Church braves weather for ‘Walk for Jesus’

Saturday morning’s rain almost convinced the leadership of Mt. Olive Baptist Church call off their Walk for Jesus, but the membership waited a while for just a little divine intervention and the rain stopped.

“We were about to call it,” said Tony Ares, Mt. Olive outreach and evangelism minister.

“I was thinking that no one would want to do it because of the rain, but I asked the congregation, ‘Is this too much for you?’ and they said, ‘No we want to march,'” Ares said Sunday afternoon when services concluded at the little white church on Telegraph Road.

“They lined up. We prayed and the clouds opened up,” Ares said of the 100 people who met for the walk at a commuter lot near the church.

“It was a blessing. I counted a miracle on two counts,” Ares said. “One miracle was that God’s people wanted to march despite the weather, but then once they got out, the sun came out.”

The church members originally planned to walk 2.8 miles for Jesus, but shortened the walk because of the weather.

Ares said everything worked out fine.

“We wanted to start small and as the years go by and the county gets used to this, we’ll increase the length,” he said of the church’s first 1.5-mile walk.

Shirley Bunch and her family completed the walk in about 20 minutes, but she said they could have easily completed a walk of the original length.

“It was wonderful,” Bunch said, “We’re never tired in the Lord.”

Perhaps it is coincidence or maybe the Baptists are on to something, but Prince William County has received little rain and a lot of sun since the members of Mt. Olive walked Saturday.