- The Nazarene Youth Conference gathered around 10,000 high schoolers from across the United States and Canada.
- Participants walked 22,000 miles across 77 neighborhoods in the Greater Salt Lake area as part of the "World's Largest Prayer Walk."
- Activities included devotionals, games and building crisis care kits for those in need.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns across Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties might have noticed groups of unfamiliar high schoolers walking through their neighborhoods this week.
These students, all members of the Church of the Nazarene, had one goal in mind as they walked: to pray that every person in every home will experience Jesus in a personal and profound way.
The Nazarene Youth Conference, working with The Loving Utah Network, organized what they are calling the "World's Biggest Prayer Walk" here in Utah, gathering students from across the United States and Canada to walk through 77 neighborhoods in the Greater Salt Lake area.
"Every state and province is pretty much covered from our local churches around the region," said Justin Pickard, USA-Canada Regional Youth Coordinator for the Church of the Nazarene.
The prayer walk, which covered an estimated 22,000 miles from all the students combined, took place from Thursday to Saturday between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. The youth gathered at the Salt Palace for a morning devotional before boarding buses to their designated walk locations, where they picked up lunches donated by local businesses.
"We've got groups as far as Layton north and as far down as just north of Provo," Pickard said. "They're going to be going in groups of ten and 20 to just feather out in the whole community and just pray."
Following their prayer walks, the students were divided into three groups. One group returned to the Salt Palace to play games, interact with other students, and visit with eight different universities, a seminary, and a Bible college.
A second group traveled through what Pickard called "The Experience," where the students will participate in an interactive prayer walk within the Salt Palace.
The final group traveled to different chapels of the Church of the Nazarene in the Salt Lake Valley to build crisis care kits for those in need in the United States and across the world.
Each group spent an afternoon with each activity, granting them chances to participate in "the fun, the prayer experience and serving in the community," Pickard said.
"In all of that, it's about lifting up Jesus," Pickard said. "That's kind of the core sentiment of everything that we're trying to showcase... There's countless ways to do it."
Hundreds of volunteers gathered together to help the event, which runs through Sunday, July 5, run smoothly for the students, granting them a chance to build a personal relationship with Jesus.
"The service has been powerful," said Pastor Bill Sawyer, chief administrative officer for the Church of the Nazarene. "I have three kids here, and I know it's going to be a life-changing experience. It's worth every penny that we spent to get them here."
