Dan Nold's Day of Prayer

Got this from Dan Nold in State College

Churches unite for Day of Prayer
Crowd of local worshippers takes part in global event
By Chris Rosenblum
crosenbl@centredaily.com
CDT/Craig Houtz

People sing-along with the joint contemporary worship band at the community worship service at Hills Plaza on Sunday, June 4, 2006.
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STATE COLLEGE -- Call it a storefront church service supersized.
On Sunday morning, before the vacant former Ames Department Store, the Rev. James Nolten, of Park Forest Baptist Church, preached to members of 12 local congregations gathered at the Hills Plaza shopping center.
In his sermon, the cornerstone of the "Pentecost: A Call to Community Prayer" service, Nolten said people exude a spiritual "smell" just as they do a "fingerprint" physical odor. He urged his fellow Christians to strive for a pleasing "fragrance" by being humble, nonjudgmental, dependable and caring in their lives.
"My question to you is this: What's the aroma going to be in our lifetime, in our generation, when we had the opportunity to work and live in State College?" Nolten boomed from a covered stage. "What's your fingerprint going to be?"
Listening intently under a patchy sky and enduring a brief drizzle, the diverse crowd nearly filled 3,000 tan folding chairs in the parking lot. It resembled a concert setting, with the central sound console and stacks of amplifiers, but the worshippers were joining others in 198 countries for a day of affirmation and reflection.
Although Evangelical congregations have held joint services locally before -- the first 10 years ago -- Sunday marked the first time so many celebrated the Global Day of Prayer together outdoors.
The annual event began in 2000 with 45,000 people meeting in Cape Town, South Africa. Last year, the day drew 220 million people in 156 countries, said the Rev. Dan Nold, of Calvary Baptist Church, one of the participating congregations.
Two women not only attended Sunday's service, they also shared stories of helping local residents. Both had undertaken the "Kingdom Assignment" challenge given during a Jan. 1 joint service at State College Assembly of God church. Worshippers, receiving envelopes with $10, $20 or $50 inside, were to multiply the gift and then put it to good use.
Lois Abdelmalek told of how she pooled her $10 with the $50 of a friend, Kasay Krupa, and bought snacks and supplies for a one-time baby-sitting service at Calvary Baptist. Fifteen women joined them to give a few free hours to couples unable to afford sitters and young single mothers.
"We wanted to bless the community in a tangible way," Abdelmalek said. "That was my desire."
Next came Beth Hayes. She solicited donations that turned her initial $20 into almost $1,200 for the local Salvation Army's Back-to-School program.
"It's not over," she said. "People continue to give me donations out of the blue."
Enough worshippers Sunday gave groceries for the State College Area Food Bank to fill two large pick-up trucks parked next to the chairs. On a back bumper, volunteer Kate Oberholtzer stood behind a mountain of bulging plastic bags.
"This truck is probably going to get worse gas mileage from here to the food bank, but that's a blessing," she said.
After the service, Lisa Bass, a Penn State graduate student, said she was impressed with "the churches showing unity, regardless of any small differences we may have." She took home a lesson, she said: "That we are to be doers and not listeners only."
Indeed, minutes earlier, Nold had led a prayer reminding everyone to bring "good news to poor" and "mend the broken-hearted," among other acts of kindness. People in trios faced each other holding hands.
"Let loose a barrage of prayers from this community to the heavens," Nold said, and the crowd tried as a drum and bass kicked off the final hymn. Voices rang out, hands clapped and arms stretched upward, raising the roof that stretched to the clouds.
Chris Rosenblum can be reached at 231-4620.