Round the Pole

Have you ever driven by a school around 7:30am on a Wednesday morning in September and seen a group of kids crowded around the flag pole? Did you know they were praying…..exercising their religious rights and praying for their school and classmates around the mainstay American symbol of freedom…their flagpole. Tomorrow is See You At the Pole 2008. Christian school kids in every city in the US are encouraged to get together to pray around their school's flagpole. It is an awesome thing to see, if you take the time to drive by your local school tomorrow around 7:30am. Last year, as a leader in our youth ministry, I decided to take pictures of the kids as they gathered around the poles at our high school and our middle/elementary school. I knew the kids from our youth group were planning to be there…but when I drove up to each of the schools, I saw a large crowd on each campus. Word had spread and there were a lot more people there than I thought there would be. Teens are eager for ways to show their faith. Unfortunately, there are always people who come out to heckle and protest each year at different schools.

See You At The Pole is not a new idea....it's been around for 16 years, since 1990. On September 15, 1999 our youth met for See You at the Pole....then that night on the news we heard about a church in Texas that a rally to celebrate their See You at the Pole day. There were teenagers there from all over that city. A mentally disturbed man came into that rally and shot 14 people, killing 7 of them, then killed himself...all of this in front of a huge crowd of teenagers. A friend I grew up with was the first one killed that night.

Read about how that church responded here. What Satan means for evil, God turns into a testimony for Himself. See You at the Pole is not a meaningless gesture to say, "We're here."
It is a powerful event, these kids are under attack every day, they are not "allowed" to share their faith or pray publicly at school. This event of gathering publicly to pray for their school and declare their religious freedom is not a popular thing from the enemy's viewpoint. We need to pray for these kids as they make a bold stand this tomorrow, for their protection and that they will hold strong to their faith when adversity comes, because it will.

And God will use it for good.