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Greenville’s Southside Baptist Church hosted its third annual Prayer Warrior Boot Camp on Saturday, Jan. 13. The event, aimed at fostering a deeper understanding of prayer, featured a morning of fellowship with coffee and breakfast, followed with hymns led by April Lowery and an address by guest speaker Leighann McCoy.

Kim Stinson, the women’s ministry director at Southside Baptist Church, emphasized the power of prayer and its importance within the church.

“This is our third year of doing boot camp in January,” Stinson said, “We try to have an emphasis on prayer at Southside, and this is just a way to kickstart our new year and talk about prayer.”

Stinson stated that she has high hopes for the event’s future, noting a significant increase in attendance over the years.

“Attendance has been going up every year. The very first year, we only had about 15 people. The next year, we had about 25,” Stinson said. “This year, we’re expecting probably 60 to 70 people, so it’s definitely growing.”

Guest speaker Leighann McCoy, an author and the founder of the Prayer Clinic Ministry, traveled from Thompson Station, Tennessee, where her husband is a pastor, to speak at the event.

“Prayer is my passion, and it’s a subject that I’ve written 21 books on,” said McCoy. “The book that I’ll be teaching out of today is called ‘Spiritual Warfare for the Family.’ It’s just equipping believers to understand that the devil is out there, but we don’t have to be afraid because God has given us everything we need to overcome.”

McCoy emphasized the importance of prayer in the church, stressing her belief that knowing how to pray can strengthen a relationship with God.

“I have a really great passion for getting the church praying,” McCoy said. “We believe, but we don’t practice prayer because we just don’t know how.”

Wanda Stinson, a participant whose son is a pastor at East Chapman, attends the event annually and expressed her hope for its continuation. 

“I’m so happy that they put this on and that smaller churches like us that can’t do something like this are welcome because we just enjoy it so much,” Stinson said. “I hope they continue this program. I’m so thankful to come. I’ve invited a lot of friends, and I’m so glad to see them showing up.”

As the event continues to grow, event organizers say that they hope the program can be a beacon of spiritual growth and community fellowship, nurturing the faith of its attendees and empowering them to become prayer warriors in their own right.