Students at Bamberg start their day
by seeking a 'spiritual high'
Story and photos by Rick
Emert, Bamberg bureau
Nick Hokkanen, a Bamberg
High School senior, joins fellow students in a prayer before school on Thursday. Since
November, the students have gathered around the school's flagpole to prayer for teachers,
family and friends. This week, the prayer circle was moved to another location on the
school grounds so the grass around the flagpole could be reseeded. |
BAMBERG, Germany — In an age of school shootings and youth crimes, something quite
the opposite takes place daily at Bamberg High School.
About 25 to 30 students stand in a circle before class, hold hands and pray as the rest
of the students scurry around them before classes in the morning.
The student body, school faculty and community members have accepted the students’
prayers every morning since November, in good weather and bad.
"I don’t discourage it because it is an activity that has nothing to do with
the school, it doesn’t hurt anything and it is an activity the students seem to
enjoy," said Dr. Sandra Matthys, the school principal.
"It’s not in any way disruptive. They gather early and finish before school
starts. They’ve never been late to class because of this."
The students pray for just about everything — their teachers, their school’s
sports teams and good grades.
"I pray for my family, for my friends who are having hard times and to build a
relationship with Christ," said Lindsay Edwards, an eighth-grader who helped start
the prayer group.
The group members say they get fulfillment from their morning meetings.
"I get a spiritual high," said senior David Herring. "For me, school was
lacking something. With [the morning prayers] and our Thursday night meetings, it all
comes together for me."
Not only have there been no complaints about the students, many people have made
requests of the group.
Students join in a circle
of prayer at Bamberg High School/Middle School Thursday. The students have gathered every
school day, even in bad weather, to pray for teachers, family and friends. |
"One community member stopped and asked the students to pray for his wife because
she was in the hospital," Matthys said.
On another occasion, people have asked that family members be remembered in their daily
prayers.
"A soldier stopped one day and told the students he was about to deploy and asked
them to pray for his sick daughter," said Brenda Swartz, Bamberg’s volunteer
youth ministry leader. "Other students who don’t feel comfortable praying with
them stop them in the hall and ask for prayers."
Swartz, who leads a Bible study class and a new weekly, youth-oriented worship group,
told a couple of the students last September about a tradition in the United States where
middle and high school students gather around their school flagpoles for a prayer once a
year.
"A small group tried it here in September," Swartz said. "They decided
one day a year wasn’t enough, so they started doing it once a week. It quickly grew
to twice a week then every day through rain, snow or sleet."
"We had to do this more than once a year," said senior Nick Hokkanen, wearing
a bright orange T-shirt with "Jesus, King of Kings" on the front. "For a
solid base, we knew we had to pray every day."
One could see this prayer group as a deterrent to violence rampant in many schools in
the States. But, according to the school’s principal, the message is much more
simple.
"It’s a very quiet message sent by a group of students willing to stand up
publicly for what they believe in," Matthys said. "Personally, I think
that’s great."
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