Prayer Walk Passes Through Lancaster
John Halvorsen, a pastor from Duluth, Minn., recent completed Prayer Walk America, which took him from Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, Calif., to Manhattan, N.Y., in 38 weeks. "We started Oct. 31, 2018," said John, who averaged 16 miles a day. He arrived in Times Square on July 31. Along the way, he and his wife, Sandy, who followed along on John's walk in a motorhome, stopped in Lancaster for dinner at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Manheim Township.
This walk, the most recent of several John has completed, was titled "Prayer Walk America - An Appeal to Heaven." "This is ... an appeal to people to start praying," said John between bites as he enjoyed his potluck dinner at the church. "The response has been so positive."
John said that Sandy, who generally travels 2 to 3 miles ahead of him while he is walking, has asked people along the route how the couple can pray for them. "People start crying, pouring out their hearts, asking for prayer," said John, who recalled several talks with farmers in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. "We walked through fields that were muddy, and they couldn't get the tractors in to plant or the seed was rotting," he said, adding that one of the farmers told him, "I think God is trying to get our attention."
John received his first call to embark on a prayer walk while he and Sandy were serving as missionaries in Ireland working with Harvest Network International. "I suddenly received a burden for the United States," said John, who was in Ireland with Sandy from 1991 to 1998. "After a year of trying to discern what the Lord was saying, we turned the reins over to another couple and moved back to the United States."
Back in Minnesota, John began doing pastoral work. "I would go to the Mall of America to pray daily, and I would walk around the mall, so people called me the pastor of the Mall of America."
John said that in 1998, God gave him a vision of walking across America, along with a verse. "Genesis 13:17 came to me," said John. "'Get up and walk the length and the breadth of the land.'" John began to ask God what the cause would be for the action. "I felt the Lord was saying, 'There are tumultuous times coming to America, and I am going to grant you unusual favor with the press.'"
On Sept. 21, 1998, John began walking from the Canadian border in Minnesota, and he ended the walk when he arrived in Gulfport, Miss., on Jan. 4, 1999. His journey was chronicled by a country music radio station that asked him to call in weekly with updates. Billy Graham's organization interviewed John four times, and he was also interviewed by Bill Bright. John said God's message for listeners was that tumultuous times were coming, and it was important to pray. "This was before 9/11," noted John.
In April of 1999, John and Sandy traveled to the West Coast to begin his first cross-country walk. "We started in a fishing village in Oregon," recalled John, who said that the walk ended in Rehoboth Beach, Del., in November of 1999. "Again, we had favor with the press," said John.
In 2008, John felt the Lord calling him to walk from Portugal to China. He began in Cabo da Roca, Portugal, the westernmost point of continental Europe, and walked 6,020 miles to an area near China, while praying blessings on the countries he passed through.
During the recent trip, John carried a special flag bearing the image of a pine tree and the words "An Appeal to Heaven." The flag is a replica of one that George Washington used during the Revolutionary War. "They knew at the time that unless an appeal to heaven was made, the Revolutionary War would not be won," said Sandy. "John felt he should carry this flag, as we are making an appeal to heaven for awakening for this nation. We need the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We need the Lord," she said.
Readers who wish to learn more about the Halvorsens' mission may visit http://www.prayerwalkamerica.com.
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