Pacific Union Recorder

"As long as I can remember I had struggled with glossophobia — fear of public speaking," said Ed Walker. "I would break out in a cold sweat, my heart would race like a tiger was chasing me. It felt like I was going to stoke out at any minute."

For years, pastors encouraged Walker to become a local church elder, but he always declined, convinced that wasn't his gift. But one day while he was knee deep in dirt, working on a piece of farm equipment, Elmer Koranko, pastor of the Chowchilla church, stopped by.  

"'I need you to be head elder this coming year," he said, matter of factly. "If it wasn't for your own foolish pride and your worry about what people will think, you would do this."

With fear and trembling, Walker accepted. "I was on the platform every Sabbath," he said. "I kept telling others 'I can't do this.'" People tried to convince him that being up front would get easier, but it didn't. One Sabbath, the phobia was so bad that he prayed "Lord, I'm sick and tired of this. You either fix this, or I quit!" Instantly, the fear was gone.

Real Mid-Week Prayer Meeting

In 2005, Walker's church pastor moved, and, as head elder, he had to take on more responsibility. Lisa, Ed's wife, suggested they attend a leadership training program at the conference office. There they attended Janet Page's seminar on prayer.

"She took one look at me and said, 'You don't want to be here, do you?'" said Walker. Then, with a smile, she gave him a pad and pencil and told him to pay attention and take notes. "I thought, 'Fine, I'll listen, but I'm not taking notes!'"

During the seminar, Pastor Kenny Fraser shared stories of people who walked into his church as a result of prayer. Walker felt inspired.

"Lisa already had a small prayer group that met Sabbath afternoons," he said. "We decided to move the group to Wednesday night and have a prayer meeting that really was a time of prayer. We prayed specifically for the Holy Spirit, for revival, for new people to come, for those who were not attending, and for workers for the harvest." He also restructured the Sabbath service to include significant prayer time.

Congregation Doubles

The once thriving Chowchilla congregation, then 150 members, had dwindled to 40 regular attendees. "When we started praying, some members didn't like the new direction and moved their membership, decreasing our regular attendees by almost one-sixth," explained Walker. "It's like a war, you take a step forward and the devil punches back. It's a real battle."

But then new people started coming. "We would tell the guests, 'We've been praying for you to come,'" said Walker. Each new face had an amazing story.

"The first was a couple in their mid-60s, she a former Adventist, he a Catholic," remembered Walker. "Next, a commercial pilot and his wife came. They'd been invited to our church by a friend in Oregon. They are now baptized members. Another new member has given out literature to every residence in Chowchilla four times."

Many others started coming without invitation. Attendance is now between 80 and 100.

Members decided that every visitor should get at least one invitation to lunch at a member's home. On potluck Sabbaths, visitors are personally invited to come and sit with members. Members also give Bible studies.

"The nurture part of this whole thing is really an important issue," said Walker. "It takes time and effort to keep them. The Lord cannot bring someone into the church if the members are not ready to care for them."

School Enrollment Doubles

Chowchilla's two-teacher church school was the next prayer target. Enrollment had been holding at 20 students for years. The church began to pray that God would bring 30 students, but the numbers weren't coming.

"It is so easy to doubt," admits Walker. "But we remained faithful — to PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens)." Their persistence paid off. For the past three years, the school has had 35 to 40 students enrolled.

"When I look back, I can see that during that time, God had to change some things at the school for us to grow," said Walker. "It's the same with the church, too."

Walker says that the recipe for personal and corporate prayer is found in 2 Chronicles:7:13-14: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."