The Prayer Lines of Crossroads are incredibly important, they are the very heart beat of this place.
Gloria Willoughby, the director of Crossroad's Prayer Lines has been around for as long as Crossroads has been praying. Each day, it is her job to find 91 volunteers to answer calls of the most desperate people in need of hope and Jesus' love. The phones constantly ring, and sadly the Prayer Lines even have an abandon rate because there aren't enough volunteers to answer every phone.
Most Prayer Partners say that they feel a call of God because Jesus' love for them was so great and they feel compelled to share that love with others. During the week days, the prayer lines are manned by those 91 volunteers, but on the evenings and weekends the staff of Crossroads step up and place their ears under the headsets, waiting to share God's love. On one of those weekends, Gloria trained the CEO of Crossroads, Lorna Dueck, and Lorna was so impressed by how much each person who phoned in needed the opportunity to have someone listen and pray for them.
While the Prayer Partner on call with someone they are writing down the prayer request on a little piece of paper. This paper is confidentially prayed over multiple times and stored in what is called the Household Salvation Chests. Over the years, thousands of prayer requests have poured in through the prayer lines. One such story is a man who had come home from work to find a silent house and a note from his wife, which read "I'm gone." He quickly plunged into despair and went on a drinking binge, after which he planned to commit suicide. While he was driving in his car and thinking of how he would end his life the thought came to him, No, don't, call a Prayer Line. He googled prayer lines and called in to Crossroads, later finding hope in Jesus and making Him lord of his life.
It is for stories and people like this why the Prayer Lines are so essential to the ministry at Crossroads.
To donate to Crossroads:
Call 1-800-265-3100 or give online at crossroads.ca/donate
