Recap: Church Planting Prayer Walk

This past Saturday, 52 Hillsiders (35 adults and 17 kids) participated in our first ever Church Planting Prayer Walk! 

We asked Pastor Gabe Zepeda, our Church Planting Resident, to tell us a little more about the purpose behind the Prayer Walk and what happened that day.

Q: What did you do at the Prayer Walk?

Gabe: We met at Bernard and Wendy Zavala’s home in Shakopee to discuss logistics over coffee, tea, donuts, and pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread). We divided into groups of four to the following locations:

a) Downtown Shakopee

b) Huber Park

c) South of Marschall Rd near the Shakopee Social District

d) Bonus: pastor Brian and Lane Lackas went on a Shakopee excursion

Q: What was the purpose of the Prayer Walk, and/or what were your hopes for it?

Gabe: The main purpose of the Prayer Walk was to prayerfully discern if God is leading us to plant a church in the Shakopee/Savage/Prior Lake region. While we are still trying to discern God’s leading, our hope was simply to pray over Shakopee, be salt and light, love people like Jesus, and tell people about Jesus.

Q: Did you see those things accomplished? If so, how?

Gabe: Yes, God answered so many of our prayers. For example, God protected us and kept us safe. We witnessed the boldness and big hearts of 52 people who wanted to live on mission and see God move South of the River. We were praying for a “person of peace” (cf. Luke 10:6). The fact that there were so many participants who live in the Shakopee/Savage/Prior Lake region is evidence that people are praying for a move of God in these cities. We also met a professing Christian woman downtown who has been looking for a good church in Shakopee and seemed glad at the idea of a new church plant.

Q: Can you give an example or two of the kinds of things that happened or the ways you saw God at work during the Prayer Walk?

Gabe: Two things come to mind:

First, I was part of the group who walked around Marschall Rd., near the Social District. That area is diverse and a poorer part of town with low-income housing and many vacant buildings and lots. The people I observed looked defeated as if their dreams and hopes were crushed. They walked slowly with their heads down. It was sobering. We were able to talk to a Hispanic family in Spanish. They seemed very open and were moved to tears when we prayed for them.

Second, Becca Schriner and Elizabeth Watkins walked around downtown. While there, they came to the Samaha Islamic Center. As they prayed over the Center and the people there, they felt the power and presence of God with them. As Becca and Elizabeth shared about their experience, I felt the confidence of Jesus and his victory over the dark cloud of Islam in Shakopee.

Q: To wrap up, do you have any other thoughts about the Prayer Walk that you want to share?

Gabe: Overall, I am very humbled and encouraged by what God did and is still doing because of the Prayer Walk. As Shakopee has grown and developed in the last ten years, it is becoming more diverse and offers many avenues for entertainment. However, there are pockets of poverty, areas of violence, and people looking for hope. We all came away from the experience saying, “We need to keep praying,” and asking, “When is the next prayer walk?”