There is nothing Christine Cowan loves more than being on the front line for her Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Cowan, who has been saved for as long as she can remember, said that when she heard Apostle Jeffrey Shuttleworth speaking about “Boots on the Ground” on the radio, it immediately captured her attention.
She recalled musing to herself about what “boots on the ground” could mean.
“Something connected in the spirit, and I said, ‘No man, I have to be part of that.’ I missed the first one, but the second one…”
She continued, laughingly sharing that she hoped they would not send her to Portland, but she ended up going there and had a spiritual experience fellowshipping with other believers on the way down.
Last year, Cowan officially joined the Peaceful Purposeful Prayer Protest team on Savannah Avenue off Washingston Boulevard in Kingston.
She shared how she initially resisted when she was asked by the team lead, Evangelist Janet Williams, to take charge. Cowan explained that she had only stopped one morning and found herself enjoying the experience.
“I told her I’m not going to be here every day. And she said she was going to give my name to Apostle because she was going back to work. She had been on leave and needed somebody to take over.”
Cowan protested.
“I said, ‘No, no, I’m not going to be here every day. I can’t be here every day because of the nature of my work—clients come in early.’ Then she said, ‘Okay, as the Lord leads.’”
She laughed as she testified that when she got to work that day, the Lord spoke clearly to her.
“You think it’s your time? You’re going to go out there every single day.”
Fast forward to today, and Cowan is still on the frontline weekdays—ministering, interceding in prayer—and the team continues to grow.
The non-denominational Peaceful Prayer gathering is now active in over 80 locations islandwide. The initiative focuses on advocating spiritual and societal change through prayer, scripture reading, and non-violent protest. Its ultimate goal is to encourage righteousness and national transformation through faith.
Commenting on her initial fear of losing parking spaces if she stopped to take part in the prayer protest before work, Cowan said she was rewarded for her obedience.
“When I finish out at Savanna, I have parking to pick, choose, and refuse,” she said.
Being on the frontline, Cowan said there have been many rewarding moments. The team she serves with has become like family—looking out for one another. At first, passersby would ignore them, walking straight past without stopping. But through persistence, many began stopping to chat, and some even asked for prayer.
“Persons have started coming up to us, asking for prayers. We’ve been able to minister to schoolchildren. They’re like family now—we call them over, we hug them, we pray with them, and their faces have changed,” Cowan shared.
Still, the team has not escaped the resistance and attacks that often come with being on the battlefield for the Lord.
“I remember one morning we read a scripture about the Lord giving us authority over unclean spirits. A man came up right across from us and started behaving very indecently.
We looked at each other and said, ‘Didn’t we just read the scripture about authority over unclean spirits?’ And we said, ‘No, not in front of this altar—not on this road.’”
Cowan recounted that fellow evangelist Minister Williams and the team went over to where the man was and rebuked the spirit operating within him.
“I never saw a man without feet move so fast! He seemed to be running,” she said, noting that he was an amputee. She said that he has not returned to that location since.
Cowan said the team now comprises as many as 12 members on some days. There was a time when they prayed for a man to join them, and that prayer has since been answered.
For Cowan, every Christian should be following the mandate set forth in Matthew 28—to go into all the world and make disciples. As she pointed out, people are not coming, so Christians must go to them.
“We are supposed to be salt and light. We are the hands and feet of God in the earth. He’s not going to come down here and do it for us. We have a responsibility. We are servants of the Most High God, and we’re supposed to be obedient to the Master’s instructions,” she said, urging others to get involved in prayerful intervention for the island.