First Day sends students off with prayer

The first day of school is about more than students' end of summer break and their return to the daily grind of homework and quizzes.

It's also a day for women across the Richmond region to gather for midmorning prayer as their children return to school. Betsy Akins, founder of the prayer movement First Day, said, "To me, it sends a message to our children and our communities and schools, that we care enough to come together to pray."

The event, which Akins started in 2006, takes place this morning at three Richmond-area churches -- Colonial Heights Baptist Church, KingsWay Community Church in Midlothian and St. Paul's Baptist Church's Creighton Campus in Henrico County.

Prayer is an important part of Akins' life. During the past 17 years, she has been associated with Moms In Touch International, a nondenominational organization that advocates prayer for schools worldwide.

"We don't do anything on campus. We're off campus, we're a behind-the-scenes kind of ministry," Akins said of local Moms in Touch groups.

When women come together for First Day, it draws a diverse group -- estimates range up to 200 participants -- from different religious denominations and socioeconomic groups, Akins said. They come together in prayer as well as fellowship.

While the hourlong prayer session doesn't begin until 10 a.m., women can arrive at 9:30 a.m. after dropping their children off at school. Refreshments and fellowship come after the prayers.

"They can come ahead and sit down in fellowship or prepare their hearts for prayer time," Akins said.

For some of the women who have participated in First Day since its inception, it's a chance for them to relate to other women experiencing similar situations.

"It's just having the opportunity to connect to other mothers that are in the same place, or a similar place," said Ginny Greene of Chesterfield County and a mother of three children. "There are things in life you find yourself going through together."

While the prayer sessions are geared toward women, some men do attend. The idea of organized prayer on the first day of school has spread beyond Virginia, although other prayer groups might not follow the same format, Akins said.

But the bottom line is trying to make an impact beyond the lives of their children and others.

"It's that hour you spend together in prayer, when you're doing things that impact all of eternity, that, for me, is the crux of the whole time together," said Anne-Louise Todd of Chesterfield.

Contact Jeremy Slayton at (804) 649-6861 or .