1 Thessalonians 5:17 says “Pray continually,” and that’s exactly what Campbellsville University students were doing during their recent 24-Hour Prayer Tent event.

“We wanted to highlight the spiritual needs around the world as well as here on our campus,”  Dr. Twyla Hernandez, assistant professor of Christian Missions, said. “We hoped to see Christians come out and pray and become aware of these needs.”

The 14 students of Hernandez’s Missions Principles and Strategies class organized the event, which extended from 10 a.m. on Oct. 10 to 10 a.m. on Oct. 11. CU students could sign up for a 15-minute shift any time in those 24 hours to come and pray in the tent set up on Stapp Lawn.

“There was at least one person in the tent at all times praying,” Hannah Nunn, a senior from Radcliff, Ky., and a student in Hernandez’s class, said. “It was moving to see the Lord working like He was through the prayers lifted up to Him about the campus and other countries.”

Nunn was the coordinator for the event.

Hernandez’s class was divided into four groups, with each group assigned to a specific area of church planting in the world. Each group created a station in the tent devoted to prayer for that specific area.

Other stations in the tent included one for CU’s campus and one for CU sports teams. Individual prayer requests were also taken, so students could pray for fellow students, family members, etc.

“It was so awesome to see all the prayer requests given, because it showed just how many people believe in the power of prayer,” Nunn said.

“The event helped me a lot,” Crissi Oldham, a junior from Munfordville, Ky., and another student of Hernandez, said. “Spending all that time in prayer was really good. Having that time to talk to God drew me closer to Him.”

The class chose Oct. 10 to begin the prayer tent because the next day was ENGAGE24 (10-11-12), “a 24-hour period when college students will make a coordinated effort to engage their campuses with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The Missions Principles and Strategies class hopes to host the prayer tent again in future semesters.