Brazil

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, April 15, 2020

O God, you come to us wherever and however we might be. No matter how much we may not believe it, we are worthy of your love and grace. Therefore, we uplift to you all of our raggedy and incomplete prayers to you—the ones that fall from our lips, the ones that remain hidden within our hearts, and the ones that we might not know how to articulate yet. Dwell within us, Holy One, and speak to us from that place where the deep calls to deep.

Maker of Heaven and Earth the beauty of creation reveals your glory and the gifts of abundance that you have given to us. You call us to care for the world around us just as you care for us and we pray that you guide us in our efforts to be good stewards.

We are grateful for the agreements being negotiated between the United States, Japan, South Korea and Canada to bolster their carbon emission reduction targets in anticipation of Earth Day next week.
We pray for indigenous islanders from Torres Strait, Australia bringing a case to the UN Human Rights Committee with the hope to protect their homes from rising sea levels, coastal erosion and flooding in recent years as a result of climate change.

Great Creator, we give thanks for the large and small ways that we recognize our lives and wellbeing are mutually tethered to one another. And yet, so often we fall short of this calling. Instead we scar the earth with markers of destruction, dominion, and death. May your transformative, re-creating grace be made known where life is broken, abused, and oppressed. God, give us a vision so that we might see the world as you it– interconnected and interdependent.

O Source of Light and Life, we pray for the places where violence and tyranny cause so much suffering. We pray for peoples living with trauma and uncertain futures. May greed and hatred loosen its grip on humanity. Holy Spirit, descend upon the many corners of this world in need of your saving love and abiding peace.

Our souls are weary with the news of the death of Daunte Wright in Minnesota, United States. Another Black life cut too short at the hands of a police officer.
Our grief hangs heavy learning of a militant attack of a humanitarian hub in Borno State, Nigeria.
Our hearts break for the families of the 20 children who died in school fire in Niger.

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.

Shepherd, gather in your hurting and scattered flock. Protect the vulnerable, neglected, and marginalized where peace is tenuous, and fear is mounting.

We pray for the Syrian refugees in Denmark as it becomes the first EU country to deprive them of their asylum status, even as Syria remains shattered.
We pray for the people of Afghanistan as the United States decides to withdraw from the country by September 11^th. This marks the end to the longest war in US history, but it remains unlikely that fighting within the country will end.
We pray for the people of Iran as its political leadership has decided to boost its uranium enrichment to 60 percent, its highest level ever.

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.

And, God, the pandemic still remains the backdrop to our lives. We are grateful for the arrival of vaccinations and the glimmer of hope that they bring. Yet, the World Health Organization tells us that the pandemic is “a long way from over.” It is hard not to be discouraged by the news that the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines might have some adverse side effects. Hold in your safekeeping all those working tirelessly and overtime to research these vaccines. Holy Spirit come alongside all who are sick, caregiving, and on edge. Comfort those in places, such as India and Brazil, where the pandemic still rages on.

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.

God, sometimes life is too much for us to bear on our own. Remind us that you keep track of our sorrows, collect our tears in a bottle, and record each one. Please share your peace which surpasses all understanding with everyone who is hurting and mourning this day. Equip us to confront hardship with strength and justice.

Christ, you came to this world to share with us a proclamation of love. Let us be extravagant in our sharing of grace. When see the empty tomb, may we be filled with the promise of hope, possibility of life, and celebrate your resurrection. May we drench the world with our outpouring of your love.

We pray this in your name, Amen.

World News This Week In Prayer – Thursday, April 8, 2021

God of new life,
In these Easter days the wonder of the Risen Christ is close.
Walking in the budding woods, resurrection is everywhere,
the heart-song of the wild daffodil’s golden center,
the magnolia’s blushed cup, the downy new leaf and the rippling brook.

It is clear that life-death-life is the pattern at the center of the universe—
renewal, transformation, regeneration, healing.

And yet, all over our communities and our world it is easy to see death.
There are lots of scenes still holding Good Friday,
that feel like the silence of the tomb closing,
as we continue to crucify ourselves, each other and the earth over and over again.

