Southwestern Adventist University FEATURE

Praying Peers: Blessings on Campus

As I sat in my Biblical Preaching class at Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU) one fall afternoon in 2024, I silently asked God for a theme to guide our campus prayer ministry. The answer came quietly: “When we pray.” I shared it with Evan Armstrong, my partner in ministry, and he instantly resonated with it. That phrase became the heartbeat of what would grow into one of our most memorable student outreach efforts.

Armstrong and I had both felt a tug to go beyond the weekly Thursday prayer meetings held on campus. We also wanted something that would meet students where they were— physically and spiritually. We wanted something unexpected that might just catch their attention long enough for the Holy Spirit to step in.

That’s when the idea for the Tide Pod prayer outreach was born.

We began meeting during lunch with students from the campus men’s ministries and women’s ministries organizations, and with the help of Alan Diaz, student vice president for spiritual life and development, we formed a small but energetic group committed to the mission. Armstrong coined the name “Tide Pod Heroes.”

The plan was simple: surprise students in the dorms with a gift that was both practical and spiritual—Tide Pods for laundry, a printed Bible promise to refresh the soul and a moment of prayer with each student.

We gathered 624 Tide Pods and packed them in Ziploc bags—two pods per bag—each one prayed over. We collected favorite Bible promises from the team, printed them on colorful paper, and added one to each pack.

On November 12, eight of us, including Erica Barnett, youth pastor at the Keene Seventh-day Adventist Church, divided into pairs and walked the dorm hallways, knocking on every door. Along with the gift bags, we offered to pray with each student. Some students were caught by surprise, others welcomed us eagerly. Many shared prayer requests—for health, for family, for strength to finish the semester.

One student wasn’t in her room, but we left her gift at the door. The next day, she found me on campus and greeted me with a huge smile and a tight hug. “Thank you!” she exclaimed, “I was so happy when I saw the Tide Pods and the Bible verse.”

I had chosen a special verse for her gift bag: “No weapon forged against you will prevail,” Isaiah 54:17. She’d been struggling with her health, but when I saw her graduate with honors that May, I remembered that verse. Truly, the weapon did not prosper.

It was humbling to see how a small act—just a bag of laundry pods and a Bible verse—could make a difference. We hadn’t done anything revolutionary, but the Spirit had met us there.

As the school year continued, our commitment to prayer only deepened. On Monday, February 10, 2025, students began gathering during the noon hour for daily prayer, a sacred pause in the middle of our busy days. We didn’t just gather in one location, though. We moved across campus, praying for the people and events occupying those spaces. Before the school year drew to a close, we had prayed in more than 15 locations across campus.

What started with prayer at dorm room doors grew into a rhythm of prayer echoing across campus. As we walked halls, gathered in chapels, and stood beneath flagpoles, we saw repeatedly that when we pray, God moves. He moves not just in the big ways, but in the steady, quiet moments that knit our campus together in faith. And so, we keep praying.

By Marsha Miller. Miller is a senior theology major at Southwestern Adventist University, where she serves as prayer coordinator. She’s a member of the Fort Worth Grace Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Southwest Region Conference.