| Faithful
in AV join Day of Prayer
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Friday,
May 7, 2004.
By RICH BREAULT
Valley Press Senior Writer and
NORMAN SHOAF
Valley Press Religion Editor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Lancaster and Palmdale, nearly 1,800 citizens across the
spectrums of religion gathered Thursday to celebrate their various
prayer traditions at a pair of predominantly Protestant Christian
breakfasts organized around both cities' mayors and at an interfaith
observance both mayors attended in order to embrace all faiths.
One mayor's breakfast in Lancaster at the new Antelope Valley
Fairgrounds drew 1,500 of the faithful. In Palmdale, another
100 or so worshipers gathered to break bread together.
In
the evening in Palmdale, at Poncitlan Square, an ecumenical
service was conducted for worshipers from many faith traditions
across the spectrum of world religions.
Jackie
Fisher, the new president of Antelope Valley College, was the
keynote speaker at the event. And the prayer service was a mosaic
of diversity, including Buddhist chants, Hebrew blessings, Muslim
scriptures, Baha'i poetry, Orthodox Catholic entreaties to God,
and invoking of Wiccan gods and goddesses.
The
Valley events coincided with President George W. Bush's proclamation
of the National Day of Prayer, enjoining Americans to "give
thanks for our blessings and pray for each other and our nation."
Bush
urged Americans to give thanks according to their own faiths.
Hundreds of such events were conducted across the country.
During
the Lancaster Mayor's Prayer Breakfast at the Poppy Pavilion,
Jeff Elmore, chaplain at Antelope Valley Hospital and this year's
chairman for the breakfast, said, "this is a praying community.
And that unity we celebrate today."
Earlier,
Elmore told the assemblage of nearly 1,500 people, "I would
not speak for the diverse faith groups here in the Antelope
Valley, but I would love to see our local newspaper do perhaps
a photographic montage of the various gatherings in churches,
synagogues, mosques, ashrams and retreat centers throughout
our Valley on this National Day of Prayer.
"Nor
would I presume to speak for the diverse Christian community,
either, but I do declare that your presence here today witnesses
to a shared commitment to prayerfully uphold and encourage our
fellow citizens and our leaders on the local national and state
levels."
At
the Palmdale breakfast, a similar theme was sounded.
Although
neither the mayors nor the organizations sponsoring the breakfasts
extended any formalized invitation or welcome to worshipers
outside the umbrella of Protestant denominations, both mayors
announced their intentions to visit the interfaith gathering
set for the evening at Poncitlan Square.
Spokesmen
for the Protestant congregations said they wanted to gather
to worship and pray in their own fashion, and an interfaith
gathering was not in their planning because they said people
of other faiths might feel awkward about attending.
"Prayer
has been part of our country since the beginning," Ken
Hart, pastor of The Highlands Church, said in opening his remarks
Thursday morning at the 24th annual Palmdale Mayor's Prayer
Breakfast.
The
atmosphere at the Chimbole Cultural Center event was warm and
congenial, with more than 100 attendees coming together for
a breakfast buffet, prayer and performances of sacred music.
Hart,
the featured speaker, devoted his message to how ancient Israel's
King David overcame a personal "season in the desert"
to become one of history's greatest Jewish kings.
Palmdale
Mayor Jim Ledford told the group, "No doubt we're instruments
in God's hand … when I look at our community and where
we're heading, truly we are blessed."
Ledford
invited all the breakfast crowd "to show up tonight and
be united in prayer" at the Antelope Valley Interfaith
Council event.
In
Palmdale, Charles Miller, pastor of Desert Highlands Baptist
Church, in a prayer for the community and its leaders, reminded
attendees they had not come "to bash each other or each
other's faith, but to pray for our community."
Miller
led the faithful in asking the Eternal to help them remember
that "no matter what our faith is or how we practice our
faith … you have called us to be warriors for you."
"Bless
this community in a mighty way as we strive to move forward
in the direction you're leading us," Miller prayed.
Jim
Powell, pastor of Palmdale's First United Methodist Church,
offered the prayer of invocation and table blessing. Paul Ferguson,
pastor of First Baptist Church of Palmdale, delivered a prayer
for the nation and the world. Ned Beadel, pastor of Palmdale's
Desert Winds Community Church, gave the benediction.
Musical
performances were offered by Alis Clausen; the Palmdale High
School Choral Ensemble, under the direction of Mike McCullough;
and Brad Alford.
Attendees
were asked by the Kiwanis Club of West Palmdale, which sponsored
the breakfast, to write letters of encouragement to U.S. armed
forces as part of "Operation Gratitude."
"Operation
Gratitude" will deliver the letters - along with personal
items such as lip balm, sunscreen, reading materials, socks,
snack foods, stationery and batteries - to the troops.
Readers
who wish to support "Operation Gratitude" can deliver
letters, personal items or cash donations to Valley collection
points including Suburban Realty, 3001 Rancho Vista Blvd.; Edward
Jones Investments, 38745 Tierra Subida Ave. No. 130; and Desert
Winds Community Church, 2121 East Palmdale Blvd.
Donation
checks may be made payable to Kiwanis Operation Gratitude and
sent to P.O. Box 900974, Palmdale, CA 93590.
At
the Poppy Pavilion, Mayor Frank Roberts introduced the members
of the Lancaster City Council and heads of city departments.
"This
day we need to accentuate the importance of prayer in our lives,
and especially for our leaders," Roberts said.
U.S.
Air Force Lt. Col. Clifton Perry, wing chaplain at Edwards Air
Force Base, offered the invocation.
"As
I walked in here today, I saw some people carrying Bibles, and
I said (to myself) 'Man, this is going to be a good prayer breakfast,'
" he said.
Assemblywoman
Sharon Runner of the 36th District offered a prayer for local,
state and national leaders. Student Joshua Thompson offered
a prayer for youth.
Keynote
speaker Dan Baumann captivated the audience as he spoke of his
relationship with God, and the importance of that relationship
in his life and during his ordeal for 63 days in 1997 as a prisoner
in Iran, accused of espionage.
"I
brought a book here with me - 'Imprisoned in Iran.' I don't
want to ruin the ending, but I heard he gets out," Baumann
said of the book he authored.
"When
you give your life to God, you have no idea of what he wants
you to do. I am so glad that God once again allowed me to live
in freedom."
Baumann
went to Iran as a missionary, and his two sisters are missionaries
in India.
"When
you give your life to God, he wants to take our little world,
and give us the whole world," Baumann said. "When
I was imprisoned in Iran, my mom prayed that Dan not be released
until all (God's) purposes are revealed.
"Oh,
my God! I'm just glad other people were praying for me."
Baumann
said as a young teenager he learned "everything you want
to be is overflow of intimacy with God."
"Jesus
affirms you in your jobs as you work in different places in
society," Baumann said. "That's where he wants us
to be. And he wants us to be a light in that place."
For
10 years, Baumann ran a hospital in Afghanistan. He also did
missionary work in other areas of the Middle East, before he
was imprisoned in Iran.
"The
safest place to be is in the center of where Jesus wants us."
rbreault@avpress.com
nshoaf@avpress.com
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