We hear the earth and her people cry out like the split rocks and torn veil:

In Indonesia and Timor-Leste where floods and landslides have killed over 150 and have left thousands homeless.
In Mali where within a deteriorating national security situation, 4 Chadian UN peacekeepers were killed, and 34 others wounded.
In Taiwan after the deadliest train crash in decades.
In the United States where states like Arkansas have banned health treatment for transgender youth.
In Rwanda as the anniversary of the Tutsi genocide is remembered with renewed calls from the UN to defeat the hate-driven polarizations that still dominate.
In Central America where gang violence and increasing food shortages are sending more and more refugees, many of them children, North.
In the United States as we listen to the Derek Chauvin trial and hear the cry for justice.
For over a year now we have heard COVID-19’s cry around the globe.
This week in Brazil and India COVID-related cases and deaths reached new highs.
In our interconnected living, the ripple effects are felt everywhere as news reports
show the disproportionately ill-effects of the pandemic on gender equality, children’s education, mental health, as well as injustice in vaccine distribution.

We weep with those who are grieving. We hold up our hands with the angry and anguished. We pray with Jesus, who cried out to God, “why have you forsaken me?” yet trusted in God’s resurrection power. May we all feel the comforting presence of God who is always with us and for us.

Within our cries is the ripe soil of transformation’s hope. We can see places around the world, in our communities, our homes, and in our very bodies where resurrection is being lived boldly and joyfully. We celebrate:

Women UN peacekeepers like Martina de Maria Sandoval Linares, from El Salvador, who is serving in South Sudan providing a powerful example for girls and women in both countries.
In Greenland where elections this week put a halt on mining for rare minerals.
New studies showing that Los Angeles, in the United States, has seen a 78% cut in toxic air emissions in the last 24 years, resulting in 82% fewer attributable deaths.
In India where fisherman save their net catches of ocean plastics to be used to rebuild roads from recycled materials.
In England where conservationists have built giant sandcastles to ensure Martins have a nesting home for years to come, as urban developments have taken much of the Swallow’s natural habitat.

In all of these acts and under each cry is the beating-heart of Love.
We thank you, transforming God, for the mystery of this constant Love
and for Jesus’ Wisdom Journey as an example of how to live the pattern of life-death-life.

May we have the courage to keep living toward resurrection’s new bloom.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Easter 2021

At the last minute I substituted for the scheduled writer, and found myself thinking how little different our current world situation is from that of the first Easter. The same uncertainties, political. military, social and civil unrest, and divisions were being played out, while families and communities struggled to live and raise future generations while caring for their elders. This hymn, written by a Tanzanian Lutheran minister several years ago, speaks to me. There are several translations but, being Scottish, I’ve stuck with the one by John L Bell of the Iona Community*.

Jesus is risen, alleluia! Worship and praise him, alleluia!
Now our redeemer bursts from the grave;
lost to the tomb, Christ rises to save.

Come, let us worship him, endlessly sing;
Christ is alive and death loses its sting.
Sins are forgiven, alleluia!
Jesus is risen, alleluia!

This is beyond belief! People don’t rise from the dead, especially after so much suffering and torture. Despite hearing Jesus himself tell them he would die and rise from the dead three days later, the disciples, both men and women, still could not believe it was possible.

Holy One, enable us to navigate this unchartered path of faith. I believe: help my unbelief.

Buried for three days, destined for death,
now he returns to breathe with our breath.
Blest are the ears alert to his voice,
blest are the hearts which for him rejoice.

This year, so many of us have had to bury loved ones, often from a distance and often unable to be with them as they died. The pandemic continues to decimate families and communities across the globe: in Brazil where over 3,000 deaths each day from Covid-19 continue to mount; in India where vaccines produced for overseas are being retained for use at home; in the U.S. where infection rates are soaring; in Europe where rates are spiking again leading to lockdowns; in Tanzania where the pandemic-denying the regime of former president John Magufuli, who died last week, has been replaced by a new government under Samia Suluhu Hassan (the first female president), and where hospitals are overrun with Covid-19 patients. This pattern repeats across the globe, despite the progress of vaccination programs in some, mostly western countries.

