Milbank Students Join The World in Prayer at the Pole

Milbank students came together for prayer in the frosty, early morning air on Wednesday, September 28. They bonded with millions of other students across the world who also gathered around their flagpoles to pray.  
See You at the Pole is part of the Global Week of Student Prayer observed from September 25 through October 1. Public, private, and homeschooled students in 60 countries pray in unique ways, places, and times during the week. See You at the Pole, is it’s most widely recognized event.

This year marked the second time St. Lawrence students joined See You at the Pole. For 2022, the student council included their entire school and staff and invited friends, parents, grandparents, and St. Lawrence parishioners.  
Principal Brenda Anderson, said, “What an amazing way to share our faith. We are blessed to be able to pray and talk about God each and every day here at St. Lawrence.  The fact that there were so many voices lifting up their prayers at the same time throughout the nation is powerful!  

Levi Wadell, youth pastor at Central United Methodist, who assisted the public school students, said, “It’s surreal to me that millions of people gathered around a flagpole and prayed to God yesterday. Not only in this country, but in many countries around the world and in many different languages and dialects.  But, God understands and hears all of them. It shows the magnitude of just how big a God we serve.”

Anderson agreed, “I believe it’s important for us, not only to come together as a Catholic School, but as a parish and a community to pray for the needs of our world, nation, and community. ” 

“We encouraged the students to pray for their classmates, teachers, schools, and their country,” Wadell said. “We also asked them to pray what was really in their hearts. We know everybody has something going on in their lives that causes pain and hurt. We encouraged them to be open and real.”

“But, I love that before anyone prayed, He already knew what was in their hearts,” Wadell added. “It’s such a joy to serve a God that knows us, loves us, and wants to have a deep relationship with each of us.”

See You at the Pole got its start in 1980 and was initially meant to be a one-time event.  A group of teenagers from Burleson, Texas, were attending a weekend retreat and on the last night, they decided to drive to three schools and pray at the flagpoles. This inspired other students across Texas and beyond.

The phrase See You at the Pole caught on, and on September 12, 1990, over 45,000 students in four different states gathered at flagpoles at 7 a.m. The event continued to grow like wildfire. This year, an estimated two million students of all ages and in all 50 states and dozens of countries were united in prayer.

Aflame is the theme for the 2020 Global Week of Student Prayer. It originates from  Romans 12:11–12: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”