Miguel Chavez turns 18 in September. Come November, he knows his first time voting will count.
Chavez and 17 others from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Western Heights High took a bus Wednesday to Franklin Graham’s Decision America Tour stop at the Oklahoma State Capitol.
“We’re here not only to represent ourselves, but to represent the school,” 17-year-old Tierra Hill said.
She and her sister, Sierra, 18, want to show their classmates they can make a difference in America, not only by praying but by being a Christ-like example in their words and actions.
“If no one’s going to stand for God, we will,” Sierra said.
But it doesn’t look like they’re standing alone. About 5,100 people filled the lawn in front of the Capitol, all of them pumped to come together in prayer.
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Janet McKnight hopped up and down a few times in excitement, holding a homemade sign that said “Elect Godly People.” She’s been praying for each state along the Decision America Tour and reporting attendance numbers to her church after each stop.
“I’m excited enough for several people,” she said after a three-and-a-half hour drive from Tioga, Texas.
She and her husband, Jack, both know the power of prayer. When Jack was 10, he was given a slim chance of surviving gangrene.
“My granny walked two miles to a friend’s house to pray for me,” he said, and he was confident it helped spare his life.
Janet, on the other hand, didn’t go to church until she was 25, when an elderly woman in town invited her to go. From there, she gave her life over to Christ.
“I just needed an invitation,” Janet said.
Now, she’s inviting others in her church to pray for the nation.
“Many people think America has gone too far. It’s too late,” Franklin Graham told the crowd Wednesday, but reassured them that’s not true. There’s still hope for America, he said, if Christians will have a backbone, pray and take their faith to the polls.
“We’re losing our country because we’re trying to be nice,” Franklin Graham said. Sometimes standing up for God and truth offends people, he continued, and that’s OK.
“Look at all the problems we have in America today. It’s because the Christians stayed home and did not vote,” he said. “If we lose this country, it’s because we didn’t vote. You vote.”
After the rally, 17-year-old Chavez said he appreciated how Franklin Graham didn’t tell anyone who to vote for but rather encouraged people to seek God’s direction and make up their own minds.
“Before I voted in the primaries, I prayed a lot about who to vote for,” said Elizabeth Skaggs. She and her husband, Matt, brought their three children, ages 6 to 13, to the prayer rally, wanting to show them how to appeal to God in prayer for all their life decisions.
Elizabeth said in the primary election, she voted for someone she was pretty confident wouldn’t win, but went with what she thought was right—and Decision America had a lot to do with that, she said.
Across the lawn, Debbie Pittman handed out water bottles and miniature American flags with her daughter and three grandkids, including 14-year-old Hallie Tennison.
Pittman and her family are from opposite ends of Oklahoma and left around 6 a.m. to get to the Capitol for the noontime rally.
“It could all be lost—love of God and country—in one generation,” Pittman said about her motive for attending the rally.
Tennison said she sees God fading into the background for some of her peers, but both women are determined to bring Him back to the forefront.
Still, the question remains: Will prayer rallies like this change anything?
“If we will continue praying, if it’s not just a one-day event,” attendee James Rosson said.
“Absolutely,” Janet McKnight said without hesitation. “I see so much power and strength in this. … This is the best thing happening in America right now.”
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