Holy One, be close and comfort those who ache with grief and loss, and enable them to accept the hope of knowing that through the resurrection of Jesus, new life beyond our limited physical life is open to us all.

Lord, hear us, and answer our prayers.

’Don’t be afraid!’ the angel had said,
‘Why seek the living here with the dead?
Look, where he lay, his body is gone,
risen and vibrant, warm with the sun.’

When we lose someone we love, wherever we are, whoever we are, of whatever culture or ethnicity, with faith or faithless – we want to do everything we can to do everything decently and lovingly to lay them to rest. Yet when those closest to Jesus found his body had disappeared, the beings of light where Jesus’s body had laid asked them, “Why seek the living among the dead?”

In so many tragedies – war, natural disaster, air crashes, or disappearance whether through political turbulence or unexplained circumstances – the not-knowing is like a continually draining wound. Regardless of how deep our faith is, in our humanity we often need “someone with skin on” to comfort us or be a listening ear. Enable us to be these, your hands and ears for your beloved people.

Holy One, in our emptiness, fill us with your love and spirit to meet the needs of those we meet, both near and far.

Go and tell others, Christ is alive.’
Love is eternal, faith and hope thrive.
What God intended, Jesus fulfilled;
what God conceives can never be killed.

The passion-filled life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the whole Holy Week and forthcoming Eastertide, is about re-discovering that Love is the greatest energy in our lives, world and creation. So many of us in this last year have rediscovered this in a new way for ourselves. Not touching, meeting, seeing, just sharing and caring face-to-face has taken a terrible toll on us all one way or another. But we give thanks for the love, faith and compassion of so many who have gone out of their way to do acts of kindness for others – often unknown to them.

As Woody, an 8-year-old autistic English boy said, “I don’t want life to go back to normal. I want it to go back to better.” His sayings are now being made into screen prints by his father to raise funds for an autistic children’s charity.

Holy One, enable us to dare to trust and live in tune with you, as Jesus showed us. It’s all about Love, and You ARE Love.

Let heaven echo, let the earth sing:
Jesus is saviour of everything.
All those who trust him, Christ will receive;
therefore rejoice, obey and believe!

AMEN.

*from “Mfurahini Halelyuya” or “Jesus is Risen” by Revd Bernard Kyamanywa, Tanzanian Lutheran minister; English version by John L Bell. You can find the tune here.

World News this Week in Prayer, Thursday, March 25, 2021

Dear God,

You know that we sometimes long to hide. We long to hide from the things which make our world and communities profoundly suffer. We long to hide from the people who hurt us and those we care about. We wish we could hide from the mounting demands from our jobs, school, and the internal work we all must do. We long to hide from you sometimes God – out of shame, out of our business, out of being consumed with ourselves and maybe out of no real reason at all. We long to ignore the things happening in our cities, provinces, nations and world, things which are so difficult and complex.

We long to hide and yet we know we can’t. We know very well or maybe we know deep in our hearts that we simply cannot hide, because there are people acutely hurting, there are relationships to be nurtured, things which you are calling us to do–that we are meant to do. We know this Lord and sometimes we are helpless because we too are hurting.

We ask you Lord for strength as we long to hide. We ask that you give us the courage to make a difference and to care for ourselves and one another. We ask for your healing, Lord. We ask for your rectifying work in the USA where people are choosing to hurt and kill Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. We ask for your presence among the Uyghur Muslims in China who are experiencing serious human rights abuses because of who they are and what they believe.

Help us not to stand by silently taking no action Lord as we see your people being hurt physically and emotionally all around the world because of who they are. We pray that this hate be stopped – that healing happens and that only love might blanket your dear children who are being mercilessly hurt because of the racism so entrenched in our world.

