COLUMBIA, S.C. — The pandemic, loss of loved ones, economic struggles, racial injustice, political controversy and even personal trials -- everyone is dealing with something. When it comes to changes to life as we know it, and as the pressures begin to take their toll, many are turning to therapy to stay grounded.
Others are relying on the support of family, friends and faith.
Dr. Jill Biden has gone on record saying her surprise trip to Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia last month wasn’t a political mission, more of a friend supporting a friend.
RELATED: Jill Biden surprises South Carolina church family that helped restore her faith years earlier
After her visit we learned about a special relationship between Dr. Biden and the First Lady of Brookland Baptist, Robin Jackson. Some might call it a partnership of sorts that’s grounded in faith.
"Having a prayer partner, is not just having someone to just pray with on a daily basis, but it's having a friend as well,” said Robin Jackson.
Jackson says she is honored to call First Lady Jill Biden her prayer partner and friend.
"It's important to have a prayer partner, because it's important to encourage someone else along the way,” says Jackson.
It was Jackson that helped Dr. Biden cope with the grief of her late son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015. The two met when Jill and Joe Biden attended worship service at Brookland Baptist during a presidential campaign stop in 2019.
But what is a prayer partner and what are the benefits?
"The most important thing about prayer partners is that you have somebody you can call,” said Bishop Jonathan Holston. “It is the backside of being isolated. Being isolated means, you have nobody. Having someone that you can call and talk to and be honest with is important."
Rev. Jonathan Holston is the resident Bishop for the South Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Over the course of the pandemic, Bishop Holston has been releasing daily videos praying for our community, because he knows isolation can be a heavy burden to bear.
"What has happened over this time is that we've been isolated, isolated from each other, isolated from the very things that we love to do,” says Bishop Holston. “Being told by somebody else what we can and can't do is not something that South Carolinians love to do, but the mere fact for us to be safe, we had to do those things."
The feeling of loneliness was all to real for Columbia resident Ben Markowitz.
"It was especially challenging at the beginning of the pandemic,” says Markowitz. “I was still a student at USC. I was living in an apartment and my roommate got evicted when everything really locked down, so I was sitting in the apartment by myself for months."
Markowitz says it was his faith and the support of his friends that helped him get through the storm.
"I spent hours and hours of my time praying, worshiping and reading my Bible," says Markowitz. “I ended up coming out of that a much stronger Christian than I was beforehand."
"In the midst of grief and then mix of trying to struggle through what this pandemic has brought us, we've had to depend on each other,” said Bishop Holston. “Isn't that something -- we've had to depend on each other."
Although prayer can be a private and intimate thing, Jackson says it’s important to connect with people with whom you can be transparent and comfortable.
"These are people of whom I can trust. Who I love and who I can reach out to and say, just lift me up in prayer,” says Jackson. “That's all your prayer partner wants to know is that someone is here for them."
