By Briana Garcia | Reporter

Parents in Prayer is a beloved program that started 25 years ago at Baylor. Parents can meet once a month in their hometowns to pray for each other, students and the university.

“It is a very loved program,” Gail Offringa, director of parents network, said. “It is very encouraging to know that people are praying that way, and to know the fruit that comes out of it is fantastic.”

The Parents in Prayer program is located within the office of parent engagement. Offringa said the purpose of the office is to make sure parents are acclimated to the university, which will help their students be more successful at Baylor.

“It might be [they] read the newsletter that is sent out by the president from our office so they can have better conversations with their students,” Offringa said. “There are additional ways they can get involved in their hometowns, which is Parents in Prayer.”

Offringa said that with Baylor being a Christian university, many people believe in the power of prayer.

“It’s encouraging to know that people all across the country are willing to pray for whatever needs to be prayed for, whether those students are a part of the group or the overall university,” Offringa said. “You know, let’s pray for the pandemic and that the leaders know how to lead the university well and follow God’s instructions.”

Offringa said reports from attendees showed that parents believe Parents in Prayer is the best thing they did while their student was at Baylor because they got to the point where their student would call, know that they had a meeting that night and ask for prayers.

“It’s a great interactive type of program,” Offringa said. “People even stay in it after their student graduates.”

The people in Parents in Prayer also get involved with helping students in other ways. For example, they provide food at The Store on campus and have packaging parties to send goodies to their students.

“They do so many wonderful things,” Offringa said. “We could not possibly cover all the things by ourselves, so we are thankful for every single volunteer that comes our way.”

Offringa said that the volunteers appreciate what the parent engagement team is doing and that they want to spread the love and encouragement to future students who want to attend Baylor.

“Our volunteers are wonderful, and they do it because they have to see how their kids have transformed during their experience here,” Sara Lynch, parents program specialist, said. “They want to make sure that every kid that walks through this university gets a similar experience.”

Parents in Prayer currently has 40 locations, and its goal is to have at least one volunteer in every state. If you’re interested in volunteering, you can visit the Baylor Parent Engagement website for more details.