Community, students gather at ‘the pole’

“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 I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV)

That Bible verse from the Old Testament Book of 2 Chronicles, Chapter 7, Verse 14 was the theme of the “See You at the Pole” events held nationwide Sept. 25.

With that verse, Jeffery Bouet opened the “See You at the Pole” event held at the Daleville High School flagpole Sept. 25 before school began.

“See You at the Pole,” now an annual nationwide event that encourages students to pray together at their schools, was a concept initiated by teenagers in Burleson, Texas, who came together for a DiscipleNow weekend in early 1990.

In Daleville, community members and educators joined the students at the student-led event before school began outside the school building.

“Holy Spirit, welcome in this place,” Bouet prayed with nearly 100 participants. “We invite you here. We invite you into this town. We invite you into this school. We can do nothing except through you.”

Among the organizers of the event in Daleville were Cynthia Campbell, Michelle Powell and Frank and Penny Robinson. The four also meet with interested DHS students on the first Wednesday of every month outside the school building before school. “We encourage them to have a lifestyle of prayer,” Campbell said about the meetings of the two-year-old Basic Club.

“We meet at the DHS flagpole before class begins on the first Wednesday of every month for motivational speaking, prayer and some positive comments,” Campbell said about the non-denominational group. “The whole community is welcome to come and participate.”

Campbell has taught special education at DHS for five years after having spent nearly two decades teaching in Slocomb. It was at Slocomb that she became familiar with the Basic Club concept and felt that it would be a positive addition for DHS teens. “In a year’s time our attendance has more than doubled,” Campbell said. “We promote hope because hope is powerful for kids when they might not have anything else.”

“We saw a notice of the Basic Club posted and felt like we needed to be here,” Penny Robinson said. “So we just showed up the first morning and have been here since.”

“I see it as an opportunity that God opened this door for me to instill in those kids something positive,” said Frank Robinson, who pastors The Well church in Daleville. “I’m getting the word in them. You can’t change society without changing the mind of the generation that you are in.

“I am here to impart the word of God, to change their minds about the way society thinks we should be and teach them to be open to how God wants us to be,” Frank Robinson said. “Until the kids see themselves the way God sees them, they are not going to be effective in changing the world around them.

“We just want to see these kids excel and see the difference they can make because when you change a mindset of an individual you change their whole world,” he added. “That’s basic in the messages that God gives me to share with them.”

“One of my favorite messages that (Frank Robinson) brings is that basically you have to see yourself as God sees you,” Powell said. “That’s a very good lesson for these kids.

“He’s planting a seed,” Powell added.

“And watering some,” Robinson said with a smile. “We just want to do our part. Its very important to us that we come here to serve.”

Campbell agreed. “It’s almost as if God said, ‘This is where I am sending you.’ I think I am where I need to be.”