Introduced by Student Senate last November, Calvin Prayer Partners is an ongoing project that connects students to a local prayer buddy for the year. 

“We pass the student’s name and email address to Barbara Tuttle from Woodlawn CRC, who finds a senior citizen. A lot of times it is someone from a nursing home near here who would be interested in praying for that student,” head of the project and Student Senate Vice President of Operations Theodore Perumal told Chimes. Tuttle told Chimes she thinks that if she knew she had someone praying for her like that back in college, it would have been very meaningful. 

The Prayer Partners are different from other resources such as Dorm Barnabi and the Pastoral Partners. The Prayer Partners are not people who should be sought out when in need of advice. Rather, they are people who have endured most of what life can throw at them and want to pray for students who are going through things, according to Perumal. “There isn’t any group on campus that occupies that specific space,” Perumal said.

In addition, Perumal thinks that Prayer Partners fills a distinct role compared to other ministries Calvin offers. “Since there are only three Pastoral Partners” and a limited number of Campus Ministries staff, “they wouldn’t be in a place to pray for all the students that might want someone to pray for them,” Perumal explained. On the other hand, there can be as many Prayer Partners as the number of students who request them. 

“The difference between the Prayer Partners and other ministerial programs is that the prayer partners program is something more intimate and personal,” Stephen Velpula, a Student Senator said. 

Perumal’s hope for this program is that students can feel more connected to the community. “Part of Calvin being part of a … denomination is that we’re connected to [others in the Christian Reformed Church], and I think this is a great way to tap into that,” he said.

Student Senate Vice President of Administration Naomi Ross has been using the program since its inception and believes that the program is special because the partners do not necessarily have a relationship with Calvin. Ross said, “I like how it’s a stranger because I can share things that I’ll be scared to share with my friends and family.” 

“It’s wonderful to have a brother or sister in Christ that we don’t personally know, but we know that we can have an impact on each other’s lives through the power of prayer,” Ross said.