Friday, March 12, 1999
Heavenly showers--
Big Country churches pray, praise God for rain
By ANTHONY WILSON
Staff Writer
The answer to his prayers came raining down on the roof of
Horace Hoskins’ home last Sunday.
For weeks the retired Nolan County farmer had been humbly asking
God to send some showers. And when they came, Hoskins laid awake
in bed till almost dawn, listening to the soothing thuds of raindrops
and praising his heavenly Father.
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| A sign at Wylie Baptist Church
encourages passers-by to keep the present drought in their prayers.
Photo by Steve Hebert/ Reporter-News |
“There’s no telling how many times I thanked the
Lord for the rain,” said Hoskins, a devout Baptist who measured
2.25 inches of rain in his gauge. “I was tickled to death.
I just pray the ones that didn’t get it will get some this
week.”
He’s not the only one.
As drought continues to dehydrate much of the Big Country,
many of the area’s most faithful churchgoers have turned
to the power of prayer.
Scores of congregations have inserted into their services invocations
asking their God to quench the area’s arid lands.
A few ministers have organized prayer sessions during which
their flocks seek both repentance and rain showers.
And earlier this week the Most Rev. Michael Pfeifer called
on area mayors and pastoral leaders to proclaim March 21 a day
of prayer for rain. Pfeifer, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of
San Angelo, is further urging nondenominational prayer gatherings
that day throughout the diocese’s 29 counties.
“There’s a great need for heavenly moisture,”
Pfeifer explained. “When we’ve prayed in the past, we’ve
gotten rain. It’s not a magic game; it’s a faith experience.
It’s a humble expression of our need, and God will give it
to us as he sees fit.
“Whether it’s forecasted or not, we expect to get
rain,” he added. “The Lord is going to help us.”
The bishop looks to be part prophet.
Rain returned to the Big Country for the second time this week
on Thursday in what some might call a blessing from above.
Holy water
Moses began what is now a long tradition of asking God to send
water.
In Exodus 17, a chapter subtitled “Preserved from Thirst
Again” in one study Bible, Moses cries out to the Lord, afraid
that his thirsting people are ready to murder him. The Lord orders
Moses to strike a desert rock with his rod, promising that water
will emerge from the stone.
He does. And it does.
Asking God for water remains relevant and appropriate, said
the Rev. Michael Patterson, pastor at Wylie Baptist Church.
“He knows the land needs rain, but he likes to hear from
us,” Patterson said. “He asks us to talk with him about
our needs.’’
After enduring a February during which the skies wouldn’t
so much as spit on Abilene, some of Patterson’s parishioners
asked him to pray for rain during church services. Shortly afterward,
the church posted the notice “Praying for rain” on its
marquee, a subtle encouragement for other Christians to join in
the request.
The evening the message went up, a sprinkling of rain descended,
dropping about three-tenths of an inch of water on the city.
At that moment, Wylie Baptist was ordaining deacons, and Patterson
recalled a “buzz of smiles” spreading through the sanctuary.
“It was a special thing,” he said. “People knew
the Lord was sending rain.
“My stock tank is still dry,” he added. “We
may put up on the sign, ‘Praying for more rain.’”
The rains also came six days after religious leaders in Big
Spring mounted a communitywide prayer service that drew 800 people
and national media attention.
The Rev. Eddie Tubbs, pastor of Big Spring’s First Baptist
Church, said he is “dumbfounded” by the doubting Thomases
who view such signs of faith as archaic. He noted that while a
farmer can boast the best seed, soil and tractor, God’s will
must be done if a harvest is to be reaped.
“We’ve forgotten there’s an element of our lives
that goes beyond what we’re able to do,” Tubbs said.
“And that’s the element of God.”
Though most of Big Spring recorded only two-tenths of an inch
of moisture, Tubbs preached, “The issue is not the quantity
of rain but the quality of God’s love. If we get rain, praise
God.”
The town will do just that at 6:30 p.m. Monday at First Baptist
Church. Tubbs is billing the event as a “Thank you, Lord”
rally.
Taylor County Agriculture Extension Agent Gary Bomar said area
farmers are aware of the religious concern and appreciate the
church-pew support. He confessed to making the same prayer request
of his own minister at Central Presbyterian Church.
“We’re all under his control,” Bomar said of
God. “I believe in prayer and that prayers are answered.”
God reigns
Bomar seems to be right.
Rains have twice spritzed the Big Country in the past five
days and the chance of more moisture remains in the forecast through
this morning.
But don’t look for Bishop Pfeifer to rescind his call
for a day of rain prayers.
A Ballinger priest has scheduled special prayer services dedicated
solely to the topic in the days leading up to March 21. San Angelo’s
mayor has also proclaimed it a day of prayer for rain in his city.
Abilene Mayor Gary McCaleb is unsure if he’ll follow suit,
saying he favors citizens praying for rain every day.
Noting the wet stuff has been mentioned during recent banquet
invocations and in his own church, McCaleb said he senses a “healthy
concern” about the drought.
“There’s an increasing concern about it with every
foot the lake level falls,” he said. “You wonder how
much lower it can go. We need water on our fields and in our lakes.”
Pfeifer agreed, noting farmers and ranchers alone aren’t
dependent on replenishing rains.
“It’s a human thing,” he said. “We’re
all in the same boat. We need that heavenly moisture.”
He urged the faithful to pray with “full confidence,”
reminding that Jesus Christ told the world to call upon the Father
and advised, “Ask and you shall receive.”
“There’s a strong promise in there,” the bishop
said. “Let’s take Jesus at his word.”
Anthony Wilson can be reached at 676-6734 or wilsona@abinews.com.
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Copyright ©1999,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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