We lift in prayer the families of the shooting victims in Georgia, USA and Colorado, USA who were so violently murdered. We ask for your love to cover them as they grieve these losses which never should have happened. Lord, we pray for the protection and comfort of all your children around the world who are experiencing violence of many kinds and in need of your presence. We pray for those in Myanmar, where hundreds of Burmese citizens, including police officers, government officials and civilians, are fleeing as violence over last month’s military coup worsens. We pray that you may go with your people. We ask for your love to cover all the places in your world where it seems that protection is so far away.

We pray for our siblings in Brazil where hospitals are near collapse and there are reports of spiking Covid-19 case numbers. We ask for your presence in India where they also are seeing a significant increase in infections as they mark the biggest case rise since November. We pray for the peoples of Somalia as Covid-19 surge and deaths are reported

We pray for our siblings in Australia as the Australian government has declared a natural disaster as heavy rains batter the state and force thousands to evacuate. We pray that the rain may cease and your children might be protected from the elements.

Lord, as we lift in prayer our siblings around the world, we ask that you be with all communities.

As many celebrate Holy Week journeying through these final earthly days in the life of Christ, before he would die and rise again.

As we long to be physically together again.

As we struggle with violence in our world.

As we struggle with devastating racism and bigotry quite literally killing our siblings.

As we each make a difference in our communities and world.

As we do these things, Lord we ask that you walk with us and that we will never hide from you.

Guide us Lord. Give us courage to do your will today and always.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, March 11, 2021

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” ~ Numbers 21:4-5 (NRSV)

Papa, Daddy of us all, we are hungry. Mommy, Mother to all that exists, we are thirsty. We know we are supposed to be grateful and to not complain, but we are sick and tired of coping and struggling and wondering when things will change. When will the pandemic be over? It seems never-ending when the record death toll in Brazil approaches 2,000 per day. When will war cease? Almost 240,000 people have died in Yemen’s civil war alone. When will famine and drought and flood and random chance stop killing us and causing endless suffering to so many? We mourn the senseless loss of 12 teenagers who drowned during a swimming outing with friends in Apam, Ghana. Why does it feel like you aren’t doing anything, O God? There is no food and no water.

But even in the same breath, we acknowledge that you do provide, even if we receive your provision with ungrateful and complaining hearts. You sustain us with moments of clear and beautiful weather. You give us minds for thinking and hands for creating new ways to solve problems, so that we can connect with family and friends via technology and so that we can actively work to end the pandemic with vaccines and masks. You fill the souls of so many individuals and groups with your love so that we can see inspiration and hope in their service. Keep before our eyes the truth of all the ways you break into our world and build your kingdom:

Through Ahmed, a nine-year old in Taiz, Yemen, who teaches classes to his peers when teachers cannot travel through the war-torn city to reach the school;
Through a camp in Tamil Nadu, India, that helps elephants that work in temples to recover from the stress of their work;
Through the newly-released story of Naomi Adamu, a survivor of the Boko Haram abduction of the Chibok girls in Nigeria who resisted pressure from her captors to marry and convert to Islam and supported girls younger than herself through the ordeal;
Through the police officers who defected from Myanmar into India rather than follow orders to shoot protestors during the recent military coup.

Continue to sustain us, even as we grumble, O God, and change our hearts so that we might receive your provision with joy and gratitude, sharing all that we have and all that we are with our neighbors and carrying your light into the world until your kingdom is fully realized and all dine at your banquet table. Amen.

World News in Prayer – Friday, 12th February 2021

There has been an unexpected glitch preventing the prayers being edited and posted as usual yesterday for which we apologise. Here they are now.
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O Lord, all the world belongs to you,

and you are always making all things new,

what is wrong, you forgive

and the new life you give,

is what’s turning the world upside down.

(from a hymn by Patrick Appleford*)

Thank you for the signs that life is still there, emerging and changing: for the snowdrops brightening many a British garden; and for the smallest reptile in the world found, still surviving, in Madagascar.

