Hundreds of people gathered Thursday morning for the 38th annual Bakersfield Prayer Breakfast held at the Rabobank Convention Center.
Those who attended prayed not only for local leaders like Mayor Karen Goh, but also for Bakersfield educators, business owners, healthcare workers, religious leaders, non-profits, and first responders and law enforcement.
"Primary theme is always lifting our leaders in prayer," said Stephen Boyle, the Chairman of the Bakersfield Prayer Breakfast.
Local leaders also took the time to shine a light on those who go most days without having a meal at all.
"One of the things we tried to do is have people up at the head table who are involved with the homeless and poor in our community," said Boyle.
This year's keynote speaker Michael Yankoski provided perspective during the breakfast after he himself intentionally experienced homelessness for five months. Yankoski's message was to spread love and compassion and to pay attention to those that often go unnoticed.
"A willingness to open our eyes is central and key to any kind of transformation, to any kind of compassion, to any kind of putting our faith in action. A willingness to open our eyes is central to allowing our faith to become something more than just a nice set of ideas," said Yankoski.
