Ohio Christian Couple Plotting Cross Country Path to Revival
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
November 4, 2005
(AgapePress) - - An Ohio couple is gearing up for a major project aimed at reclaiming America's Christian heritage. On January 1, Rick and Jane McKinney of Our Heart Ministries will be leaving on foot from Los Angeles, California, for a six-month walk across the U.S., covering about 20 miles a day in an effort to draw attention to the nation's need for a spiritual awakening.
The McKinneys are currently home in Harrison, Oklahoma, training for their "Walk to Reclaim America." The trek they are planning will carry them across some 2,800 miles to Washington, DC, by July 4. Joining them will be other concerned Christians who want to share their journey as they set out to "reclaim America" one step at a time.
The project has many aspects, says Our Heart's Rick McKinney. "We're going to be interceding for our country and its people. Lots of great spiritual awakenings have happened throughout history, but they all have begun with prayer, and so we're going to be praying for our country," he notes.
"And secondly," McKinney says, "we're going to be encouraging Christians and churches to stand up and be counted -- to let their voice be heard. We'll be doing that mostly through Reclaim America rallies. We'll be walking Monday through Saturday and then on Sunday we'll be stopping and having rallies in churches and city parks, and I'm sure there will be some spontaneous rallies that will break out throughout the week when we walk into a town."
McKinney, who served as a pastor for more than 20 years, points out that Christians along the route are encouraged to join the effort. "And we're hoping that the more people who hear about the walk and who hear about what two people are doing to make a change, that they'll be motivated to make a change where they are," he says.
The hope for this walk, the revival advocate notes, is that it will be "part of what God is doing to bring spiritual renewal in America." He says he and his wife are convinced the effort will help in three ways: through intercessory prayer for America; through encouragement of fellow Christians to begin living out their faith in visible ways; and through interaction with people from all walks of life as the couple and others involved in the walk open their hearts and share their faith.
"What we're really hoping for is that people will begin to stand up and be counted -- to let their voice be heard in their own communities, their own towns, and their own states," McKinney says. "And we know that, as that begins to happen, it will change the spiritual climate of the country."
The couple says they are not walking across America to raise money for a political party, and in fact do not even believe the kind of change America needs can be accomplished by political or legislative means. "That kind of change," McKinney asserts, "can only be accomplished when hearts and lives are changed from the inside out."
The McKinneys' "Walk to Reclaim America" is slated to begin at the Santa Monica Pier in California and progress east, following old Route 66 through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. In Oklahoma City, they will leave Route 66 and follow the I-40 corridor through Eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee, then head north through Virginia to Washington, DC.
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion03583.shtmlAdditional information on ChristiansUnite.com is available on the Internet at
http://www.christiansunite.com/Copyright © 2003 ChristiansUnite.com. All rights reserved.
Author