April 12, 2011 – 20,000 Expected for April 16 Detroit Prayer Walk
Thousands Expected to Pledge Volunteer Time to Help

DETROIT – At least 20,000 followers of Jesus are expected to gather together in downtown Detroit as part of a massive Detroit Prayer Walk on Saturday, April 16 starting at 8:30 a.m. at Comerica Park.

Over 500 area Christian church and para church organizations from a range of city and suburban locations have committed to participate in order to pray for millions in Detroit and the region. There will also be an opportunity for attendees to volunteer for community service in a variety of ways in order to show the love of Jesus through not only prayer, but also action.

The Detroit Prayer Walk is being coordinated through a collaboration of churches and Christian organizations called EACH, which stands for Everyone a Chance to Hear. The effort includes a partnership with the national faith-based organization Volunteers of America, which will staff a volunteer action signup section at Comerica Park during the Prayer Walk.

EACH has also committed to constructing two mobile medical and dental units to help struggling people across the region through a partnership with Covenant Community Care in Detroit. In addition, EACH is committed to providing 10,000 meals a day to be served during a 40 day impact period starting Easter Sunday. The meals will be provided by Detroit Rescue Mission and Forgotten Harvest.

A morning event at the beginning of the Prayer Walk will include songs of worship by local musicians and short messages by area pastors including Bishop Edgar Vann from Second Ebenezer Church in Detroit, Bob Shirock of Oak Pointe Church in Novi, and Christopher Brooks of Evangel Ministries in Detroit. The Selected of God Choir, recently featured in the Chrysler advertisement shown worldwide on Super Bowl Sunday will also be featured.

“There is tremendous power in prayer and there is tremendous power in volunteer action”, said Bishop Vann. “That is exactly what Jesus commanded us to do – to pray, listen for God’s direction, and then do the work He sets before us.”

The Prayer Walk will cover a 1.6-mile route from Comerica Park to the Spirit of Detroit and back along Woodward Avenue.

Parking will be available to walkers for just $5 a car and some churches will be providing bus or van transportation for some of their members.

“We hope that hearts are opened and we see a time of great renewal for our city and region – both spiritually and physically”, said Pastor Shirock. “It all starts with people coming together in the name of Jesus.”

March 9, 2011 – 400 Churches Commit to Unprecedented Detroit Outreach

DETROIT – More than 400 evangelical churches and Christian organizations throughout the Metropolitan Detroit area have mobilized to form a massive and unprecedented outreach effort aimed at impacting people in need in the region. Participants will engage in hundreds of local efforts to bring the Good News and good deeds to communities through an initiative called EACH – Everyone A Chance to Hear – starting on Easter Sunday this coming April.

“This is all about showing the love of Jesus through both our prayers and our actions”, said Bob Shirock, Lead Pastor of EACH. “There is great need in our area. We hope that this kind of outpouring will make many people more curious about the love of Christ through thousands of different prayerful acts of personal and community service.”

Most EACH community activities and initiatives will be determined individually by different congregations and organizations across metro Detroit. Every congregation and Christian organization will determine its own activities.

However, the EACH collaborative has committed to four larger initiatives:

• A massive Prayer Walk on April 16th in downtown Detroit, expected to draw thousands of participants;
• Creation of two mobile medical and dental units in partnership with the Covenant Community Care organization, in order to serve people in need in the most distressed areas of the region;
• Serving 10,000 meals a day through partnerships with the Detroit Rescue Mission and the Forgotten Harvest food organization;
• Five “resource fairs” to be held in May to provide a “one stop shop” for a variety of human service needs through a number of different help organizations.

“Showing Christian love is not about city, not about suburbs, not about politics, and not about position”, said Rev. Edgar Vann, Bishop of Second Ebenezer Church in Detroit. “Jesus said, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’, and we’re trying to do what Jesus commands us to do.”

A 7 p.m. prayer rally will be held this Thursday, March 10 at five Detroit-area churches with approximately 10,000 people expected to attend. These are just five of the more than 400 churches that are involved in EACH. The locations are: Woodside Bible Church in Troy, Ward Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Northville, New Hope Assembly of God in Taylor, Grace Community Church in Detroit and Bethesda Christian Church in Sterling Heights. The rally will include live worship with prayer and devotional speakers featuring the nationally-renowned guest speaker Bekele Shanko from Campus Crusade International on a simulcast.

EACH is guided by a steering committee with church leaders from both city and suburbs. The EACH effort will focus on a 40-day period starting Easter Sunday, but the hope is that the impact and continued effort to help the community will continue well into the future. Most of the local church-based projects and actions will be determined by individual congregations and Christian organizations.

“As Christians we’re called to love one another, to pray for each other, and to serve one another”, said Chris Brooks, Pastor of Evangel Ministries. “Our goals are simple and clear. We want everyone to have a chance to see and hear and feel God’s love for them.”