Teens often fear hard times and troubles. However, there are those who stand near to help and a campus group has come up with yet another way to assist with these trying days.

The leadership class recently started the “Prayer Box” project, which they believe should benefit the school as a whole.

“Leadership wants to partner with people on campus and help their needs,” leadership advisor Robert Foshee said. “So each Monday we?re taking the prayers that get put in the box and praying over each one individually.”

Along with providing the opportunity for students to share their prayer requests with the leadership class, Foshee believes it will unite the student body in supporting one another.

“In doing so, we are agreeing with them [those who submitted the prayers] that the Lord lifts up needs and takes care of them,” Foshee said. “We can stand together with problems they might have or concerns on their hearts. We want to take them to the Lord and join with them.”

According to eighth grader Timothy Melendez, this simple idea seems to be a a great way to building the prayer support to the campus.

“I think they’re [prayer boxes] great,” Melendez said. “Sometimes it?s hard for people to pray so it?s just part of being united together. They are also helpful because they bring a lot of prayer, and that?s what a Christian school is for. I plan on using it.”

The prayer box idea has been started in many other places such as churches and schools, prior to making its debut on campus; however this idea has not lost its flair among students, who all like what they have heard.

Among the student body, Maddie Luginbill, ?16, a cheerleader and member of the campus basketball and softball teams, also agrees that the prayer box will inspire people to ask for more prayer.

“It?s a really good idea because some people don?t really like to talk about the problems going on,” Luginbill said. “I?m not worried if anyone sees me putting any prayers in the prayer box, in fact I don?t mind if they watch at all. By seeing someone else do it they might feel more comfortable contributing themselves.”

NBC TV KNDU aired that prayer boxes have even been tried in some public schools. However, none of these schools get off doing this without taking much heat for their decision to allow these boxes on campus. However, some schools, such as Finley Middle School, located in Finley, Washington, stood up and still allow them to be used freely.

On campus, students and teachers get to enjoy this freedom and are proud to show their faith in Christ through programs such as these.

Freshman William Liao also shares his thoughts on the latest school project.

“It?s a creative idea,” Liao said. “I might use the anonymous part if I had something personal I wanted to be prayed for. I think it?s a very creative idea that the Leadership class painted it [the mailbox] to look like the one from the movie, Up.”

As all ideas and projects like these do not just appear, they all have a creator and a founder who serves for the backbone to the project. In this case, junior leadership member Emily Shakeshaft was the initiator of this activity.

“I had the idea in a leadership discussion one day for the prayer boxes,” Shakeshaft said. “We took the idea and developed it into a project and now it?s going great. I?m proud to have been the author of such a rewarding project and idea.”

In continuing to remember the personal troubles of students and those shared publically, it is important not to forget that Christians share the brotherhood of Jesus Christ, and that Scriptures call for the care of one another?s needs.

For more information on campus prayer boxes, contact Robert Foshee or Brenda Warkentin in the high school office.

For more news, read the Oct. 16 article, BRIEF: Civics to visit Fresno Courthouse.