ITEMS OF INTEREST March 31, 2008 Issue

ITEMS OF INTEREST

with contributions from Heather Laroi

The Outreach Division of Guideposts, with over 50 years' experience interactively answering tens of thousands of prayer requests weekly, is dynamically restructuring the online component of its prayer ministry by launching OurPrayer.org (www.our-prayer.org), the largest and most unique site of its kind.... Lots of people have a favorite place to pray. For some it may be a quiet room, or outdoors someplace beautiful and secluded, or maybe even in the car. Increasingly, though, people pray online. Peola Hicks, Prayer Department Manager, sees great potential for OurPrayer.org. "The Internet hasn't really changed what people do, just how we do it. It's truly transformed the ability to reach out and connect with others around the world," she said. "It is our desire to inspire and unite the people visiting OurPrayer.org, and help them to enrich their prayer life."

The most innovative and unique features of the new site put OurPrayer.org on a par with many of today's most popular online destinations. Using state-of-the-art social networking technology, there are simple, user-friendly tools to provide interactive functionality for individual interests and group activities. Among the popular features incorporated for social networking are: Chat with video, IM with video, designing and setting up a Personal Prayer Space page, Group prayer, Photo sharing, and Prayer Journals. OurPrayer.org will also provide users with exclusive site content, downloadable content, more audio and video, devotionals, prayers, prayer tips, inspiring articles, a daily e-mail and weekly e-newsletters for members and more.

A key element of OurPrayer.org will be maintaining and enhancing the ability to take prayer requests.... Anyone with a prayer request can go to www.OurPrayer.org. Everyone submitting prayer requests to the OurPrayer.org site will have a variety of options including: requests can be private (only Our-Prayer trained volunteers will see and pray for it) or public (requests will go to the main prayer page for the general public to see and pray for). Members will also have the ability to send prayer requests to friends and/or groups so they can pray for them as well, and users requesting a personal prayer response will receive a personalized prayer sent directly back to them. One of OurPrayer's special features, real-time prayer, provides the ability to have a one-on-one real-time prayer session with one of [the prayer] volunteers.

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