Significance of the HPM

I am sure many of you have heard of such organizations as Inter-Varsity, Navigators, ESI, ELIC, & Campus Crusade. These are all ministries with a global vision to reach the nations with the Gospel. Their ministries utilize young people, students, to accomplish the mission. You don't need a Master's of Divinity, just a heart to follow God and a desire to have an impact on our world for the sake of Christ.

The Haystack Prayer Meeting (HPM) was the birth place of this notion that students could have an impact on the world. All those organizations mentioned above have built on the HPM foundation, and I believe we are better for it as a church. Young people with a passion to serve for a summer, one year or more has lasting effects for the Kingdom.

As a self professed church history nerd, I am excited about the 200th anniversary of the HPM. I am hoping to make a trip out to Williams College this month and visit the monument that commemorates the event.

As a former teacher in China with ESI, I am grateful to the men of the HPM that demonstrated that students can indeed make a difference for the Kingdom. My year in China made a significant impression on me and gave me a heart for ministry in China. I am so thankful that ESI exists, for it helped develop in me a global vision.

HPM is more than an event, it was the beginning of a student lead campaign that continues today. We are indebted to those 4 men who endured a storm in order to birth a movement far beyond their expectations.