Yet, that reminds us of the need to care for all our environment; we pray about the people who trade in, steal, kill, collect the rarest and the most important. As experts investigate a probably poisoning of endangered Andean condors, in Bolivia, we pray for understanding of the remarkable interdependence we have with our world. Similarly, for the area of the Tapovan Dam, Uttarakhand state, India, where 170 people are still missing following the dam collapse caused by a glacier burst. The United States is experiencing its worst avalanche season and related deaths in a 100 years and this pattern is repeating elsewhere in so many aspects of nature. We give thanks for the multiplicity of often small-scale ventures trying to stabilise and reverse this trend of climate warming affecting all our weather systems and therefore life for us all.

Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.

As the news from the WHO report is that the pandemic is unlikely to be caused by a virus escape from a lab in Wuhan, China, we pray that Governments pause to reflect then act on the findings.

We pray for:

the people of Tanzania as their Government shows how to make smoothies to protect from Covid-19.

for the people of Ghana whose Parliament will be closed for 3 weeks following a virus outbreak.

for the fake news from anti-vaccinators focussing on ethnic and minority groups in so many countries including sadly even by missionaries to tribes in São Francisco reservation in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.

With so few countries able to sequence and identify new strains we pray for the scientists now faced with the new, possibly annual, struggle to update vaccines.

Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.

As we hear of one child and her mother, from El Salvador, held for over 500 days in an immigration centre in the US, we recognise that if this happens once it happens again and again. So we pray for justice.

for the Amazon workers fighting to found a union in Bessemer, Alabama, USA, we pray for justice

for the creative artists in the music industry, we pray for justice as Universal, the world’s biggest music label seeks to expand even further.

Lord, in your mercy: Hear our prayer.

So much biodiversity, Lord, that it’s easier to stick with fake news – for what is human-made can be understood by people. We thank you that in your mercy you hear our prayers. Grant us the ability to be your answers for each other.

Amen

* © 1965 Josef Weinberger Ltd., 12-14 Mortimer St., London W1N 7RD

World News This Week in Prayer- Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020

In 1925, Pope Pius XI established the Feast of Christ the King, also known as Christ the King Sunday, as a corrective to a major worldwide shift toward nationalism. This feast day is included in the Revised Common Lectionary and is celebrated by most mainline Protestant denominational groups.

O Christ, what can it mean for us To claim you as our king?

What royal face have you revealed Whose praise the Church would sing?

Aspiring not to glory’s height, To power, wealth, and fame,

You walked a diff’rent, lowly way, Another’s will your aim.

Though some would make their greatness felt And lord it over all,

You said the first must be the last And service be our call.

O Christ, in workplace, church, and home Let none to power cling;

For still, through us, you come to serve, A diff’rent kind of king.

O Christ, What Can It Mean For Us

Evangelical Lutheran Worship #431 Verses 1 & 3 Text by Delores Dufner

O Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, our world is full of examples of what makes a good king: ruthlessness, violence, vengeance, selfish ambition, and the accumulation of power. Even as we celebrate Christ the King Sunday, rightly claiming you as the center of the universe and center of our lives, we hypocritically bow down to many other kings: the King of Wealth, the King of Power, the King of Control. Help us to see these so-called “kings” for what they really are, feeble attempts to claim your crown in all times and places:

– In Afghanistan, where evidence of the murder of dozens of civilians by Australian special forces has been revealed;

– In Italy, France, India, the United States, Brazil, and other nations that have failed to control the spread of COVID-19 because of lack policies and selfish choices;

– In Ethiopia, where thousands of civilians are fleeing unrest in the Tigray region and entering Sudan on foot because of the violence and danger in their homes.

Pierce our hearts, O Christ, with your call to love and serve as you do, and remind us that true power lies in the repudiation of power, and true glory comes only through bowing low in service. Open our eyes to your work in our world:

– In Vietnam, where a rapid and coordinated response to COVID-19 has kept cases and death very low while supporting a strong economy;

– In Iraq, where the Yazidi community faithfully celebrate the naming of a new religious and spiritual leader for their people despite years of oppression by the Islamic State;

– In Saudi Arabia, where the first women’s football (soccer) league has been formed, reversing years of policies against the inclusion of women in sporting activities.

