A Tennessee woman has launched a "Prayer Warrior" campaign urging people to pray for police officers who risk their lives to protect the community.
Amanda Doss of Sullivan County launched the Facebook page "Police Prayer Warriors-Sullivan County-TN" with the aim of connecting to people to pray for the members of the police department.
"I like the fact that our law enforcement is out there risking their lives, and if the smallest thing we can do is pray for them and pray for their safety and pray for their families, then I feel like we have done something that we can give back to them because they give so much to the community," Doss told local TV station WJHL.
She got the idea after watching the programme "Adopt A Cop," which was started in Johnson City, according to TV station WCYB.
A person who signs up is given a name of a police officer and a bracelet to remind them to pray every day.
"For me, the power of prayer is an amazing thing," Doss said, adding that she has three cousins who work in the jail, a friend and a brother's friend who work at the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office.
"We pray for him, but I thought how many others. Do all the officers have someone praying for them?" Doss said.
She contacted the sheriff's department and got a list of its 200 employees.
"Every time I see my band, I just say a short quick prayer for the officer that I've picked," Doss said.
Leslie Earhart of the sheriff's office said, "It's comforting, I think in a sense to know that someone is out there specifically praying for me, praying for a patrol officer, praying for a corrections officer, and even Sheriff Wayne Anderson, himself."
The officers' K-9 companions are also prayed for and Doss is overwhelmed by the response of the community.
"It's fun to see something I'm passionate about just kind of explode," Doss said.
Doss' daughter also joined the prayer movement.
"She picked a K-9 dog, the K-9 officer himself, the K-9 himself to pray for. So she has Dexter, that's hers, and she loves it. Every night she goes to bed and she says, 'Mommy, I have to pray for officer Dexter,'" she said.
