On September 30, 2006, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, a single airplane carrying 4 people set off to fly over the City of Lima and Allen County in Ohio. They departed from the Bluffton Airport in the northwest portion of Ohio on a mission to pray over the city and county. Returning from their inaugural trip, they felt the urging of our Lord to press on and continue this mission, soon to be named PrayerFlight.
A second flight date was set for December 2, 2006 and on November 28th the rain began to fall, continuing through December 1st with high winds and poor visibility. On December 2nd, the group met at the Bluffton Airport for what turned out to be the perfect day to pray and fly. We were thankful that our Lord provided such a wonderful day.
With what started out as one airplane and 4 people had now turned into 8 planes, 26 adults and 6 teenagers flying over 7 counties in Ohio, portions of Charleston, West Virginia and the City of Redding, California. The airplanes flew as participants prayed over hospitals, government offices, police, fire, EMS buildings and 26 schools. In addition to focusing prayer over these entities, a
secondary goal of PrayerFlight was also met; prayer over those areas involved in moral and social degradation, to include drug dealers, prostitutes, gang members and many others in need of God’s touch.
After nearly one-hour in the air, the airplanes began to return. All 8 planes returned within 15 minutes of each other and shortly after the final plane landed there was a time of debriefing and Praise to God. One pilot commented that he had never experienced anything quite like this PrayerFlight, while other pilots and prayer warriors commented on the spiritual and emotional impact this flight had on them individually. Several pilots and pray warriors tearfully expressed their enthusiasm, understanding that this was not simply the work of men and women but rather the Spirit of God moving on His people to pray and seek the Will of God in our cities, states and country.