As we honor and praise you this day and every day, O Christ, purge us of our tendencies toward loyalty to the kings of power, wealth, and fame, and fill us with the servant leadership and servant love you embodied in your earthly ministry and continue to support in us for the sake of your beloved creation. We ask this in the name of the one who emptied himself so that we too might become children of God, serving all and loving all in your name. Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thurs., Oct. 1, 2020

O God, why are you silent? I cannot hear your voice;
the proud and strong and violent all claim you and rejoice;
you promised you would hold me with tenderness and care.
Draw near, O Love, enfold me, and ease the pain I bear.
Marty Haugen/ Tune: Herzlich mich verlangen

O God, O Love, sometimes in these difficult days, it feels like you are both silent and absent. All around us in this world of ours, in this world of yours, there is pain and suffering, confusion and violence. It seems like the forces of evil are triumphing over good; seems like despair is winning out over hope. And yet, to whom else shall we go, Holy One? Who else will hear our prayers with love and compassion? Who else will understand our pain and hold us tenderly?

Through endless nights of weeping, through weary days of grief,
my heart is in your keeping, my comfort, my relief.
Come, share my tears and sadness, come, suffer in my pain,
oh, bring me home to gladness, restore my hope again.

It is because you love and understand that we can pray for this world and its peoples. And so we pray for the disabled people in India – most of whom are Dalits, the untouchables- who, especially during this coronavirus pandemic, are struggling to obtain the basic necessities of life: food, medical care, housing.

We pray for the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan where fighting has once again erupted over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

As Covid-19 deaths worldwide reach one million, we pray especially for the people of Israel, Spain, Brazil, England, and Scotland, where an upsurge of the virus is causing more closures in response to increased cases and deaths.

We pray for the people of Rwanda, as- at long last- one of the long-time genocide suspects, Felicien Kabuga, is being extradited so he can be brought to justice for his role in the 1994 genocidal murders of nearly one million people.

We pray for the tens of thousands of women who continue to be raped in India each year, and for the work of activist and advocate Yogita Bhayana, as she works with survivors and provides a voice for them in court and with the government.

We pray for the protestors in Venezuela, as anger mounts over fuel shortages (with people waiting in lines for a long as 13 hours) and shortages of safe drinking water, while the government does little or nothing to provide assistance.

We pray for those in the United States dealing with the numerous wildfires in the West, with the results of the increasingly-strong hurricanes along the Gulf and East coasts, even as many leaders continue to deny the reality of climate change and its effects upon our planet.

Yet, despite the sadness and discouragement, we can joyfully pray for 7-year-old Cavanaugh Bell, who set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds and supplies to take trailers filled with COVID-19 supplies to the South Dakota Pine Ridge Reservation (one of the poorest places in the U.S.) because “they need things there.” May we be led to follow where a little child leads us- to a place of caring and hope and help.

May pain draw forth compassion, let wisdom rise from loss;
oh, take my heart and fashion the image of your cross;
then may I know your healing through healing that I share,
your grace and love revealing, your tenderness and care.

O God, O Love, even in these difficult days we know that you hear us, that you care, and we ask that your love and compassion and justice may be incarnated in us, as we go about the work of healing your world and all its peoples, to work for the coming of the your Reign on this earth. Let it be so. Amen and amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, September 24, 2020

God of Our Ancestors,

Since before we were born, you have knit your people into a great reimagining of purpose and life. You call us by your mercy and claim us with your truth. Even in these days of protest and pandemic, show us what it means that you are the Creator, Christ, and Comforter. Show us how to believe that you have made each of us in your image. Show us what it means that even now, your kingdom is breaking into the world. Even in these days, show us how to sing and praise and pray to you.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

