Los Angles CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/4/2006 -- An Ohio couple will leave Los Angeles January 1st on day one of their 2,800 mile intercessory prayer walk across America. Rick and Jane McKinney will kick off their Walk to Reclaim America at California’s Santa Monica Pier on New Year’s Day, and over the next several months will make their way across America’s heartland, arriving in Washington, DC on July 4, 2006.
“Our emphasis will be interceding for our country and its people,” said Rick McKinney. “Lots of great spiritual awakenings have happened throughout history, but they have all begun with prayer, and so we’re going to be praying for our country.”
McKinney said a second emphasis of the walk will be encouraging Christians to take a stand for righteousness and spiritual renewal in America. “We’ll be doing that mostly through Reclaim America rallies,” he explained. “We’ll be walking Monday through Saturday and then on Sunday we’ll stop for rallies in churches and city parks.”
McKinney said they will be encouraging Christians along the route to join in their effort. “We’re hoping to build a real momentum so that as more and more folks hear about this walk to reclaim our nation’s spiritual heritage, they’ll be motivated to pray and work for a change in their own communities and areas,” he said.
“We’re really praying our effort will be part of what God is doing to bring spiritual renewal across this nation,” said McKinney, who served as a pastor for 20 years. “We feel strongly that the Walk to Reclaim America will help in three distinct ways -- through intercessory prayer for America, through encouraging other believers to live out their faith in visible ways, and through interacting with people from all walks of life as we – and others involved with us – share our faith.”
McKinney emphasized that the Walk to Reclaim America is not in any way political. “We don’t want anyone to misunderstand our intentions,” he said. “We’re not doing this to bring political change, or to raise money for a political cause. In fact, we don’t even believe that the kind of change America needs can be accomplished by legislative means. This kind of change can only be accomplished when hearts and lives are changed from the inside out, one person at a time.”
Added Jane McKinney, “We feel it’s time for Christians to reclaim the great spiritual heritage of freedoms, families, and faith that America was founded upon. It’s time to call this nation back to the truths that brought God’s blessings in the past.”
She said that most importantly, it’s time to call America back to a living, relevant faith in a living and relevant God. “That is the only thing that will enable us to deal with the threats and dangers our nation is facing and give us hope for a blessed future,” she said.
For more information about the Walk to Reclaim America, visit www.walktoreclaimamerica.com