Four months ago, Felicia Tuggle Harris of the Tuggle Harris foundation experienced a divine vision. The vision was to hold an event for youth to come together in prayer and worship for the betterment of the community.

Fast forward to April 13, that vision became a reality.

Dozens of youth, parents, community members and worshipers came together on the Covington Square for a “night of love, faith and action.”

While the original idea for the event was first thought of in December 2024, Harris said she tabled it for the right time.

“God actually gave me the vision for this event back in December. And I didn’t do anything with it. I put it on the shelf and I left it,” Harris said. 

But following some of the recent violence that has taken place in Newton County, a group of young leaders – Nikia Smith, Zayvion Sheppard, James Wilson and Isa Bibbins – came together to join Harris in making this event happen. 

“Our community had been shaken with all the violence that had been going on in our schools and our neighborhoods,” Harris said. “I felt like our youth were hurting and they needed to have a place to be seen and heard and know how much they’re valued in life.”

The event started at around 4:30 p.m. with gospel music serenading the crowd. Several layers of prayers and scripture reads followed, with tough conversations regarding current events in the county intertwined throughout the event.

Specifically, Harris recalled one particular exercise that involved children explaining what they felt should be done in their community.

“I just went one-by-one and asked them, ‘What do they want to see done?’ And most of those kids mentioned they want the gun violence to stop,” Harris said. “One of the girls mentioned that they want to see more outlets in Covington and Rockdale with things for them to do. Cause really there’s no outlets or places for them to go to.”

Seeing the children’s raw emotion was what Harris considered one of the more powerful, yet surprising aspects of the event.

“What really surprised me was when I got the kids on stage, and they were open,” Harris said. “At first they were shylike… but to get them to open up and see the tears fall from the kids face, they were receiving it.”

At the conclusion of the Sunday proceedings, index cards were given out to attendees. On those index cards were written prayers from the crowd that were then placed in a prayer box. Harris said that these requests will only be seen “in the eyes of God,” with a different pastor praying over the box each Sunday.

In all, Harris feels like the event garnered positive feedback — so much so that she and her team are planning a second event for July. 

While future plans are still in the works, Harris knows that the original vision of uplifting the local youth in prayer will remain the same.

“My main vision was to give these kids an outlet,” Harris said, “and to know that they have people here in Newton County that will stand with them.”