Do We See You At The Pole?

Written by: Rachel Reno, Upper School Principal

“As a child in a military family, I was always the new kid at school. Before I graduated from high school, I attended eight different schools in five different states. 5O0A2973Most of the time, I went to public school. In 1990, my seventh grade year, we moved from Montgomery, Alabama to Springfield, Virginia, where I attended Washington Irving Middle School. That September there was a brand new student-initiated, student-organized and student-led movement on campus called See You at the Pole (SYATP). I remember standing around the flagpole, holding hands with a few friends and teachers. We prayed for our country, our leaders and our school. We asked God to help us live out what we said we believed. Youth pastors from local churches came to stand with us, encouraging us to live out our faith in the public arena. 5O0A2982That first SYATP became an important part of getting to know other believers, students and teachers alike, at my school. For me, standing at the flagpole to pray in late September became an important tradition in the long line of Septembers that followed, first as a student in middle school, high school and college, then as a teacher at four different schools and this year as a principal at Immanuel Christian School. Wednesday, September 27th at 8:00 a.m., standing on our sidewalk, in front of the flagpole, the ICS community joined together as students, teachers, parents and administrators to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We prayed for our friends in public school, we prayed for our neighbors, community and school families; we prayed for local, state and national leaders. How sweet to hear voices young and old thanking God and asking for the needs of our school, our families and our country. SYATP is one tiny opportunity for both students and teachers to practice being not only hearers, but doers of God’s word.”

See You at the Pole, the global day of student prayer, began in 1990 as a grass roots movement with ten students praying at their school. Over twenty-five years later, millions pray on their campuses on the fourth Wednesday in September. SYATP is simply a prayer rally where students meet at the school flagpole before school to lift up their friends, families, teachers, school and nation to God. Click here to learn more about See You at the Pole. http://syatp.com/.

5O0A2966At Immanuel Christian School, we acknowledge it is a privilege to be able to openly pray daily as a community. We are grateful to set aside a morning to join other believers in Christ who may not have that ability and lift up our prayers to God. To find out more about our character in action program visit https://www.icsva.org/student-life/character-in-action/

5O0A2963“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kids and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

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