“Let us bow our heads and pray” is not a phrase you would expect to hear at a public high school but two seniors are changing that through their new club/prayer group, Wyo Grace Gatherings.
Wyoming hasn’t had a prayer group and seniors Joseph Awator and Natalie Rojas wanted to fix that. “My friend, his name is Dan Ferguson, he has a prayer group at Grandville High School and I thought it was a really cool idea and I wanted to include something like that at our school,” Awator said.
What started as an idea, has turned into a reality that Joseph and Natalie are incredibly excited about. “I’ve wanted to start the club since December. I thought about prayer group and my Bible study group chat wanted to find a way that we can meet up in person and we just thought it would be nice to get something like that going for our school,” Awator said. Natalie mentioned it took about two weeks to get this idea off the ground. This is kind of fast considering how much work it takes to get a club going due to all of the steps and people you have to get permission from.
Religious clubs are something that is not common at our school. We often only have gaming clubs, sports clubs, and volunteering clubs. Natalie’s reasoning for this club has to do with what the Bible was telling her to do. “It says in the Bible, share the good news, literally right before Jesus died on that cross, he said one thing to let people know what happened and what he did for us, ya know?” she remarked. Joseph on the other hand, just wanted to feel a little more represented. “There’s no real like religious clubs, so you know, I thought, why not create a club for other Christians,” he said.
In order to have any type of club or group, you must have Mr. Baumbach’s permission along with a staff member to be present at the meetings. It can be hard to find a teacher who is willing to spend a little extra time at school to watch over a club, especially a religous one. But Joseph and Natalie knew the perfect teacher to lend them her room and her watchful eye, Mrs. Schoen. “I’ve known Mrs. Schoen for a while and she’s always been supportive of my ideas. So I thought if we [had to use a] teacher because we have to have a chaperone, what other teacher than Mrs. Schoen,” he said. “She is just an amazing person, she is so sweet. She was the one that wanted to start it as well. She has such a hunger for the Lord,” R said. All of her amazing traits and care for students have made her the perfect person to host this prayer group.
Wyo Grace Gatherings isn’t a high-energy group that goes out and does work and volunteers. This is a place to have peace of mind and a break from your long, exhausting day. “I hope it will just be like a nice calm place where people can read their Bibles and have quiet time with the lord,” Awator said. Natalie expressed that she would like to have everyone come to this group and get in touch with the Lord. “I don’t want to force it upon them but I would like to welcome them into this like warming sense of just like peace and love from our Lord and Savior,” she said. If you need a calming place to regroup after school, seriously, consider coming to this group.
The thought of joining a religious group may be scary to some people and you may worry that you will not be welcomed. Joseph wants everyone to know that anybody is welcome and that he is happy to have you there. “You don’t even have to be Christian to come to Prayer group. If you just want to learn about something or you just want to have quiet time you can come,” he said. “I just want more people to find our Lord and just know the good news that they are saved and that Jesus died for them,” Rojas said.
If you decide to check this new prayer group out, you will leave feeling immensely refreshed and rejuvenated. “I hope it will just be like a nice calm place where people can read their Bibles, and have quiet time with the lord. I know a lot of people don’t have time to do that or they forget and it would just be nice to get that done right after school after a long busy day, you can just end your day off right,” Awator said. “I just hope that people can bring peace within their selves and just get closer to our Lord,” Rojas expressed.
If you are interested in coming to Wyo Grace Gatherings, they meet every Monday in Mrs. Schoen’s room 1226. They gather from 2:25-3:00 pm. Stay after and check it out. Everyone is welcome.