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Program Expands Power Of Prayer

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 9, 2008

TAMPA - Metropolitan Ministries had a good idea this past Christmas season, and now it's an even better one.

For the first time, the nonprofit organization set up a chapel in the tent where it dispenses food and toys to needy families in November and December. The chapel was just a small private space set apart from all the activity by makeshift walls. Nothing more than a few rows of chairs to sit a spell.

The simplicity suited Morris Hintzman, president of Metropolitan Ministries, just fine. He wanted it to be a place of peace and reflection. Visitors could also write down their prayer requests and post them on the walls.

And here's where the ministry staff got a big surprise.
Prayer requests went up by the dozens, then the hundreds, then the thousands. Nearly 4,000 over four weeks.

Most of the scrawled notes asked not for material things, but for more heartfelt needs: good health for families, being able to make the mortgage payment, finding a job. Those requesting prayer wanted their teens to stay on track, their fighting parents to kiss and make up, an upcoming surgery to be successful.

Hintzman couldn't get the requests out of his mind. We have to do something with these, he pledged. But he wasn't sure what.

Now, there's a plan.

Days Of Hope

The prayers were mounted in big scrapbooks - 100 prayers in 40 books - to be distributed to participating churches and synagogues this Easter and Passover season. Metropolitan Ministries is tying the program to the 40 days of Lent, which began Wednesday.

Each participating congregation - there's still time to sign on - picks up one of the books and encourages members to read and pray for each request in the book. That's the intangible portion of the 40 Days of Hope campaign. The second part is just as vital.

The congregations also are asked to put together 100 Boxes of Hope to donate to the ministry for distribution this holiday season. They're meant to feed a family of four for about four days.

It's not a big investment. Hintzman estimates each box costs $30 to $35. The staples suggested by Metropolitan Ministries include a couple of jars of peanut butter; starches such as rice, pasta and cereal; canned fruits and vegetables; pastries and Jell-O; dry or canned soups and beans; and miscellaneous items such as flour, sugar, pasta sauce and condiments.

If you don't have time to build the boxes, Hintzman says, give a cash donation, and Metropolitan Ministries will build it for you.

40 - And Other Numbers

Why such a push so soon after the holidays? Because the agency has to provide about 100,000 meals to struggling families in February and March alone.

The ministry served nearly 22,000 families this past Thanksgiving and Christmas season - about 5,000 more than expected. Typically, there's an ample supply of leftover donations to get through the first few months of the new year. Not this year.

"We're sitting here with an empty pantry," Hintzman says.

The goal is to get 40 congregations involved in 40 days. That's a significant number through Scripture: Forty days of the flood in Noah's time; 40 years the Israelites spent wandering in the desert before they could enter the Promised Land and experience a new blessing; 40 days that Moses, Jesus and Elijah spent praying and fasting before beginning their spiritual work.

Tim Marks, director of development at Metropolitan Ministries, says he has read most of the prayers left at the chapel and had his heart broken several times over.

"When you see these families and what they've had to deal with after tragedy comes into their lives, they're still holding on and asking for hope to get them through their trials and tribulations," he says. "We're giving them the support they're asking for."

Intangibly and tangibly. Both help us survive difficult times. Helping feed the poor is the right thing to do; giving a spiritual boost may help on another level.

To help, call (813) 209-1060. For details, go to metromin.org.

See the volunteers at work for the 40 Days of Hope program on Michelle Bearden's Keeping the Faith segment at 9 a.m. Sunday on WFLA-TV.

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