God of Our Present,

In Christ, we recognize our reality as people called to join you in the journey. Teach us how to follow you. Make yourself known to us. Make yourself known to those fighting and fleeing wildfires on the West Coast of the United States, as well as those who are living with the aftermath of devastating flames and red skies of smoke. Make yourself known to those grappling with COVID-19, whether they are at home or in hospital beds, prison cells or nursing homes, science labs or health institutes or non-profit organizations. We give you thanks for those within the African Union, New Zealand, and other regions where communities are collectively, compassionately working so well to contain and curtain the virus in their midst. We pray for guidance for those in the United States, India, Brazil, and Mexico, as they all grapple with severely high mortality rates. This week our heart breaks as the United States pass 200,000 dead. This week also we lift up the family and colleagues of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, after her death in Washington, DC, last week. Shower mercy upon all those who grieve. Be with us in our present moments. Reveal yourself in ways that we might taste and touch and see and hear and know, deep within our flesh and bones.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

God of Descendants,

Your story does not begin and end with us. You who loved our ancestors are also preparing the way for our children. Nurture the lives of all young people around the world who are living with the uncertainty of economic prospects, the stress of climate change, the unanswered questions around truths of human dignity. Bring forth in them a new energy for purpose-seeking, meaning-making, and community action, as they lead us forward into the future.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

God of Our Every Ending and Beginning,

We pray these things because you have come among us, as human, as Word Made Flesh, as God with us. In Christ, we have been shown the kindness of your touch, the fierceness of your grace, the perseverance of your covenant, the power of your peace. How glorious it is to rise in your grace, to pray in your name, to rest in your Spirit. Thanks be to you, Triune God.

Amen.

World News This Week in Prayer – Thursday, September 10, 2020

May you be well,
And all whom you love,
And those you work with,
And all who eat of the crops you handle.

That has been my prayer/mantra at least one afternoon a week for the past month, as I joined with other volunteers to prepare 100,000 Covid-19 prevention kits to be given to agricultural workers in this part of California (U.S.). One washable cloth mask, one small bottle of hand sanitizer, several small multi-lingual instruction cards in each zip lock bag. One bag, one prayer. Fifty completed bags in each box; another prayer. Looking at the stacks and stacks of boxes ready to be delivered to the agencies who will pass the kits out; another prayer.

For all who face the risk of Covid-19, or extreme heat, or smoke, or drought, or flooding in order to feed themselves and others; for all who work in the fields, and harvest the seas, and nurture the livestock; for all who gather and transport and package and prepare the food we eat; for all who have barely enough food to survive, and those who don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and those for whom mealtime is a feast of abundance:

May you be well,
And all whom you love,
And those you work with,
And all who share in the fruits of the planet.

It is so, so hard to pray for those who want to hurt us or endanger the lives of those we love. The Russian and Chinese (and probably other) agencies using social media to foment unrest and influence elections in other countries. Whoever started QAnon, and all the social media and dark web sites that are allowing its conspiracy theories to spread. United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government, who have threatened to override elements of the Brexit withdrawal agreement with the European Union – even though that would violate international law. The Niger army that, instead of protecting civilians, has now been accused by Niger’s human rights commission of executing dozens of civilians during counterinsurgency operations.

Countries treating dissent as treachery: China, arresting people in Inner Mongolia who protest against the edict that Chinese language textbooks must replace Mongolian language ones; opposition leaders in Belarus who have been terrorized, detained, and threatened with deportation.

United States President Donald Trump, who has made more than 20,000 lies or misleading comments during the past 15 months – including, it has now been proven this week, lying repeatedly about the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, and repeatedly denigrating those who serve in the U.S. armed forces. And U.S. legislators who have failed to extend financial relief to the millions who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19 and are now facing eviction and homelessness. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro giving in to international pressure to protect the rainforest against fires by imposing a 120-day ban on fires and deploying the army to badly-hit areas – while simultaneously declaring the fires a lie.

It is so, so hard to pray for them. And yet, it is like watching a teenager engaging in a risky activity despite everything you can do to dissuade them: you hope, and hope, and hope they will come to their senses before anyone gets hurt. Despite being terrified and furious, despite the desire to lock them in their room without privileges until they turn 30 (at least), still you pray for them to escape the worst consequences of their rash actions.

