CONWAY — Vicky Bonds of Conway said she felt compelled to pray for adult children; then she happened to see the founder of the Worldwide Mom’s Day of Prayer on television.
“I never watch that show, but I was just flipping channels. It was just God’s perfect timing,” Bonds said.
“The next day was the shooting of those children (in Newtown, Conn.) that just grabbed my heart even more,” she said. “My heart just hurts; it hurts. The ones we think we can protect — they’re not even safe.”
Bonds, a member of CenterPoint Church in Conway, said she wrote a letter to her pastor’s wife, Kathi DeZort.
“[I] told her what was on my heart,” Bonds said.
The church has organized a Worldwide Mom’s Day of Prayer, which will be a drop-in event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 19. The church is in a shopping center at 1010 Hogan Lane, Suite 3.
Women are invited — and men won’t be turned away — to visit from 10-11; 11 to noon; or noon to 1, or they may stay the whole time, Bonds said.
“This is not about any church or any one person. … It’s just strictly us having a heart for our children to pray for them,” Bonds said. “I just think they need it more than we ever dreamed.
“If more churches in Conway want to do it, that’s awesome.”
Bonds said her heart has been “heavy for mothers of adult children; that’s just the season of life I’m in.” Her children are 26, 28 and 37, and she also has four grandchildren.
“My heart for the last several months has been that realm, because I have friends — they’re good Christian people — some of them have kids with addictions of some sort, health issues, you name it. It’s just tough out there.”
She enlisted the help of fellow church member Alycia Bradley, 31, who is in a different “season” of life.
Bradley and her husband, Shane, have five children, ages 4 to 14.
“Vicky contacted me and said she thought it would be something I’d be interested in, and I said, ‘Definitely,’” Bradley said.
“It just seems like the world’s growing darker,” Bradley said. “I think our children need every opportunity they have to see more of the light.”
She mentioned tragedies such as school shootings.
“Also, it’s a great way for moms to support each other,” Bradley said. “You have so many different situations,” she said, from broken to blended families.
“It’s a great way for us to come together and pray for our kids and give them the greatest chance possible to be a light for others,” Bradley said. “I’m pretty confident that it’s something we need to do.”
Bradley said the CenterPoint Church event was planned on short notice, but she is optimistic on how it will turn out.
“Matthew 18:20 says, ‘Where two or more are gathered, here I am,’” Bradley said.
“Even if it is a short or small outcome, it is going to be more than doing nothing. It’s still going to be a powerful thing,” she said.
Kathy Coleman of Fort Smith started Mom’s Day of Prayer in 1997 after she heard about mothers in Brazil who came together to pray because of the widespread sexual immorality and use of drugs and alcohol in that country. The first Worldwide Mom’s Day of Prayer was held in 1998 in Fort Smith.
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.