Collegians' Super Bowl prayers touched every Superdome seat
NEW ORLEANS (BP)--When the New England Patriots and the St. Louis Rams faced off in the Louisiana Superdome Feb. 3, it may very well have been a blessed house -- especially if more than 400 Bayou State Baptist Campus Ministry students had any say in the matter.
Baptist college students from Louisiana State University, Tulane, Northwestern and other Louisiana schools turned out in force to prayerwalk the Superdome in preparation for Super Bowl XXXVI.
The story of how a group of Baptist college students was able to prayerwalk one of the nation's largest domed stadiums is a miracle, said Tim Knopps, a consultant hired by the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans to coordinate Super Bowl ministry opportunities.
"The NFL needed to hire a group of people to put gift bags in every seat inside the Superdome," Knopps told Baptist Press. "Every ticket holder gets a very nice gift package and the NFL tagged the Louisiana Baptist Convention's BCM to do the job."
The college students paid their own way to travel to New Orleans for the two-day project. Many stayed on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary while others piled into local hotel rooms.
In addition to putting stuffed bears, glow sticks and other gifts on the seats, the college students turned their assignment into a prayer journey, praying over every seat inside the Superdome complex.
The young believers placed a blessing on every seat and prayed what Knopps called an SOS prayer. "We prayed for the salvation of the person sitting in the seat," he recounted. "And then we prayed for obedience to God and, in light of the events of Sept. 11, we prayed for the safety of each person in the Superdome.
"It took us two days to do the job, but we managed to complete the assignment hours before the NFL expected us to," Knopps said. "They were quite pleased."
Knopps said the opportunity was an incredible site to witness. "To see young people prayerwalking the Superdome was simply remarkable," he said. "This was a key evangelism strategy and we hope that many people may come to know Christ as a result of the prayerwalk."
The students' volunteerism didn't go unnoticed by the NFL.
Knopps said the NFL paid the students $8,000 for their work. And the money will be designated to a summer collegiate mission trip.
For more coverage of Baptist ministries in connection with the Super Bowl, visit BPSports at www.bpsports.net.
