prayer Gathering expanded
The first three Ten Mile Valley Community Prayer Breakfasts were so successful that the organizer decided to expand the annual get-together to two days.
This year’s Ten Mile Valley Community Prayer Gathering will begin at 6 p.m. Nov. 7 with a cookout and will continue at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 8 with brunch. Each day’s celebration will take place in the Marianna Community Outreach parking lot at 117 First St., Marianna (the former Sts. Mary and Ann Church).
“We’ve rebranded it a little bit from prayer breakfast to prayer gathering,” explained Pat O’Brien, organizer of the gatherings.
The Friday night portion of the gathering will honor the pastors and churches of the Ten Mile Valley.
“We’ve sent out invitations to over 200 churches mostly in southern Washington County and northern Greene County, but some extend all the way up toward Washington, Pa.,” O’Brien said. “We’d really like the pastors to come out. Many times they are in thankless roles. We want to encourage them and lift them up in prayer. We’d love their congregations to come along as well and be revived in their faith.”
There will be a cookout featuring standard fare, such as hot dogs and hamburgers.
Wes Kavanaugh, pastor of North Ten Mile Baptist Church in Amity, will be the keynote speaker. Music will be provided by the Journey by Grace Worship Band of Rostraver.
The Saturday morning celebration will honor and pray for the next generation, the young people of the Ten Mile Valley.
“We want to encourage the young people,” O’Brien said. “There’s a lot of challenges, a lot of rough stuff, coming at our young people. To some extent, there’s a feeling of hopelessness in our young people. We want to bring an uplifting, saving message of the Gospel to them and pray for an awakening within the young people of the Ten Mile Valley area.”
There will be a breakfast menu featuring sausage and bacon and O’Brien’s “famous Amish waffle recipe.”
“It’s a good, old Amish recipe that I tell everybody really sticks to your ribs,” O’Brien said. “It’s a nice waffle that I’ve been making for 40 years ”
Jaelynn DeWitt,15, of Deemston, will speak, and Kavanaugh will return to deliver a keynote message. DeWitt is the granddaughter of Dr. Kelly Hunt, a Bethlehem-Center graduate who is the Pittsburgh District director of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Musical entertainment will come from the Calvary Chapel Youth Worship Band from Brownsville and the Beth-Center High School band and choir.
“So we’ll have a 45-piece band coming that will add another cool dimension to the morning,” O’Brien said.
In past years, the prayer breakfast has honored teachers and students in the Beth-Center School District and area fire departments and emergency medical service organizations. O’Brien said preparations are being made for 500 people for each session.
The year’s events are free of charge.
“We don’t want anybody to be restricted in coming,” O’Brien said. “We want everybody to be able to come and hear the Gospel and hear the word of God.”
To reserve a spot, contact O’Brien at 412-480-6733 or pat@patobrienconsulting.com.