Prayer Quilts
The Prayer Quilt Ministry at Aiken’s First Baptist Church has been active for most of the last fifteen years. In that time, our church has given away more than 300 quilts to church members, community friends, as well as family members at a distance. This past year was our most productive year yet, as we gave away 40 quilts in 2022!!
Our church has made an impact on many lives through the quilt ministry. The impact begins with fellowship in the quilt room every Thursday morning from 10-12, when our quilters meet. Generally, there have never been more than ten workers at any given time, but through the years, we have taught half a dozen ladies to sew, improved our own sewing skills, and made lifelong friendships. We have had award winning quilters work with us, as well as beginners, and even a few who do not sew at all!
The quilts, with the prayers that they contain, make a difference in people’s lives. Several church members have asked to be buried with their quilt – because it is from their own church! Community members recognize that they have been prayed for, “Almost 100 ties, and I only know a few people there!” One neighbor, after receiving a quilt and realizing its meaning, asked if we could please make one for her brother who was going through a tough time. A young mother, a thousand miles from here, continued to ask our church to pray for her infant daughter as her illness progressed.
Just recently, a friend in Virginia who had received a quilt a few years ago, asked us for prayers for her terminally ill stepson. Of course we sent him a quilt, with all the prayers that you, the congregation, supply. The quilt was a conversation starter for a young man who had questions about eternity. The stepmother was relieved when she realized that he was “right with God” when he was called home. And now, she has started a quilt ministry in her own church!
When you see a prayer quilt on the table outside the library, please stop, say a prayer, and tie a knot. Your prayers matter to those who are going through the darkest times of their life.
Wanda Payne
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