83 Pastors call for day of prayer in aftermath of General Motors plant closure

MANSFIELD — This is where the rubber meets the road for an area rocked by shocking news. The largest employer in region, General Motors, announced it is closing its doors, In response, leading clergy across Richland County are calling for corporate prayer and fasting.

This past Monday, General Motors announced it was closing fourteen of its plants including the Mansfield-Ontario plant; the cutback will affect nearly 1,100 jobs locally. In response, eighty-three leading pastors from Richland County have called for a day of public repentance, public prayer, and private fasting for Wednesday, June 24th.

Drafted by the Richland Community Prayer Network, the proclamation states as a whole the citizens of Richland County have offended GOD by putting their trust in money, and neglecting the Bible.

“Our people have coveted their neighbor’s possessions, have stolen from their neighbor, have used dishonest scales, have forsaken the poor, fatherless and widow, and even called evil good and good evil.”

The proclamation calls all the congregations and citizens in the county to seek forgiveness of sins, to seek GOD’s aid during the economic recession, and providence for those without jobs.

“We are seeking divine help from GOD, not the federal government,” says Benjamin Mutti of the Richland Community Prayer Network. “While the government is out of money, the resources of our Heavenly Father are without limit. This is the message of hope we are giving.”

During the clergy press conference, the historicity of public prayer proclamations, and a brief synopsis on modern Richland County economic history was discussed, highlighting the massive loss of manufacturing jobs in the area.

The connection between economic hardship and moral bankruptcy was also discussed, in addition to an economic transformation account involving a 2004 solemn assembly in the Philippine City of Escalante. The city went from a very poor municipality with a deficit of two million to a surplus of 446 million at the end of the year.

Reverend Thomas Hunt of Providence Baptist commented, “As we go through these hard times, faith-based people need to come together. We are in a time of depression and emotions are up and down, but we can be calm knowing that we have a God who will sustain us.”

Reverend El Akuchie of Godsfield House of Prayer quoted a Bible passage from Ecclesiastes 2:26: “To the man who pleases Him, GOD gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness. But to the sinner, He gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases GOD. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

The Bottom Line:

The Bible says in the Book of Jeremiah, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”