Kingsport Mayor's Prayer Breakfast lifts up homeless, first responders

KINGSPORT — Community members and local church leaders gathered Thursday for the Kingsport Mayor's Prayer Breakfast. The event, held at the MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center, was held in conjunction with the National Day of Prayer observed on the first Thursday in May each year. In year's past, the breakfast has been held at the Kingsport Farmers Market. Dobyns-Bennett High School's Overtone acapella group provided musical entertainment for guests as they walked in. D-B's High School Air Force Junior ROTC led the presentation of the colors. Speakers prayed over education, healthcare, homeless people, military, local business, government leaders, faith communities and local nonprofits. Chris Hampton, Kingsport City Schools superintendent, lifted up students in Sullivan County and beyond in prayer. He prayed for their safety and well-being both in and outside of school. "I pray for their physical, mental and emotional health. Mostly, I pray for their spiritual well being. I pray they are able to acquire the academic and technical skills they need to be successful in this world, and ultimately, to carry out your will." He mentioned school employees and their extensive service to the community through their work. "God, thank you for these people," Hampton said. "Thank you that they come willing to serve, come willing to love and come with the understanding that their work has the ability to change the lives of children now and for future generations." 'Grant them endurance' Kevin Rinks, recently appointed CEO of Holston Valley Medical Center and Indian Path Community Hospital, offered a prayer for healthcare workers and first responders "who run towards crisis when others run away." "Father, grant them endurance when the days are long, peace when the burden feels heavy, wisdom in the moments requiring clarity and courage in times of adversity, surround their families with comfort and understanding as they too serve alongside them through sacrifice and support," he said. Colonial Heights Christian Church lead preaching minister David Mullins called on the community to pray over the homeless, as well as the organizations and ministries that support those individuals. "I pray that you give them strength, that you give them the resources that they need," he said. "Father, I pray that You would also give them great wisdom to know how to help, to know when to help." Former Kingsport Mayor Pat Shull prayed for military service members and their families, especially as conflict continues in the Middle East. "Lord, we ask for a just and lasting peace," he said. "We seek your blessing and care for our service members and their families who are asked to make great sacrifices during peacetime and bear the heaviest burdens of war." Greg DePriest, president of Strategic Growth Logistics, delivered a special message during the breakfast pulling from his own testimony. He shared about how strategy can be intertwined with our faith. "We want so many things, yet we want them without risk," DePriest explained. "Risk is part of life. Risk forces us to engage our faith, which means we must develop a strategy. We have a responsibility to God and to each other, to pray and then take action as leaders, you model and set the tone and the culture of this community." City Manager Chris McCartt and Mayor Paul Montgomery closed by praying for Kingsport. McCartt and Montgomery were joined on stage by Shull, Dennis Phillips and Jeanette Blazier — the group representing more than 20 years of previous mayoral Kingsport leadership. "We have prayed for countless organizations that represent the many threads that make up the fabric of this great city," McCartt said. "Let us not end our prayers today, but continue those prayers each and every day."