PRAYER POWER; MOMS SEEK SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Staff Writer

Mothers and grandmothers from all over the Conejo Valley prayed at Calvary Christian Church on Saturday morning - for local schools and for spiritual guidance to get their children through difficult preteen and teen-age years.

The local chapter of Moms In Touch International brought together approximately 100 women to its first rally, hoping also to interest Christian women in the area in their organization.

``Women have a tremendous amount of influence in our culture. We do,'' said Debra Lorier, area coordinator of the Conejo Valley Moms In Touch. ``Influence over our husbands, our children. So it's important to lift up ourselves as moms and ask for guidance and wisdom.''

During a daylong conference, the women prayed - and learned to pray - for protection for their children when they leave the house and that their children get caught if they are doing something they shouldn't be doing.

The women bowed their heads in whispered prayer, remembering the angels who watch over the freeway and keep their children safe as they start driving. They prayed for more Christian teachers and asked for strength for student-led prayer groups on campuses. And they asked that their children live their lives with respect and love.

``When you see the changes in the kids, they are being more respectful to us, that's the answer to our prayers,'' said Lupe McDevitt, who has been involved with the prayer group in Simi Valley for four years. ``And we pray a child will be placed in the right program, with the right teachers. When that happens, that's the answer to our prayers.''

McDevitt, who brought her mother, Gloria Estrada, to the event, said the prayer group helps her deal with the anxieties and difficulty of raising her two sons, Michael, 17, and Edward, 15.

Local organizers said their goal is to have representation from every school district in the area, including the Oak Park, Las Virgenes and Conejo Valley districts.

The 7-year-old group has 10 to 15 active members and is primarily based at Westlake High School.

The international group began in Canada in 1984, when founder Fern Nicols' older sons were entering junior high school. Until then, Nicols said, it was easy to stay involved with her children's school and in control of their education.

She soon found several other women who shared her concerns about their children leaving elementary school. And from a small weekly gathering of five women, the organization has grown to include 150,000 mothers in 50,000 groups across more than 15 states.

Nicols, who now lives in the San Diego area, drove up to attend the meeting. She said during a break that it has always been important to pray for children, but mothers today are finding it more urgent than when the group started 15 years ago.

``We're seeing killing in schools now, and mothers are feeling scared a lot more than they were back then,'' she said.

Nicols illustrated that in her keynote speech Saturday morning, when she talked about the shooting spree at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in April.

The room grew still as she told them the suburban high school had a very active Moms In Touch group four years before the tragedy that killed students and teachers.

The organization had been praying for the high school to be a ``light to the rest of the world,'' she told them.

``When we pray, we have no idea how God is going to answer,'' Nicols said. ``We can't tell God how to answer.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1 -- color -- ran in Conejo edition only) Moms in Touch International members pray at Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village. A worship group sings onstage.

(2 -- color) Marcia Margeson prays during Moms in Touch International's day of prayer.

Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News