Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence spoke at a rally and told us to get on our knees and pray for the upcoming election. And then turn out to vote.

It was a rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania for Congressmen Scott Perry and Lloyd Smucker, with senatorial candidate Lou Barletta.

I brought my kids. They are too young to vote, but old enough to boo at the mention of Nancy Pelosi, and they are old enough to pray, which is what Mike Pence asked us to do.

It isn't the first time he told me to pray. In 2005 my marriage was falling apart; I attended a weekend men's event at my church in Springfield, Virginia, where I met then-Congressman Pence. He was a leader in the men's movement at church, and he told me to pray with my wife every single day, no matter what. He said it was one of the transformative things he had done in his marriage. I started doing it, and 14 years later we are still praying together every day. Mike Pence didn't single-handedly save my marriage, but we were headed for divorce when he told me that, and things have been better every day since then, and that conversation was the turning point.

But then he told us to pray for the country, our elections, and our future on Wednesday. And then vote. “Friends don’t let friends vote alone,” he said. He is right. We need to pray, and we need to turn out a lot of voters. This midterm election is going to be an important one.

Representative Scott Perry, who introduced Pence at the rally, was forced into a new congressional district earlier this year by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The new district is vastly different from the one he has represented for the past six years, and although he has to campaign in the new district, he still has to maintain his offices and represent the old one for the time being.

No, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is not allowed to just create a new electoral map whenever they want, any way they want. But that is what they did, to the severe detriment of Scott Perry and several other Republicans around the state.

Perry served in the United States Army for over thirty years, starting as a private and reaching the rank of Brigadier General. He is a master aviator and flew 44 combat missions in Iraq. On September 11, 2016 our church invited him to speak and pray for our country. He led us in prayer, and told us that he prays with his wife and kids daily. He is honorable and he cares about his community. He calls himself a Christian, and he acts like it.

Mike Pence said his only regret is that he became Governor of Indiana at the same time Perry became a congressman, so their terms never overlapped.

Perry's opponent is a socialist Democrat named George Scott, who I have met several times during community meetings among pastors. He and I are both pastors in the same region, but he is pro-abortion, anti-marriage, anti-gun, and he never met a tax he didn't want to raise.

The new voting district means the seat is basically open, and socialist George Scott is running very close in the polls. Naturally, his campaign is attracting Democrat money from all over the place, and he is lying about Scott Perry virtually every day. Socialist George Scott may be a pastor, but he is campaigning like a Democrat. Perry has had to resort to posting daily Facebook videos to correct the lies.

Everywhere I go people ask me how a pastor can support the things George Scott supports and say the things he says. I have no answer for them except the answer Mike Pence gives.

We need to pray, and we need to get out the vote.

Pennsylvania Senatorial Candidate Lou Barletta was also in attendance. I met him a few times in 2000 and 2001 when he was starting out as the mayor of Hazleton, PA. He is a good man, a faithful Catholic, and he has never shied away from saying and doing what is right, without regard for what anyone else will say. His campaign signs are all blue with just his first name, "LOU," in all caps.

Lou is a household name in Pennsylvania, but so is his opponent, Bob Casey, Jr., the son of late Governor Bob Casey, Sr. The elder Casey was one of the last pro-gun and pro-life Democrats in the country.

Casey, Jr. is not. He is a lock-step leftist picking up votes based on his father’s name alone. When he entered politics he claimed to be a good pro-life Catholic like his father and a Second Amendment supporter. Reality has been quite different. NARAL-Pro-Choice America gives him a grade of 100% for abortion. A good rule of thumb is that if NARAL thinks you are a good Catholic, you aren’t. On gun control, taxes, open borders and sanctuary cities he is always in favor of more.

In politics this is known as "Flip Flopping." To everyone else it is called "Lying to get a job."

We need to pray. And we need to get out the vote.

In the morning, before the big rally, I also attended a local chamber of commerce meeting with the two men running for our local Pennsylvania 193rd District. They are my friend Torren Ecker and a Democrat named Matt Nelson.

Ecker won his four-way Republican primary by a single vote earlier this year, and says it was extremely humbling. Every single vote counts, and nothing can be taken for granted.

I am glad to know Torren Ecker and will be happy to vote for him. He is a hard-working family man with well-behaved kids, a gracious wife, and serves in his church. He has surrounded himself with good people working on his campaign and shows up at virtually every community event just to help.

His opponent seems to be a decent and humble man too, but in our local district the only way to win is to sound like a conservative.

Torren Ecker is an actual conservative, while his opponent tries to sound like one. I have nothing against him in person, but it was evident that he was out of his element. Perhaps having been burned by Bob Casey Jr. in the past, one of the Chamber of Commerce members called him out for it, directly.

"Why are you are talking like a conservative,” He said, “when you are a Democrat?" Nelson’s answer started off with the words "Ahh, well, the thing is, actually..."

We need to pray. And we need to get out the vote. Do not vote alone.

Photo: YouTube screen grab

T.S. Weidler is a pastor who is passionate about teaching the Bible and serving the community of York Springs, Pennsylvania.