By Gail Hollenbeck, Times Correspondent
Friday, September 10, 2010
The Rev. Dell O. Barnes Sr. says the idea for a mobile ministry came to him on his way home from vacation. He saw a roadside sign for “Drive-up Prayer” and people ready to pray for you.
The Rev. Dell O. Barnes Sr. wants to offer prayer to those who need it but who are unable, or unwilling, to attend church.
"It is time to take prayer to the streets, and I need your help," Barnes said in an e-mail.
Barnes, 47, a Church of God of Prophecy pastor, is hoping someone will donate a recreational vehicle that can be used as a mobile prayer clinic.
"If you have an up-to-date RV that is not in use and are willing to help those in need, donating (it) to Courts of Praise Deliverance Ministries Inc. will help to bring prayer and hope to those men, women, boys and girls who feel hopeless and cut off from a place of worship," Barnes wrote.
Barnes, whose ministry conducts weekly services at the Holiday Inn Express in Spring Hill, is concerned about those who cannot leave their homes due to illness or because they are elderly and have no one to take them to church. Barnes said others may feel that their clothing is not appropriate to attend services.
"Not everyone will go into a church, for whatever reason," he said in an interview. "We want to be mobile enough so that we can go to them and make them feel comfortable."
Barnes also wants to make the prayer clinic available to work with local law enforcement in times of emergency.
"During times of devastation, victims have no one on the scene to pray for them and encourage them to hold on," he said. "This donated unit will go to areas of devastation, nursing homes, hospitals and communities in need of prayer."
Barnes said he does not want to be too specific about the dimensions or features of the RV.
"It would need to be a good size, where we would be able to set it up so that when we pull into an area, people can come on — so we can sit with them and pray with them in the vehicle. We'll have members from a prayer force, three or four people, praying for the needs of the people."
Before the prayer clinic shows up, the ministry will have "foot soldiers" going into areas of Hernando County, distributing fliers to let people know the mobile prayer clinic will be there on a particular weekend. Announcements will also be made during Barnes' radio program, Breaking the Chains That Bind, at 8:30 a.m. Sundays on WWJB-AM 1450.
"We'll be praying for healing, deliverance from sin, help in times of emergency, any needs they have," Barnes said. "As Christians, our duty is to also pray for government and all of our leading officials."
The donor of an RV will have his or her name placed on the vehicle.
"We will have 'Courts of Praise Deliverance Ministries Mobile Prayer Clinic' on there, and what we would love to do is have (the donor's) name on there as well," Barnes said. "That's a way of telling them thank you for what you are doing. Because in essence, they will be touching lives as well."
Barnes, who works as a computer lab manager at Brooksville Elementary School and for the Eckerd Youth Challenge Program, said the idea for the mobile prayer clinic, and his emphasis on prayer, came from God.
"In the summer of 2007, my wife was praying about a job that she was being tested for. She came up with the thought of calling some friends via conference to help her pray," he explained.
That idea worked so well that Barnes began implementing prayer by conference call for other things and currently has 20 to 25 people calling in each morning for joint prayer.
"When I was younger, I saw myself moving around in a vehicle, praying and ministering to people," he said. "Recently, I was coming back from our family vacation and saw young people on the side of the road holding signs that said, 'We want to pray for you.' There was another sign across the street that said, 'Drive-up Prayer.' This blew my mind. You were able to drive up, they would pray for you and then you would go on your way. That was the clincher."
Barnes, who moved his family and ministry to Hernando County from New York in 2005, said his church is still looking for a permanent building to hold services.
"We're still looking for a building, but for some reason, the Lord has placed this prayer clinic in my spirit, because there is such a great need for prayer," he said.
But Barnes cannot do it without some help.
"Souls are dying. Souls are perishing," Barnes wrote in his e-mail. "We want to take prayer to where they are. We need your help!"