And so we pray for all governments and corporations and individuals who are endangering lives, and for those whose lives are endangered:

May you be well,
And all whom you govern,
And those who rule over you,
And all who must choose ways to live together in mutual benefit.

In California, Oregon and Washington (U.S.), the skies are orange, the sun invisible, and smoke and ash from the 56 major wildfires currently burning over 3.7 million acres is making the air unhealthy to breath; thousands have been evacuated. Greece is struggling to find shelter for the 13,000 migrants who had been living in the overcrowded Moria camp on the Island of Lesbos, until it was destroyed by fire earlier this week. Sudan is trying to protect its 2,300-year-old pyramids in Meroe from unprecedented flooding by the River Nile, which has also made thousands homeless. Yet, experts have known for at least 20 years how to manage forests and grasslands to prevent massive wildfires. We know how to treat migrants with dignity and safety. We have learned how to restore wetlands and floodplains to mitigate flooding. We are learning how to plant and farm in order restore depleted groundwater and break the cycle of desertification.

For those who are fighting natural disasters; for those waiting to hear if their homes have survived, for those living in fear, and those wondering how they will once again find the strength to start over; for those whose warnings and advice have been ignored, and those who know what to do but not how to rally massive support and resources:

May you be well,
And all whom you want to protect,
And the earth that we cherish.

Several well-known figures died this week. Chadwick Boseman, the U.S. movie actor who starred as Black American icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown, and inspired audiences worldwide as the regal Black Panther, died at age 43. Through him, many Black children for the first time were able to see themselves as strong, beautiful, worthy, and able to change the world. English actress Dame Diana Rigg, who starred in Game of Thrones and as Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, died at age 82. But it was her role as Emma Peel in the original Avengers that led a whole generation of young women to imagine themselves as bright, inventive, funny, and powerful against evil. Top South African human rights lawyer George Bizos died at age 92. He represented some of the country’s best-known political activists during the apartheid years, including defending Nelson Mandela, and became one of the architects of South Africa’s new constitution.

And then there are the living heroes whom virtually no one has heard of. In Nigeria, math teacher Basirat Olamide Ajayi came up with a way to help 12th graders prepare for crucial final exams despite the Covid-19 school closures, by offering free, 5-minute video classes online via Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram. She now has more than 1,800 students – and not only from Nigeria. Also in Nigeria, Anthony Mmesoma Madu, an 11-year-old male ballet dance student in a country where ballet is almost unknown, won the hearts of the world after a video of him dancing in the rain went viral. This week, he was awarded several scholarships to continue his studies in the United States, and his teacher, self-trained Daniel Ayala, also received a scholarship for a two-week intensive U.S. training program for ballet teachers. In Sweden, a secret group of artists is sneaking stunning miniature installations for mice into public spaces in the dead of night. The clandestine collective ― called Anonymouse ― has installed 25 pieces*, mostly in cellar windows, across Sweden, in France and on the Isle of Man. In Jerusalem, Israel, hospitals are enlisting those who recovered from Covid-19 and are antibody positive, to visit hospitalized patients who would otherwise be in isolation. In Singapore, two mothers who lost sons to suicide have started the PleaseStay movement, urging a national strategy to address youth mental health and suicide, to break the taboo against talking about these topics, and – most poignantly – to urge troubled teens and youngsters, to “please stay.”

For all heroes, alive and dead, great and small; for the hope they give us; for those whom they inspire:

May you be well,
And all whom you help,
And all whom you inspire,
And all who gladly enliven the world.

For all of who you read, and share, and pray these prayers:

May you be well,
And all whom you love,
And the great, wonderful, terrifying and awesome world you surround with your prayers.

Amen.

*Ok, we can’t resist: here’s a website where you can enjoy some of Anonymouse’s creations: https://www.instagram.com/anonymouse_mmx/?utm_source=ig_embed