Operation Armor All, an Orlando prayer movement, is spreading. Led by Orlando police chaplain Andrew Wade, over 70 Orlando congregations are praying for city crime rates to decline. Jim Ardis, mayor of Peoria, heard about Operation Armor All and decided to organize something similar in his own town. Because of a recent conflict at two Peoria schools, Ardis decided to focus on the racial conflicts dividing the community.

“This is a way to appeal to the entire faith-based community to come together, help us improve communications between the whole community, and hopefully prevent these things in the future or see a significant decrease,” Ardis said.

Ardis, who has served as mayor for two and a half years, said he is using the holidays to focus on gratitude and hope for the New Year. The event begins this week and will culminate on the Sunday before Christmas. Community churches will host prayer meetings over the 40-day period.

Wade said it is “fantastic” that Operation Armor All is inspiring others, and he hopes this could become a national trend. He compared it to the story of Jonah, when God used Jonah to call the city of Nineveh to repent and pray. Seeing their humility, God changed his mind about destroying Nineveh. “If you approach God in prayer with the right attitude, you will be broken and you will repent for the sins of your city, your nation, your world,” Wade said.

Wade said Operation Armor All continues to flourish, as he has had to double and even triple book churches to lead the daily worship rallies. They will continue into the New Year, hoping to duplicate the movement in other parts of their own county and region.

Orlando is fighting crime with prayer. Last Wednesday, police chaplain Andrew Wade launched Operation Armor All – 40 days of prayer for a drop in crime. Over a hundred people attended, including the mayor, the chief of police, two city commissioners, a circuit judge and members from 37 local churches.

“There is a fight in the supernatural that is affecting us here in the physical world,” Wade told WoW.“Let’s ask God to change the hearts and minds of men.”



The event began in the Parramore neighborhood, one of the city’s 25 crime “hot spots” and the first African-American neighborhood. “It’s a neighborhood that has bred crime,” Wade said. They chose Parramore Heritage Park to gather each night because it’s “a new landmark, and it represents new life and change.”

Wade hopes to host 25 events total, one in each of the city’s crime hot spots. He started a similar event in the Carver Court area four years ago and saw results: “One church went for a whole year. (Now) they tore down the projects, and drug trafficking is almost all dried up.”

While that event included evangelism, Operation Armor All focuses entirely on intercessory prayer and worship. Churches across denominational lines are participating.

Some people oppose the efforts because they believe the police department is wasting resources. One woman called to say they should be in Washington working on changing laws instead of praying.

Wade, however, is unfazed: “Everything’s going to have opposition, but that’s not our concern and not our focus. . . Tragedy is not ordained by God but permitted by him to call us to the place where we first knew him — and that is on our knees.”