Congregations to walk in every parish to pray
Christians from a wide range of denominations are preparing to take part in a prayer walk on Saturday, which will involve every parish and culminate in a gathering at Market Square.
Walks on nine different routes will begin at 8am, with participants being encouraged to pray for the area they walk around, including any key sites along the route, such as schools, charities or businesses.
Jesufemi Ayoola, of the Rock Community Church, is co-ordinating the annual event, which has grown in popularity each year since its inception.
Initially, he and his wife Toyosi led their own family walk in 2021, praying as they made their way through most of the island’s parishes.
The following year, they were joined by other members of the Rock Community Church congregation for the first communal event.
‘Then, in 2023, we really opened it up by inviting other churches to be involved,’ said Mr Ayoola.
‘People from 20 churches took part, some by joining us and some by walking their own routes at the same time, and the day finished with a gathering at the Town Church.’
With twice as many people expected to take part this year, Mr Ayoola has received permission to make use of Market Square from 4 to 5.30pm.
‘This will be a celebration, with people from the different churches bringing food to exchange and performing music – some of the church bands will be here,’ he said.
‘But it will also be an opportunity for feedback about what people have seen while they were walking and in this way God will open our eyes to the needs in our community.’
The event also supports the Trauma Recovery Centre, the Youth Commission, Caring for Ex-Offenders and Guernsey Welfare.
The routes range in distance from 2.1 miles, which will take walkers from St Andrew’s Church to Bethesda Baptist Church, to 5.8 miles from Torteval Church to Vazon Elim Pentecostal Church.
Details of the routes can be found at lightupguernsey.com.
